Despite the Snow, the Show Went On at Arlington's Signature Theatre

By Kenneth Jones
08 Feb 2010

Mid-Atlantic states were slammed by a blizzard that dumped more than two feet of snow the weekend of Feb. 5, prompting power outages, closed roads, canceled flights and shutdowns of public venues — including theatres in the region.

Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, for example, canceled all performances of its production of The Rivalry Feb. 5-7. Across the Potomac River, however, the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, canceled most weekend shows but shoveled out enough to offer its Feb. 7 evening performance of I Am My Own Wife in the company's ARK Theatre.

"On Sunday night…15 brave souls" attended I Am My Own Wife, Signature's Suzanne Stephens told Playbill.com. The theatre seats 110.

The troupe also went ahead with its ongoing tech and dress rehearsal of Sweeney Todd between Friday and Sunday. (The production is to begin performances on Feb. 9 in the MAX Theatre.)

Signature, she said, was transformed into "Camp Sweeney" Friday and Saturday nights. Over 40 people — directors, designers, actors, stagehands, musicians and staffers — needed to finish "teching" the show, and were put up in the Shirlington Hilton Garden Inn across the street from the theatre.

The Sunday dress rehearsal, attended by "50 valiant friends of the theatre," went off without a hitch, Stephens said, and personnel made it to their own homes by Sunday night.

Stephens said that just in time for the revival's Tuesday launch is a fresh weather update: More snow is forecast.

This time, the DC area will share the snow with New York City, which only got a dusting over the weekend.

For more information, visit www.sig-online.org (or weather.com, for that matter).