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FALL 2010 The Signature School offers a variety of classes in singing, acting, and dance, as well as Master Classes and Seminars. There are opportunities for students of all ages and experience levels. Instructors are members of the Signature staff or artistic associates closely associated with our programming. Class size is limited. Register soon. Click here to download and print the registration form. An Actor's Approach to Contemporary Drama (ages 18 and over) Focus on contemporary drama to explore and experience stimulus-response, motivation, characterization, interplay, text, and subtext. Through a combination of analysis and performance, actors will develop a greater skill set and the freedom to approach a wide range of modern material. Multiple Helen Hayes Award winner and Shakespeare Theatre Company member, Andrew Long applies his classical training to contemporary drama. Comedy: Seriously! (ages 18 and over, previous experience required.) An advanced course in comedy for the stage. The first lady of Washington Theatre, heralded comic virtuoso, and multiple Helen Hayes Award-winner Nancy Robinette will teach what she does best: comedy. Vigorously explore classical comic texts in intensive scene study, using tools designed to dynamically open up possibilities. Acting: First Lessons (ages 18 and over) Start or return to your journey in acting through relaxation, observation, concentration and listening exercises that will enhance your physical awareness and also develop improvisational skills. Gain a sense of what an actor uniquely brings to his work. Engage in exercises designed to stimulate your creative imagination and sense of possibility. Progress to monologue and scene work. Approaches to Acting (ages 13 – 17) Explore the craft of acting. Through a variety of techniques involving individual and group exercises, focus on the basic fundamentals—goals, specific intentions, objectives, beats. Learn to work with text—the language and the subtext—and develop skills to improve your vocal and physical awareness. David Zobell, member of the heralded Las Vegas Rainbow Company for young adults, joins with Signature's Education Director, Marcia Gardner to build a strong foundation for actors. Dancin' Broadway (ages 15 and over, beginning dance training required.) Love musical theater and wish you could perform some of those fantastic numbers from Broadway classics? Then this is the class for you! Learn choreography from Chicago, A Chorus Line, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and many more. Broadway comes to life in this choreography sampler. If you've taken the class before, try it again to improve your technique. Explore musical theater's world of dance with Helen Hayes Award winner and Signature's Resident Director, Matt Gardiner. Vocal Technique #1 (ages 13-17) Individual and group exercises will help you to personally explore your vocal capabilities. Acclaimed musical theater actress and instructor at The Catholic University of America's Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Tracy Lynn Olivera will teach techniques to enable you to protect your voice and use it more effectively. This workshop will provide tools vital to any serious young performer. Building Your Song Book (ages 17 and over) You sang your song, but now the casting director wants to know: "Do you have a ballad…or something legit…or…?" Every musical theater performer needs to have four or five selections that show the range and versatility of his/her voice at its dynamite best. Learn how to build a repertoire that works for you for any occasion. Get personal feedback on your performance, valuable information about your audition selections, and tips on preparing your music for an accompanist from Helen Hayes Award-winning Musical Director and Signature Theatre's Resident Musical Director, Jon Kalbfleisch. Viewpoints (ages 17 and over, open to anyone.) The two-session Master Class focuses on the Viewpoints: a vocabulary that allows an actor to approach a role from a physical standpoint, teaching him/her to be in the moment physically as well as emotionally. Come prepared to move. No previous experience required. SUNSET BOULEVARD This six-session seminar delves into Andrew Lloyd Webber's classic musical tale of love, lust, and revenge and the Signature approach that will bring it to the stage under the direction of Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer. Starring Florence Lacey (star of Broadway's Evita and Signature's Follies) as the faded screen star Norma Desmond, Sunset Boulevard is a noir musical and one of the greatest Hollywood tales ever told. With such stunning songs as "With One Look," "As If We Never Said Goodbye," and "Perfect Year," Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard is a lush romantic tragedy. With a cast and orchestra 38 strong, this production promises to be the musical event of the season! WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 7:30 – 8:30 PM TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 7:30 – 8:30 PM TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 7:00 – 8:30 PM FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3, 12:00 – 1:00 PM SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5, AT 7:30 PM TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 6:00 – 7:00 PM Join director Eric Schaeffer in Signature's Mead lobby for a glass of wine, or an age-appropriate beverage, and share a conversation about the Sunset Boulevard experience. Exchange your comments, questions, and critiques. Matthew Gardiner is the Resident Director at Signature Theatre, where he has directed [title of show], See What I Wanna See, and Singing Shakespeare and served as assistant director for The Little Dog Laughed, Les Miserables, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, ACE, The Visit, Witches of Eastwick, Allegro, One Red Flower, and the world premiere production of Nevermore, and the Signature and Broadway productions of Glory Days. In addition to his work at Signature Theatre, Matt has worked as a director and choreographer at Studio Theatre, where he worked on Jerry Springer the Opera and Reefer Madness, (2008 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical). His choreography credits include Dog Sees God, Hello Again, Edges: A New Song Cycle, Myths & Hymns, Lysistrata, The Last Five Years (DCAC), Sweet Charity, Cabaret, Marry Me A Little, and the ballets Jungle Alley Stomp and Dis-joint. He has also worked on productions at the Kennedy Center (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof starring George Grizzard and directed by Mark Lamos), MetroStage (The Last Five Years), a workshop of the latest Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical at the Public Theater in New York, and assisted John Carrafa on the Pittsburgh premiere of Urinetown. Matt holds a BFA in directing from Carnegie Mellon University. Marcia Gardner is the Education Director at Signature Theatre and is responsible for programming the Signature School, Overtures: Musical Theater Institute, Signature in the Schools, and free community events. Signature's educational and community outreach programs have received the Washington Post Award for Distinguished Community Service, the Arlington County Board of Education Outstanding Partnership Award, and the 2009 Elizabeth Campbell Award for excellence in education. Marcia has taught acting and directing at The University of Minnesota, Minnesota State University, and Hamline University, and has performed in regional theatres including The Guthrie Theatre, Berkeley Rep, Magic Theatre in San Francisco, Cleveland Playhouse, Minneapolis Children's Theatre, and the Colorado Shakespeare Festival. She received a Mary Goldwater Award for direction, Helen Hayes nominations for her acting work, and was named a WETA Hometown Hero in 2008 for her work in education. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Art in NYC and the University of California at Berkeley, she holds MFA degrees in directing and playwriting from the University of Minnesota. Tracy Lynn Olivera is a professional actress and an instructor at The Catholic University of America's Rome School of Music. A classically trained musician, she has appeared in many musicals. At Signature she has been seen in Les Misérables (Helen Hayes nomination), Anyone Can Whistle, ACE, The Happy Time, Merrily We Roll Along (Helen Hayes nomination), Allegro (Helen Hayes nomination), Follies, and Mack ‘n' Mable. She has also performed at the Kennedy Center in Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, Merrily We Roll Along, and Ragtime; at Ford's in Meet John Doe; at Olney Theatre Center in West Side Story, Grease, and Carousel (Helen Hayes nomination); and at MetroStage in The Last Five Years. She recently completed a Broadway run of Ragtime. Tracy is also a member of Rorschach Theatre Company. David Zobell is a recent graduate from Brigham Young University where he studied Theatre Arts with an emphasis in directing and minored in music. His BYU directing credits include Man to Man, Apologies, and Dancing at Lughnasa (Assistant Director). David has taught at The Rainbow Company in Las Vegas, Nevada and at Signature Theatre, where he recently worked as a casting/ administration/ education intern and served as Signature in the Schools' Directing Assistant for the production of Shakespeare, Wiill. He is currently the Production and Technical Assistant at Adventure Theater. Recent acting credits include Reuben ("Joseph" - Rainbow Company), Glubb ("Drums in the Night" - BYU), and Luke ("The Wrestling Season" - BYU). Andrew Long has appeared at the Shakespeare Theatre Company as Mark Antony in Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, Bill Walker in Major Barbara, Mortimer in Edward II, Lord Windermere in Lady Windermere's Fan, Hotspur/Pistol in Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, Coriolanus in Coriolanus, Posa in Don Carlos, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Claudius in Hamlet (Carter Barron), Edmund in King Lear, Gratiano in The Merchant of Venice, Bolingbroke in Richard II, Bosola in The Duchess of Malfi, and many others. He also received a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his performance in Frozen at Studio Theatre. He performed in Swansong at New York's Summer Play Festival. Regionally he was in Signature Theatre's I am my Own Wife, Saving Aimee with Carolee Carmello, and My Fair Lady. Most recently, he played Rene Gallimard in M Butterfly at the Guthrie Theater. He has also appeared as Richard in Richard 3 at the Denver Center, and appeared at the Arena Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Round House Theatre, Pioneer Theatre, Chautauqua Theater, Theater J, Olney, and the Oregon, Illinois, New Jersey and Alabama Shakespeare festivals. He holds a B.F.A. from the University of Nevada and an M.F.A. from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival/University of Alabama and has been a Master Teacher at the Shakespeare Theatre Company for over ten years. He is a 2010 Lunt Fontanne Fellow and a recipient of the 2007 Will Award. Eric Schaeffer is the co-founder and artistic director of Signature Theatre, recipient of the 2009 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Most recently at Signature, he directed Sweeney Todd, Show Boat, First You Dream: The Music of Kander and Ebb, 21/24: The Hollow, Les Misérables, Ace, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Glory Days, Merrily We Roll Along, The Witches of Eastwick, Saving Aimee, and Into the Woods. He has received six Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Direction, six Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Musical, and 26 Helen Hayes nominations for Outstanding Director. On Broadway, he directed Putting It Together, Glory Days, and is currently directing the Best-Musical-nominated Million Dollar Quartet. He has also directed Off-Broadway (Sweet Adeline, Under the Bridge), National Tours (big, Barbie™ Live in Fairytopia™), in London (The Witches of Eastwick), and regionally at Arena Stage (Sunday in the Park with George co-production), Ford's Theatre (Meet John Doe), the Kennedy Center (Mame starring Christine Baranski), Chicago's Goodman Theatre (Million Dollar Quartet), the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (Putting It Together with Carol Burnett), and more. In 2002, he was the artistic director of the acclaimed Sondheim Celebration at the Kennedy Center, directing Passion and Sunday in the Park with George. In spring 2010, he will be staging the Kennedy Center's production of Follies. He received his BFA from Kutztown University, and studied at Crewe and Alsager College of Visual Arts in Crewe, England. Other awards include the 2007 Arts Founder Award and 2002 Washingtonian of the Year. Jon Kalbfleisch has been Signature Theatre's Resident Music Director for Show Boat, First You Dream: The Music of Kander & Ebb, Les Misérables, Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, The Visit, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Merrily We Roll Along, The Witches of Eastwick, Into the Woods, Assassins, Pacific Overtures, The Highest Yellow, One Red Flower, Elegies, Allegro, Follies, 110 in the Shade, Grand Hotel, Putting It Together, Forum, A Stephen Sondheim Evening, Sweeney Todd, A Little Night Music, The Fix, Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, Cabaret, Wings, First Lady Suite, and Company. In the D.C. Area, he has also worked at the Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, National Theatre, Warner Theatre, Washington Ballet, Studio Theatre, and the Shakespeare Theatre. On Broadway, he was the Associate Conductor for Les Misérables. Other regional credits include Putting it Together, Martin Guerre, James Joyce's The Dead at the Mark Tanner Forum. Other venues include Carnegie Hall, Lawton Philharmonic Orchestra, Capitol Hill United Methodist Church, The White House, National Building Museum, The Library of Congress, U.S. Supreme Court, and "Good Morning America." He has received five Helen Hayes Awards and 20 nominations. He has a Masters degree of Music from Southern Methodist University. Florence Lacey has appeared in Signature's productions of Ace, Saving Aimee, Nevermore, The Rhythm Club, The Gospel According to Fishman, Follies, and One Red Flower. On Broadway, she appeared in Evita, The Grand Tour, Hello, Dolly!, Les Misérables, and An Evening with Jerry Herman. She has also appeared Off-Broadway in Sweet Feet, Elizabeth and Essex, Styne After Styne, and Under the Bridge and regionally at Kennedy Center: Sunday in the Park with George, Goodspeed: Pal Joey; and Connecticut Rep: A Little Night Music, Wings. Her awards include Theater World, MAC, Drama Logue, and Critics Outer Circle. Joe Calarco is an Artistic Associate at Signature Theatre, where he has received Helen Hayes awards for his direction of Ninjinsky's Last Dance, Side Show, Urinetown, and Assassins. Also at Signature Theatre, he has directed Elegies: a song cycle, and the world premieres of Nest and his own play In the Absence of Spring. His latest play. Walter Cronkite is Dead,opens this season at Signature. He also wrote My Vacation In Paris, Civil Wars, Salat, Aftershock, Eve of Destruction and Shakespeare, Will for Signature Theatre's Signature in the Schools program. His Off-Broadwaydirection credits include Playwrights Horizons: Floyd and Clea Under the Western Sky; Primary Stages: Boy, Second Stage: in the absence of spring (which he also wrote); Lucille Lortel: Sarah, Plain and Tall, The Summer of the Swans;The Transport Group: Bury The Dead, and he was the contributing book writer for The Audience; Dream Light Theatre Company: Fugitive Songs, Shakespeare's R&J (for which he was also the adaptor). Shakespeare's R&J won the Lucille Lortel Award and was also performed in the West End and Tokyo. He worked on the national tour of Ring of Fire. His regional credits include the world premier of Lincolnesque andThe Glass Menagerie at The Old Globe; he was the book writer and director of the world premiere of The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, the director of the world premiere of The Burnt Part Boys at Barrington Stage Company;the director of the recipient of the Barrymore Award for Best Musical, The Last Five Years, as well as Elegies, M. Butterfly;and The Light in the Piazza at the Philadelphia Theatre Co. He is one of New York Theatre Workshop's "usual suspects," and is a Drama League directing fellow. He also sits on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). He attended Ithaca College. Nancy Robinette has been a Washington, D.C. actress for over 25 years. She grew up in Arlington, participating in community acting classes through her schools and community groups here. She was an apprentice at 16 at Catholic University's Summer Theatre at St. Michael's Playhouse in Burlington, Vermont. After a class with Robert Prosky at Arena Stage, she majored in drama at the University of Kansas. She has taken several classes at the Studio Theatre in Washington, and appeared there and at the Source, Woolly Mammoth and other theatres in their early years, as well as working with some local film producers. She became a member of the Woolly Mammoth Company, and has steadily built up a body of work there and at the other Equity theatres in Washington, including Arena Stage, the Shakespeare Theatre and the Kennedy Center. She traveled to Sarajevo and Bosnia to tour a play with Scena Theater just before the war in Yugoslavia. She lived in New York for several years and five years ago returned to Arlington. Related work has included teaching at the Signature School and conducting classroom workshops for Signature in the Schools, and reading scripts for the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays. She is an Arena Stage Affiliate, and a 1998 Fox Fellow, and has received five Helen Hayes awards for her acting, as well as several other nominations. In 2006, she received the Shakespeare Theatre Company's Will Award for outstanding classical acting. Click here to download and print the registration form.
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4200 Campbell Ave. Arlington, Virginia 22206 |
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