ARLINGTON, VA.: Signature Theatre has announced its 2017-18 season, which will feature four D.C. premieres including John and The Scottsboro Boys.
“The 28th season at Signature is one that deals with every aspect of the American experience—celebrating great American composers such as Sondheim and the Gershwins, to stories inspired by American history and music and new works by today’s most exciting voices—we cover almost every decade of the past century with experiences that shaped who we are as a nation,” said artistic director Eric Schaeffer in a statement.
The season will open with A Little Night Music (Aug. 15-Oct. 8), with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, about a series of love affairs between an unlikely group. Holly Twyford and Bobby Smith will star. Eric Schaeffer will direct.
Next up will be the D.C. premiere of David Javerbaum’s An Act of God (Oct. 3-Nov. 26). D.C. actor Tom Story will play God, as he and his archangels deliver some comedic wisdom. Eleanor Holdridge will direct.
The following show will be George and Ira Gershwin’s Crazy For You (Nov. 7, 2017-Jan. 14, 2018), with book by Ken Ludwig and co-conceived by Ludwig and Mike Ockrent, about a banker who revives a small-town theatre full of classic Gershwin songs. Matthew Gardiner will direct.
The world premiere of Annalisa Dias’s 4,380 Nights (Jan. 16-Feb. 18, 2018) will be next. The play is the first work from the theatre’s Heidi Thomas Writers’ Initiative and is about two men who have been held in Guantanamo Bay Detention Center since Sept. 11, 2001. The production will be part of the 2018 Women’s Voices Theatre Festival. Kathleen Akerley will direct.
Next up will be the world premiere of Light Years (Feb. 1-April 17, 2018), with book, music, and lyrics by Robbie Schaefer. The musical is about the relationship between father and son. Eric Schaeffer will direct.
The D.C. premiere of Annie Baker’s John (April 3-29, 2018) will be next. The play follows a Brooklyn couple who spend a weekend at a bed and breakfast in Gettysburg, Penn. Joe Calarco will direct.
The following show will be the D.C. premiere of Girlfriend (April 17-June 10, 2018), with book by Todd Almond and music and lyrics by Matthew Sweet. Based on Sweet’s alternative rock album, the musical explores the first time love between a college-bound jock and an aimless boy in Nebraska in 1993. Matthew Gardiner will direct.
The final show of the season will be the D.C. premiere of The Scottsboro Boys (May 22-July 1, 2018), with music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and book by David Thompson. The musical is based on an event in 1931 when nine young African-American boys were falsely accused of a crime and sentenced to death. Joe Calarco will direct.
Founded in 1989, Signature Theatre produces new musicals and plays, reinvents classic musicals, and develops new work.
