This is a rare case of a resident Equity theatre staging two new musicals in full productions in rep. The Tony Award-honored Signature bills the Signature commission initiative as the American Musical Voices Project: Next Generation "World Premiere Repertory Series." The eight-week schedule plays in the Signature's MAX space.
Heading the cast of The Boy Detective Fails by librettist Joe Meno and composer-lyricist Adam Gwon are Helen Hayes Award winner Stephen Gregory Smith (Signature's Les Miserables, 110 in the Shade) as the Boy Detective and Anika Larsen (Broadway's Avenue Q and Xanadu on Broadway) as Penny.
Here's a first look at the show:
Performances of both shows will play every Saturday and Sunday "to provide audience members the opportunity to see both in one day."
The Hollow (Aug. 23-Oct.16) is directed by Signature Theatre's associate artistic director Matthew Gardiner. The Boy Detective Fails (Aug. 25-Oct. 16) is directed by Signature Theatre artistic associate Joe Calarco (Shakespeare's R&J, Signature's Urinetown and Assassins).
The Boy Detective Fails is based on the Joe Meno novel of the same name. According to Signature, "In the twilight of a childhood full of wonder, Billy Argo, 'boy detective,' is brokenhearted to discover his young sister and crime-solving partner, Caroline, has committed suicide. Ten years later, Billy, age 30, returns from an extended stay at St. Vitus' Hospital for the Mentally Ill to discover a world full of unimaginable strangeness."
The Signature's 22nd season includes five world premieres. For more information, visit signature-theatre.org.
