VA's Signature Revives Sondheim & Laurents' Anyone Can Whistle for Oct. 6 Concert
By Kenneth Jones
06 Oct 2008
Signature Theatre, respected for its interpretations of Stephen Sondheim musicals, takes on the Sondheim-Arthur Laurents cult favorite from 1964, Anyone Can Whistle, in a special 8 PM Oct. 6 concert at the Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center in Alexandria, VA.
Tickets are still available for the one-night-only event.
Signature artistic director Eric Schaeffer directs the performance, "a rare opportunity to experience Sondheim's wacky, intelligent, and highly unconventional work."
The company's Second Annual Great American Musicals Concert, Anyone Can Whistle stars two-time Helen Hayes Award winner Will Gartshore, Signature favorite Tracy Lynn Olivera and Karlah Hamilton, who received a Helen Hayes Award for her comic turn as the town battle-ax in Signature's The Witches of Eastwick. The 19 singers in the cast and the Signature Theatre orchestra will be conducted by Signature's resident musical director Jon Kalbfleisch.
The cast of Anyone Can Whistle also includes Christopher Bloch, Steven Cupo, Sherri L. Edelen, Kathryn Fuller, James Gardiner, Katie Keyser, Bob McDonald, Patrick McMahan, Jobari Parker-Namdar, Kimberly Sherbach, Chris Sizemore, Stephen Gregory Smith, Laura Wehrmeyer, Hannah Willman, Weslie Woodley and Rachel Zampelli. Matthew Gardiner serves as associate director, and Michael Baron is associate producer.
Tickets range from $40 to $150 and are on sale by calling Ticketmaster at (703) 573-7328 or by visiting www.signature-theatre.org.
According to Signature, "An absurdist fantasy-cum-political satire, Anyone Can Whistle is the story of a corrupt mayoress (Karlah Hamilton) who fakes a miracle to revitalize her bankrupt town, a rational nurse (Tracy Lynn Olivera) who's determined to expose the fraud, and a patient mistaken for a psychiatrist (Will Gartshore) who intends to sit back and enjoy the chaos. With a book by Arthur Laurents, Anyone Can Whistle contains a strong message about the role of the individual in conformist society, with still-relevant barbs aimed at government, religion, and science."
Angela Lansbury made her stage musical debut as the mayoress Cora Hoover Hooper in the original production.
Schaeffer stated, "Continuing the Signature tradition, this Sondheim musical is the 19th produced by our company. We have a terrific Washington cast and orchestra and we're looking forward to giving many Sondheim fans their first opportunity to experience Anyone Can Whistle live."
The Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center is located on the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College, 3001 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA.
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Signature is a non-profit professional theater company dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. To date, Signature has presented over 25 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces. In addition to the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been a home to such theatre luminaries as John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company's signature, Stephen Sondheim.
Signature has been nominated for 234 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the professional theater and has been honored with 59 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Musical in 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005, and 2006, and Outstanding Play in 1999.
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