BWW Interviews: Direct From Signature with Matthew Gardiner

The soul of an artist is on full display in Signature Theatre's 14-15 season-opening production of Sunday in the Park with George, and you'll find the artist's soul behind the scenes in Matthew Gardiner, Associate Artistic Director of Signature Theatre, and the show's director (left, photo by Christopher Mueller).

If there's an ironclad requirement for success working in the arts, and theatre in particular, it might be captured in a word: passion. You may know it as that itch that keeps you coming back as an audience member, but it must be what drives you in life to make the arts your career.

My recent conversation with Matthew reminds me of that: peek into the heart of a theatre professional, and you'll find the even bigger heart of a true storyteller; someone for whom telling stories is essential to the human experience, and who believes that those stories, and the way we tell them, help make us better people in this world.

Take for example the Sondheim show word-association game I played with Matthew during our interview. I asked him to respond to the names of several Sondheim works with one word reactions. Here are Matthew's words: fantasy, silly, connection, longing, regret, romance, misunderstood, acceptance, brilliant and transcendent. Which word each show evoked is less important than the realization that in that string of words, is a roller coaster of emotions, qualities and experiences that make us human (you can see the show-word associations at the end of this article!).

Matthew's substantial work with Signature, a theatre known for its expertise in bringing out the best in the composer's work, has given him a lot of experience examining what Sondheim is saying to him, and to all the audiences that come to see a Sondheim show at Signature,

But I wanted to know specifically about Matthew's first memory/experience with Sunday in the Park with George, and he told me about being in middle school, and seeing a video of the original production starring Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters, falling love with the score and becoming obsessed with Bernadette Peters and her work; a fascination that became that driving passion for musical theatre that would put him on a path to his life's work. "I find no piece easier to connect with as an artist," Matthew says about Sunday.

The show bowed on Broadway thirty years ago, in 1984, winning the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1985, and I asked what Matthew felt has resonated so deeply with audiences over the years. "It's a show dealing with what it really means to be an artist," he said, "that need to close yourself off from the world in order to focus on one thing; but it's really also about the complexity of the human heart." Matthew also reflects on how that complexity is reflected in the score of the show, and says that "Lapine and Sondheim really challenged the accepted structure of musical theatre, and expanded what it could be." Specifically, "the use of songs to advance the plot, which required the audience to really listen to the lyrics." Sondheim's approach to the integration of story and song, Matthew maintains, "is why contemporary musical theatre writers write the way they do today."

When Matthew was asked to helm Sunday by Eric Schaeffer, Signature's Artistic Director, he went to work getting to know the show and its story from a director's perspective, researching George Seurat, working with the design team and finding just the right actors. Matthew explained "I wanted to communicate the contemporary idea of what Seurat was dealing with, yet keep it rooted in the era, and retain the comical without being jokey." He, and two-time Helen Hayes-award winner Dan Conway, the set designer, both wanted to show the artist living in the canvas, not hiding behind it.

Telling the story of an obsessed and solitary painter, with characters that shift from two to three dimension throughout the first act, and making it reach out and touch a very three-dimensional audience, is a definite challenge, and I asked him what he wanted to illuminate about George and Dot, George's muse and companion, played by Claybourne Elder and Brynn O'Malley, respectively: "For George, I wanted to find the right actor who was accessible to the audience and would remain likable, while also bringing a necessary stillness and history to the role," qualities he said that are innate, and really can't be "directed." "Clay had that, and we were immediately on the same page, that this was one character and one journey throughout the two acts." For Dot, Matthew said, "it was most important to find someone who could convincingly bring the maternal qualities to the character, and not simply be coquettish, and then carry that maternal side through Act II...Brynne had that ability from the start."

That transition from Act I to Act II which spans almost a century and allows us to watch a complete story of the artist developing the ability to connect his art and his life off the canvas, Matthew said, is critical to get right, so that the audience is taken on "one journey." "I hope they get swept away by the musicality, and stay connected to the characters, as the story shifts temporally."

Matthew's first show as a director, was Cabaret, when he was a 15 year old high school drama kid; not a small feat. While he recognizes his success with that show in the context of being just 15, we talked about how the range of life experiences and his "richer and deeper understanding" of himself, has brought increased depth and a real pride in his work as a director now. He feels very fortunate to have what he describes as a "home base" at Signature, that allows him to work on a range of projects, from shows such as the 2012 sold out production of the new play Really Really to a well-known musical such as Sunday. It also allows him to explore non-Signature projects, such as last season's The Laramie Project with Ford's Theatre, and Roundhouse Theatre's Ordinary Days.

How does Matthew, the director, approach shows that may not be on his list of favorites? "I always find reasons to love the show as I work on it, and by the end, I've convinced myself it's my favorite show ever! But in hindsight, I realize I was probably in denial," he chuckles. His dream show to direct? "Jelly's Last Jam," a challenge to be sure, he acknowledges, but he loves the music and how well it tells the story of an outsider trying to fit in.

Speaking of high points, I asked Matthew for his favorite moment with the cast of this production, and he readily answered: "the first time the entire company sang the song Sunday together was very emotional; it clearly meant something to everyone in the room."

And that's what Matthew Gardiner hopes to bring to Sunday in the Park with George's audiences...he wants it to mean something to you. Go find that meaning for yourself at Signature through September 21! http://www.signature-theatre.org/shows/sunday

By the way, curious as to which Sondheim shows evoked each of Matthew's one word associations? Here goes:

Into The Woods: Fantasy
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Silly
Company: Connection
Passion: Longing
Merrily We Roll Along: Regret
A Little Night Music: Romance
Assassins: Misunderstood
West Side Story: [his favorite musical!] Acceptance
Sweeney Todd: Brilliant
Sunday in the Park with George: Transcendent