Signature Theatre Hosts Pride Night Celebration 3/25

Signature Theatre will be hosting their traditional "Pride Night" on Friday, March 25, 2011 - a special event for members of the GLBT community. The evening includes a world premiere performance of the musical comedy And the Curtain Rises -- followed by a spirited one-hour post-show cocktail and hors d'oeuvres reception.

To accommodate DC residents who do not have their own mode of transportation, Signature has teamed up with Fleet Transportation, and is offering shuttle service from Dupont Circle on P Street (across from the CVS) directly to the Theatre. The shuttle will leave for the Theatre at 6:30pm. For the return trip, the bus will depart Signature at 11:30pm back to Dupont Circle.

The roundtrip bus ticket is $5 (payable in cash at the pick-up point). Tickets for the performance can be purchased through the box office at (703) 820-9771.

Reservations for the shuttle MUST be made through the Signature Box Office at the time of ticket purchase. Seats on the shuttle are limited and subject to availability.

The March 25th performance of And the Curtain Rises begins at 8:00pm

"Pride Night" tickets are $87 and $82 (includes reception w/ complimentary wine and beer and light appetizers). The $5 round-trip bus ticket is in addition to the ticket.

And the Curtain Rises will begin preview performances on March 17th and runs through April 10, 2011. Directed by Tony Award® nominee Kristin Hanggi (Broadway's Rock of Ages), the musical marks the third production presented as part of Signature's groundbreaking American Musical Voices Project, the largest commissioning program for new musicals in the country. Music was composed by Joseph Thalken, one of five composers to garner Signature's prestigious Musical Theatre Composer Grant. The book for And the Curtain Rises is written by Michael Slade with lyrics by Mark Campbell.

Loosely inspired by true events, And the Curtain Rises tells the outrageous story of how the first American musical - 1866's legendary The Black Crook - was born. Audiences will witness novice producer William Wheatley as he frantically struggles to save his mess of a play. With a dreadful script, an uncompromising author, a cast on the verge of revolt, and scenery and costumes destroyed, the production is in shambles. Conditions are further complicated when a French ballet troupe is forced to seek refuge in their theatre after their theater burns down next door. Rather than throw in the towel and count his losses, Wheatley decides to take control and turn lemons into lemonade.

ABOUT SIGNATURE

Recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award®, Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature has presented 32 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.

In addition to hosting the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been home to such theatre luminaries as Chita Rivera, George Hearn, Hunter Foster, Emily Skinner, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature composer, Stephen Sondheim. Since its founding in 1989, Signature has won 70 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region's professional theater and has been honored with 293 nominations.

Signature is partially supported by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and by a gift from Arlington County through the Arlington Commission for the Arts and the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources.

Directions

The Signature Theatre is located at 4200 Campbell Avenue (22206) off I-395 at the Shirlington exit. After the exit, blue Signature signs mark the way to the theatre. Free parking is available in two adjacent public garages. Please note that Campbell Avenue is a new street and some GPS online mapping systems do not yet recognize Signature Theatre's address. For directions visit http://signature-theatre.org/map.htm.

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