Signature Theatre Company Explained

Signature Theatre Company is an American theatre based in Manhattan, New York. It was founded in 1991 by James Houghton and is now led by Artistic Director Paige Evans.[1] Signature is known for their season-long focus on one artist's work.[2] It has been located in the Pershing Square Signature Center since 2012.

About

Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, David Henry Hwang, Horton Foote, María Irene Fornés, Athol Fugard, John Guare, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, A. R. Gurney, Naomi Wallace and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company.[2]

Among its programs are the Residency One Program, celebrating a single playwright with multiple productions over the course of a year, and Legacy Program, which brings those playwrights back for additional productions. Signature also introduced Residency Five, a program that will feature early- and mid-career playwrights and guarantee them three full productions over the course of a five-year residency. In honor of its 20th anniversary, Signature launched a subsidized ticketing initiative designed to improve Off Broadway accessibility.[3] [4]

Signature, its productions and its resident writers have been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize, a 2014 Regional Theatre Tony Award, eleven Lucille Lortel Awards, fifteen Obie Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, and thirty-two AUDELCO Awards. The National Theatre Conference recognized the company as the 2003 Outstanding National Theatre of the Year.[5]

History

James Houghton founded the theatre in a black box theater at 31 Bond Street in the NoHo neighborhood in 1991 at the Kampo Cultural Center (a venue that had focused on promoting Japanese calligraphy). The theatre focused on having a resident playwright of national stature with its first playwright Romulus Linney and Houghton led the company until just prior to his death in 2016.[2]

In 1997 the theatre moved to 555 West 42nd Street on Theatre Row.[2] In 1999 software developer Peter Norton donated $600,000 for renovations to the 42nd Street venue which was renamed Signature Theatre Company at the Peter Norton Space.[6] Their lease at this location was scheduled to expire at the end of 2011, and the company began a search for a long term home.

In 2004 it was announced that the Signature had signed on to be an anchor tenant of a new $700 million performing arts center on the site of the destroyed World Trade Center site. It was to be designed by Gehry Partners LLP and Snøhetta.[7] By 2007, plans for the WTC Performing Arts Center remained stalled, the city offered Fiterman Hall as a possible home, but that plan also fell through.[8]

In October 2008, Signature announced the creation of the Pershing Square Signature Center, a block east of their former home, which opened in 2012 and was designed by Frank Gehry Architects, the architect's first project for a theatre company.[9] [10] The space reflected a significant increase in Signature's audience capacity.[11] The Pearl Theatre moved into the old Signature space but that company declared bankruptcy in 2017.

Paige Evans took over for Houghton as Artistic Director in 2016,[12] and in 2018, Harold Wolpert took over from Erika Mallin as Executive Director.[13] Wolpert remained through June 30, 2021.[14]

Awards and recognition

Tony Awards

Pulitzer Prize

Obie Awards[17]

Drama Desk Awards[19]

Lucille Lortel Awards[20]

Outer Critics Circle Award[21]

AUDELCO Awards[22]

Special Awards & Recognition

Notes and References

  1. http://www.signaturetheatre.org/about/index.aspx About
  2. News: Simonson . Robert . 2016-08-02 . James Houghton, Founder of Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre, Dies . en . Playbill . 2022-01-04.
  3. News: Jones III . Marshall . 2016-12-22 . Is the Ticket Price Right? . en-US . 2022-01-04.
  4. Web site: NYC's Signature Theater Sells One Millionth Low Cost Ticket . Zara. Christopher. 22 May 2019. Fastcompany.com.
  5. http://www.nationaltheatreconference.org/outstanding-theater-award.html Outstanding theatrer award
  6. Web site: Peter Norton Signs His Name on OB's Signature; Fornes Season Starts Sept. 14. Aug 19, 1999. Playbill. Mar 21, 2020.
  7. Web site: Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. www.renewnyc.com. Mar 21, 2020.
  8. News: Signature Theater's Hunt for New Home Continues. Robin. Pogrebin. The New York Times . Aug 8, 2007. Mar 21, 2020.
  9. News: 2012-01-27 . Gehry-designed New York theater to open with $25-million gift . en-US . Los Angeles Times Blog . 2022-01-04.
  10. News: 2012-01-31 . Frank Gehry's Pershing Square Signature Center Debuts . en . Architechural Record . 2022-01-04.
  11. News: Iovine . Julie V. . 2012-03-31 . Frank Gehry, Pershing Square Signature Center . Wall Street Journal . 2022-01-04 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151123002428/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203918304577239272399677412 . 2015-11-23.
  12. News: Simonson . Robert . 2016-03-13 . What's New in Regional Theatres? New Artistic Directors Are Shaping the National Scene . en . 2022-01-04.
  13. News: Clement . Olivia . 2018-03-07 . Harold Wolpert Named Executive Director of Off-Broadway's Signature Theatre . en . Playbill . 2022-01-04.
  14. News: 2021-05-27 . Exec Director Harold Wolpert to Depart Signature Theatre . en-US . 2022-01-04.
  15. "Regional Theatre Tony Award," Tony Awards, 2014. http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/artists/201404261398551516327.html
  16. "Drama," The Pulitzer Prize Website, 2008. http://www.pulitzer.org/bycat/Drama
  17. "Obies," Village Voice, 2008. http://www.villagevoice.com/obies/
  18. Obie Awards, 2017 Winners
  19. "Drama Desk Awards," The Drama Desk Awards, 2008. http://dramadesk.com
  20. "History," Lucille Lortel Foundation, 2008. Web site: Lucille Lortel Foundation . 2008-07-17 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080706140451/http://www.lortel.org/LLT_theater/history . 2008-07-06 .
  21. "Award Archives," Outer Critics Circle, 2008. Web site: Archived copy . 2009-04-21 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090423125557/http://www.outercritics.org/AwardArchives.aspx . 2009-04-23 .
  22. "AUDELCO," Audience Development Committee, Inc., 2008. http://www.audelco.net/home.html
  23. "AUDELCO," Audience Development Committee, Inc., 2012. http://www.audelco.net/2012vivwinners.html
  24. "The Best Theatre of 1993," Time Magazine, 3 November 2005.

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