That Old Time Religion

Charlie Pollock is our Elmer Gantry.

Up next on the docket for the Signature Theatre 25^th Anniversary Season is the updated version of Elmer Gantry, which features an updated book and brand new music! This revised musical is being directed by Signature Theatre’s very own Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and features a fiery and talented cast and production team.

The basis for Elmer Gantry comes to the MAX Theatre stage from its source novel (also titled Elmer Gantry) by early 20^th century writer Sinclair Lewis. Sinclair was a novelist and playwright whose wit, wry sense of humor, and striking observations about the American way of life earned him a Nobel Prize in Literature. (The first American writer to do so in 1930.)

For those of you unfamiliar with Lewis’s novel, Elmer Gantry focuses around the charismatic title character as he stumbles upon a struggling religious tour led by the pious sister Sharon Falconer. As Elmer ingratiates himself in the tour and the hearts of those around him, trouble is not far behind his revival meetings’ trail.

Revival Meetings

Famous preacher Billy Sunday preaching to
followers in one of his largest revival meetings.

A revival meeting is a Christian religious service held to inspire active members of a church body to gain new converts. A revival is ideally a renewed, radical commitment to Jesus Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. The true, blue revival often results in dynamic evangelism, conversions, worship, purity, joy, fellowship, obedience, peace, fulfillment, and devotion in the life of the believer. (A good time for the churchgoer and an even better time for the church in the long run.)

The meeting itself usually consists of several consecutive nights of services conducted at the same time and location. This is most often in a building belonging to the sponsoring congregation but sometimes a rented assembly hall or pitched tent organized by a visiting group or preacher. The meeting often features a variety of performances and speakers, from fire and brimstone preachers to angelic choirs, live bands, faith healings and religious stage plays.

This event, with its new and eclectic style of sermons and delivery of the gospel, helped breathe new life into the American people and how they practiced religion. Their basic rituals, piety, and self-awareness changed as this form of religious expression gained steam and support throughout the early 20th century.

Instead of passively listening to religious discourse and lectures in detached manners, the American people began to be passionately and emotionally involved in their religion, fully investing themselves in the pageantry, spectacle, and spirit that revival meetings brought to their communities. This full investment in the power of religion brought individual Christians that much closer to God and Christ and made them all the more likely to continue to attend, participate, assist and donate to the church.

Elmer Gantry opens October 7^th and runs until November 9^th in the MAX Theatre.  For more information please visit our website or call the box office at 703-820-9771. Follow along with Elmer Gantry on social media with #SigGantry

Read More

Overtures - Eric Schaeffer

Eric looks on as Neil presents "Try Me" (She Loves Me)

Yesterday, the one, the only, the Artistic Director of Signature Theatre, Eric Schaeffer joined the Overtures students for the second of two master classes on musical theatre performance. We were so very lucky to have Eric with us as he has so much information and experience to pass on to these young performers as they start their careers.

Joe sings a cut of "I Could Be
In Love With Someone Like You"
(The Last Five Years)

Underneath Eric's leadership, Signature Theatre has won 90 Helen Hayes Awards and received 340 nominations for artistic excellence in theatre. Over the course of his career, Eric has directed over 80 productions at Signature and received 6 Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Direction and 28 nominations. Eric has directed over 80 productions at Signature Theatre and served as the Artistic Director of the Sondheim Celebration at The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he directed Sunday in the Park with George, and Passion. He also directed Mame, First You Dream: the Music of Kander and Ebb, and Follies at the Kennedy Center. On Broadway, his productions include Putting it Together starring Carol Burnett, Glory Days, Million Dollar Quartet and the Tony-nominated Follies. In the West End/London, he directed The Witches of Eastwick and Million Dollar Quartet. He has also directed at the Mark Taper Forum, Goodman Theatre, Arena Stage and Disneyland. He currently has productions of Million Dollar Quartet in Chicago, Las Vegas and on national tour. 

Leah presents "Passover" (Elegies)

This second master class with Eric was a relaxed and enjoyable experience for all. As the students presented cuts of songs they would be performing for an upcoming casting session, Eric interspersed words of wisdom and suggestions. Some of the most potent adjustments included things such as emotional vocal variation throughout a piece, visualization of whom you want to be singing a song to, and contextualizing an audition song. To Eric and other theatre heads around the DC metro area, one of the most important skills a performer can demonstrate is the ability to remain versatile throughout a performance / audition. As Eric stated, when you are auditioning for someone for the first time it is likely the first time they are seeing you. "The first time someone meets you is the only first impression you'll get to make on them." Therefore, it is best to leave a solid impression on those behind the casting table in regards to you. You want to be seen as flexible, supportive, and most importantly easy to work with.  

With another masterclass under their belts, the Overture students are one step closer to the Showcase this Saturday at 11:00 AM. We would love to extend an invitation to you, to see these brilliantly talented young men and women perform on the MAX Theatre stage. The performance is free and unticketed. Doors open at 10:30 AM.

Emily gets into her performance of "How 'Bout a Dance?" (Bonnie and Clyde)

Read More

A Multi-Talented People Who Need People

For the next two weeks, Alexandra, one of our many talented Overtures students, is taking over our blog. Check back for daily updates and come to the Overtures showcase Saturday at 11 AM in Signature's MAX Theatre! 

Wednesday, June 26

We were never told that Overtures would be easy. We have come to expect the highs, the lows, the tears when our confidence waned and the moments of pure joy as we make new discoveries. Through it all, we have also come to create incredible friendships with our fellow company members.

Competition in acting is partly inevitable and can be stiff, but there are also strong bonds formed through shared trials and successes. A master class with Signature’s Artistic Director, Eric Schaeffer this evening reminded us, “There is no better family than your theater family.” For the six weeks of rehearsal, the month or so of a run, or for the two weeks of a musical theater intensive, your company is family. They see you at your best and your worst. They are there to give you a word of encouragement, share song suggestions, or give an honest opinion about your audition outfit. We can learn so much from our family.

Outside of a classroom we do not often have the opportunity to see other actors work and gain insight from their processes. Overtures has given us the chance to see how someone else does it. Of course we have been sponges to every note and piece of advice our instructors have imparted to us, but we have also benefited greatly from watching our cohorts take on their own challenges. With the incredible range of experience, training, ideas and personalities among our 17 company members, there is plenty to learn from.

And so, as we anxiously prepare for tomorrow’s casting session in front of four of Washington’s biggest casting directors - worrying over 32 bars and our monologue choices, frantically printing headshots and resumes, hopefully getting at least a little sleep - we can all keep one very important thing in mind: as our adrenaline rushes and apprehension takes over, we will have a 17-person family smiling back at us because they have seen how far we have come and how much, much further we will all go. 

Overtures students chat during a break in their master class with Eric Schaeffer.

Read More

Today in Theatre History: Re-Imagining the Past

TODAY IN THEATRE HISTORY: June 12th

In the “Today in Theatre History” series, we take a specific event in theatre history and use it as a starting point for discussion about aspects of theatre – past, present, and future.

By Irene Casey, Education Intern 

On June 12th, 1977 the original Broadway production of Pippin closed after 1,944 performances
 

The cast of the 1972 Broadway production of Pippin.Source: http://dramaleague.org/blog/2012/03/12/diane-paulus-to-stage-new-pippin-at-a-r-t-this-winter/ 

Broadway today is filled with "revivals." But what do people mean when they say that something is a revival? That the show has already been produced somewhere? Or that it has already been on Broadway? How different are revivals from the original production? Typically, a revival means a new production of an old show, which brings us to what happened today in theatre history: the original Broadway production of Pippin closing in 1977.

The original Broadway production of Pippin opened on October 13, 1972 (after a try out in D.C.). Pippin's book was written by Roger O. Hirson, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, and was originally directed by Bob Fosse. Fosse saw the musical, which follows a medieval prince as he becomes embroiled with a troupe of players on his quest to find his place in the word, as a surreal experience and wanted his production to disturb audiences.

Since its first production, Pippin has been performed all over the country and the world. This year, for the first time, Pippin returned to Broadway. The revival was developed at the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) and directed by Diane Paulus. Just this week, it won four Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical and Best Direction of a Musical. While the A.R.T. revival differed from the original production by trimming the first musical number and using an alternate ending, the biggest change was the way that Paulus envisioned the players. Instead of a troupe of actors, they became a troupe of circus performers, filling the musical with wild, bold spectacle. 

Paulus's revival of Pippin departs from the original in several ways. Major re-imaginings of shows are not out of the ordinary today. Whenever directors approach scripts, they think about how they want the story to be told. Each production is different because each production has different directors, designers and actors developing it. It's true that some productions stick fairly closely to the interpretation of the original production, while others take the musical or play in an entirely different direction, choosing to highlight or introduce different elements in the show. More and more productions of classic musicals and plays are closer to being adaptations than simply revivals, with directors re-imagining them to bring them into the modern day. 

Signature is know for taking big musicals and performing them in our black box theatres, creating intimate original stagings of shows that were often originally seen in giant proscenium theatres.

Signature's production of Les Miserables transformed the musical. Trevor Nunn's internationally acclaimed original production, relied heavily upon a turntable in its design. But director Eric Schaeffer used a 3/4 thrust stage that pushed the action into the middle of the audience, creating a grittier production happening just feet away from the audience. Chairs hung from the ceiling and set pieces moved on and off from the stage, entering as one thing only to re-enter a scene later as something completely different.

In 2006, the Washington Post described Signature's Assassins as a "startling new staging." Director Joe Calarco (a Signature regular) went beyond merely placing the piece in a black box and onto a way that had never been seen before. The set was a literal mirror image of the audience: rows and rows of chairs on risers, all identical to what the audience was sitting in. This brought the idea that these disenfranchised assassins and would-be assassins 
are just like the rest of us home in frightening and unsettling ways.

What dramatic re-imaginings of blockbuster musicals will be seen on Signature's stages next season? First up, will be an environmental production of Miss Saigon, meaning the entire theatre will become part of the set. As soon as the audience enters the theatre, they will enter the broken world of 1970s Vietnam. Check it out here.

 

Read More

Page to Stage Recap: Sequins, the Season and the Art of Critiquing (Part II)

Our June Page to Stage had some very special guests (read about them in Part I).

What was meant to be simply a look at the past season and the upcoming season turned into a fascinating discussion of marketing, social media and the role of the theatre critic. It might have been one of the best Page to Stage events we’ve ever had (sorry if you missed it). Luckily we’ve got this two-part blog series to get you all caught up!

In our last blog post we gave an intro to our guests and a summary of their comments about Signature's 23^rd Season, which is drawing to a close, and 24^th Season, which will begin shortly. Today we’ll recap all of their other remarks, and we hope you’ll enjoy their interesting insights as much as we did.

As we began discussing Hunter and Maggie’s professional backgrounds, it came out that Hunter recently joined the American Theatre Critics Association. Which, of course, led to some great questions from our audience and our host (David Zobell, Education Director):

What impact do reviews have on ticket sales?

Maggie explained that reviews don’t have quite the same significance as they had in the past. One example she cited was Arena Stage’s 1999 production of Guys and Dolls. The show got great reviews. One in particular called the show “theatre nirvana.” The day that review came out Arena did $75,000 in ticket sales, which was an insane amount at that time. Reviews no longer have the same lift; a bad review can kill you, but a good review will only help you a little. It turns out that your audience is actually your most powerful marketing tool.

Hunter cited research that was done regarding what gets casual theatre attendees (aka your Average Joe) to see come see a show and apparently word of mouth is key. Case in point: Signature’s production of Dreamgirls started to steadily sell more tickets once the house had been filled once or twice (even resulting in an extension).

So why do we need theatre critics?

Not everyone has a neighbor, co-worker or friend that’s seen the latest production. That’s where the critic comes in – they take the place of (or augment) a friend/neighbor/colleague’s opinion. However, some critics today tend to write more of a “consumer report” (aka thumbs up/thumbs down, go/don’t go) rather than a piece of actual critical analysis. In Hunter’s opinion, a review should ideally be “a portal to understanding the show’s relationship to the audience.”

What constitutes a well-written review?

Both Maggie and Hunter agree that a well-written review acknowledges the artistry of a production. It is constructive and gives credit where credit is due without necessarily tearing down or building up a show. Maggie brought up Charles Isherwood’s review of last season’s rep pieces The Hollow and The Boy Detective Fails. While Isherwood didn’t necessarily love the shows, he gave Signature full credit for the difficulty of the task they were trying to achieve, showing support for the institution.

Intermixed with the above discussion on theatre critics and reviews was an equally fascinating look at the theatre’s relationship with social media.

Social media has changed theatre marketing. It augments public relations and is a great low-cost alternative to traditional marketing channels, but its use means the secrets of the rehearsal room are no longer secret and the line between being a representative of an institution and expressing personal feelings is easily blurred. Signature, like many other arts organizations, is in a “learn as you go” mode when it comes to social media. Every day is an experiment – sometimes things work, sometimes they don’t.

A particularly memorable comment of the evening was something along the lines of, "If a marketing director tells you they know how to harness social media, they're probably lying."

The trick of social media marketing is that you have to remember that everything you’re posting is an announcement. You don’t have the option of being selective in who sees what you post. Because of this, it’s easy for a theatre company to run into trouble. Maggie talked about the dilemma of not wanting artists to feel like they are beholden to some sort of party line, but at the same time recognizing that as artists they are often looked to as representatives of the theatre or the show for which they are working.

By this point we had reached the end of our hour with Maggie and Hunter (much to the audience’s dismay). David chose to end the night with the question, “What are the joys of working at Signature?”

Hunter was quick to respond with, “The staff is always singing,” which Maggie readily confirmed.

But in all seriousness, Hunter remarked that he appreciates being in a space where people are focused, but still creative and where co-workers care about one another. Maggie loves the work in general and also getting to work with Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer.

“It’s not always sunshine and roses,” she admitted, but both she and Eric care about the culture of Signature. Maggie is proud of Signature in the Schools and Overtures, as well as every Signature production: “It’s so worth it when you see a show!” She loves feeling connected to the organization and its mission.

A frequent audience member piped in, “There’s no doubt you guys care about the theatre and us.”

Amen to that.

The cast of The Boy Detective Fails.
Credit: Suchman

Read More

Company Seminar: Sondheim's Secrets Revealed

Source:http://bit.ly/14z2N8u

DID YOU KNOW?

• The original title of Company was "Threes."
• Dean Jones, who originated the role of Robert on Broadway, was shortly thereafter replaced by Larry Kert, who is also famous for originating the role of Tony in West Side Story.
• Company is considered one of the first "concept musical" - a musical where the show's central imagery, metaphor or message takes precedence over traditional narrative structure. 
• The recording session for the Original Cast Recording of Company stretched into the wee hours of the morning. Elaine Stritch, who played Joanne, was the last to leave. A critically acclaimed documentary, following the recording sessions for Company, was created by D.A. Pennebaker. 
• The first FOUR HOURS of rehearsal for the original production were spent on just the first page of the show.
• The final song of the show was changed three times before it was finalized.

Want to know more of the secrets behind Sondheim's Company? Or find out how Signature is putting their own spin on the show?

Register for Signature Seminar: Side by Side with the Creative Team of Signature's Company

Sign up today for a special six part look into Signature Theatre’s 2013 production of Company. This unique opportunity will take you right into the center of this timeless musical examination of marriage, loneliness, and commitment. This production is brought to life under the direction of Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer.

For more information about Signature Seminar or how to register, click here.
REGISTRATION CLOSES ON MONDAY, APRIL 22nd!

Enjoy a taste of this classic musical:

Read More