Founded in 1989, Signature Theatre is a Tony Award-winning, non-profit
professional regional theater company that attracts some of the best and
brightest talent from the Washington D.C. metro area and New York,
entertaining more than 100,000 people a year in the D.C. area. Signature
produces contemporary musicals and plays, reinvents classic musicals and
develops its own new work. It also provides the community with engaging
educational and outreach programs.
Signature began working and performing out of Arlington’s Gunston Middle
School auditorium, before moving to an old auto garage they converted into
a theater where they would perform for 13 years. In 2007, Signature moved
into a beautiful new $16 million two-theater building that tripled its
former garage space and now serves as the cultural anchor of Arlington’s
Village at Shirlington.
Since its inception, Signature has produced 50 world premiere works,
including 19 new musical commissions, and is home to the largest musical
theater commissioning project in the United States, The American Musical
Voices Project.
I interviewed Signature’s publicist and former actor of the Theatre, James
Gardiner, to learn more about the Theatre and its many programs, and to
learn about James and his brother, Matthew, Associate Artistic Director at
Signature Theatre.
How did you and your twin brother, Matthew Gardiner, come to Signature
Theatre?
Matthew and I first came to Signature Theatre in 2003 as students of
“Overtures: The Musical Theater Institute,” which is a professional
training program that Signature runs for college students and recent
graduates. We were 19 at the time and we both knew about Signature and its
incredible reputation. I think both of us were determined to meet
Signature’s Artistic Director, Eric Schaeffer, and we saw the Overtures
program as a way to wedge our foot in the door. Since then, our roles at
Signature have evolved and changed. Matthew has gone from being assistant
director to resident director to associate artistic director, and I’ve been
everything from actor to playwright to publicist to content creator. Right
now, Matthew is in Seoul, Korea to stage the company’s hit revival of the
musical “Titanic” with an all-Korean cast.
You’ve performed in many of Signature’s productions over the years. Are
there a few that stand out as favorites?
Absolutely! I loved being a part of some of Signature’s big hit productions
like “Les Miserables” and “Chess,” but I really loved working on brand new
musicals the most. Signature is nationally renowned as a leader in the
creation of new musicals. Some of my favorites were “The Boy Detective
Fails” and “Spin.” The opportunity to create a role that no other actor has
touched before is thrilling. The show that undoubtedly had the biggest
impact on me was “Glory Days,” which was a musical that I wrote with one of
my best friends, Nick Blaemire. We premiered it at Signature in 2007, and
it went on to have one glorious (or not so glorious depending on how you
look at it) performance on Broadway.
How is Signature Theatre involved in the community?
Signature Theatre is very proud to be a part of the DC area, specifically
the Arlington community. Signature gives back to the community through
education and outreach programs. Outreach initiatives include an arts
education program for Northern Virginia high school students called
“Signature in the Schools,” a free public lecture series co-hosted by the
Arlington County Public Library, free workshops and an annual Open House
and Summer Concert that is free and open to the entire community.
What are some of Signature Theatre’s programs for youth?
“Signature in the Schools” is our flagship education program. It’s a
multifaceted program that encompasses workshops for high school English,
social studies and theater classes, theatrical training for young
performers and technicians and the creation of an original play. The play
is directed, designed and written by professional Signature artists, and
features a cast and crew of Arlington high school students and an
Equity-actor. We also offer the “Stage One Summer Training Program” for
teenagers who want an in-depth experience in the world of professional
musical theater.
You’re now a publicist for Signature Theatre. Can you tell me about
your job and what your favorite part of the job is?
My official title is Deputy Director, Creative Content and Publicity, which
means I do a lot of different things in the marketing world at Signature.
As a publicist, I’m constantly looking for ways to promote the theater and
our productions, and I love working with all of the great writers who are
covering the arts on a local and national level. At Signature, I’m also
involved with content creation. I’m responsible for the commercials that
you might see online or on TV. I enjoy working with the artists and the
rest of the marketing team to find new and exciting ways to promote the
work. So even though I’m no longer performing, I’m definitely still using
the right side of my brain!
You and your wife, actress Erin Driscoll, are now proud parents of an
adorable little boy and you have a baby girl on the way. Do you hope
your children will someday follow the Gardiner family footsteps and
venture into theater?
I hope that they both find something that makes them as passionate as I am
about theater. If that happens to be theater, that’s terrific. If it’s
something totally unrelated, that would be terrific, too. My parents were
both computer programmers, so the fact that they ended up with a pair of
musical theater-obsessed twins is sort of a mystery. The best thing my
parents did, though, was to unequivocally support us and our dreams. I
intend to do the same for my kids.
To learn more about Signature Theatre and its programs, visit
sigtheatre.org.
