Signature Theatre Company Nominated for 16 AUDELCO Awards

The Signature Theatre Company 2006-2007 season productions of August Wilson's Two Trains Running and King Hedley II have been nominated for 16 AUDELCO Awards, which recognize excellence in black theatre.  The winners will be announced on November 19 at a ceremony held at Aaron Davis Hall (138 Convent Avenue, at 135th Street).

August Wilson's Two Trains Running and King Hedley II have been nominated in the following categories:

TWO TRAINS RUNNING
Dramatic Production of the Year
Director, Dramatic Production – Lou Bellamy
Lighting Design – Robert Wierzel
Costume Design – Mathew J. Lefebvre
Sound Design – Brett R. Jarvis
Lead Actor – Frankie Faison
Supporting Actor – Chad L. Coleman
Supporting Actor – Ron Cephas Jones

KING HEDLEY II
Dramatic Production of the Year
Director, Dramatic Production – Derrick Sanders
Set Design – David Gallo
Lighting Design – Thom Weaver
Lead Actor – Russell Hornsby
Lead Actress – Lynda Gravatt
Supporting Actor – Stephen McKinley Henderson
Supporting Actor – Lou Myers

Two Trains Running ran November 7, 2006 through January 28, 2007 and King Hedley II ran February 20, 2007 through April 22, 2007 at Signature Theatre Company's Peter Norton Space (555 West 42nd Street).  Seven Guitars, the first production of Signature's 2006-2007 season dedicated to the work of August Wilson, received 5 AUDELCO Awards in 2006.

AUDELCO (Audience Development Committee, Inc), a not-for profit membership organization, was founded in 1973 by Mrs. Vivian Robinson (1924- 1996) and incorporated in the State of New York.  AUDELCO was established to generate more recognition, understanding and awareness of the arts in African-American communities. The purpose of AUDELCO is to assist not-for-profit theatre and dance companies to generate more revenue, to improve public relations, and to provide a cultural grounding for African-Americans and other ethnic minorities.  AUDELCO offers access to new audiences and acts as a conduit to channel resources to the not-for-profit arts community.  The geographical area served by AUDELCO consists of the five boroughs of New York City and the immediate East Coast Area (New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia).  For more information about the AUDELCO Awards, please call (212) 368-6906 or visit www.audelco.net.

Signature Theatre Company, founded in 1991 by James Houghton, exists to honor and celebrate the playwright.  Signature makes an extended commitment to a playwright's body of work, and during this journey, the writer is engaged in every aspect of the creative process. For the past 16 years, the Company has devoted an entire season to the work of a single playwright, including re-examinations of past writings as well as New York and world premieres. By championing in-depth explorations of a living playwright's body of work, the Company delivers an intimate and immersive journey into the playwright's singular vision.

Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, Horton Foote, Adrienne, Kennedy, Maria Irene Fornes, John Guare, Bill Irwin, Romulus Linney, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, and Lanford Wilson.  Signature remains deeply committed to these season-long residencies, and during the company's tenth and fifteenth anniversaries, Signature introduced an additional residency, the Legacy Program.  The Legacy Program invites past playwrights-in-residence back to Signature through two series: the Signature Series, which presents "signature," or more well-known works; and the Premiere Series, which presents New York and world premieres.

Since 2005, Signature has been committed to presenting world-class theatre at an affordable price through The Signature Ticket Initiative, which will offer subsidized $20 tickets through the Company's twentieth anniversary season in 2011. The seventeenth through twentieth seasons will include the work of Charles Mee, The Negro Ensemble Company, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Tony Kushner, as well plays by Edward Albee and other past playwrights-in-residence as part of Signature's Legacy Program.  Signature, its productions and its resident writers have been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize, 10 Lucille Lortel Awards, 10 OBIE Awards, 5 Drama Desk Awards, 2 Outer Critics Circle Awards, and six AUDELCO Awards, among many other distinctions.  The National Theatre Conference recognized the company as the 2003 Outstanding National Theatre of the Year. For more information on Signature please visit us on-line at www.signaturetheatre.org