Signature Theatre to Begin Performances of the Rock Musical Brother Russia
by John Dempsey and Dana Rowe on March 6th
5th World Premiere of the Season to Star Natascia Diaz,
John Lescault, Doug Kreeger, Erin Driscoll, & Amy McWilliams
Arlington, VA, February 7, 2012 – The story of the controversial “Mad Monk,” Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is now the subject of the new rock musical Brother Russia, which makes its world premiere at the Tony Award®-winning Signature Theatre. The new musical features Music by Dana Rowe and Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey – the award-winning creators behind The Fix (1998) and The Witches of Eastwick (2007). Directed by Signature’s Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer, the production will star John Lescault (Signature’s Art and The Lieutenant of Inishmore) as the infamous and enigmatic Rasputin, Natascia Diaz(Kiss of the Spider Woman at Signature, and Savage in Limbo at MetroStage), Doug Kreeger (Signature’s The Visit), Amy McWilliams (Signature’s The Witches of Eastwick and Urinetown), and Tracy Lynn Olivera (Les Misérables and Merrily We Roll Along at Signature). Erin Driscoll, Stephen Gregory Smith, Rachel Zampelli, Russell Sunday, Kevin McAllister, and Christopher Mueller round out the cast for this world premiere event. Brother Russia will play at Signature’s MAX Theatre from March 6, 2012 through April 15, 2012. Tickets are now on sale.
“Dana Rowe and John Dempsey have created magic on stage before with two astounding musicals here at Signature – The Fix and The Witches of Eastwick – that audiences really loved,” Schaeffer said. “We are thrilled to present their newest world premiere of Brother Russia with their distinct, infectious sound. Signature has assembled a remarkable cast and design team to bring this original musical to life. Only John and Dana could create an exciting, new telling of the famous Rasputin story in their own original way.”
Brother Russia features an award-winning creative team that includes Jodi Moccia (choreographer), Misha Kachman (set designer), Kathleen Geldard (costume designer),Colin K. Bills (lighting designer), and Matt Rowe (sound designer). Gabriel Mangiante is the Music Director, and Orchestrator August Eriksmoen will conduct the 7-piece band.
In a desolate potato field north of Omsk in southwestern Siberia, a comically fourth-rate Russian theater troupe sets up its ratty tents and wows the local farmers with rock-fueled adaptations of from great Russian writers such as Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. Tonight, however, the company tosses classic literature aside to showcase the life story of their impresario and star, the seemingly immortal Brother Russia – more commonly known as Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin. Yes, that Rasputin: the hypnotic mystic who seduced and ruled the Tsar and Tsarina in the waning days of Imperial Russia.
Brother Russiais sponsored by Shugoll Research and is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation Award for New American Plays and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by Tony Garro, MD.
BROTHER RUSSIA
Book and Lyrics by John Dempsey
Music byDana Rowe
Directed by Eric Schaeffer
March 6, 2012 – April 15, 2012
The MAX
Performances are Tuesday through Sunday evenings, with matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. There will be no matinee performance on Saturday, March 10. Tickets are now on sale starting at $63. Single tickets are available in person at the Signature Box Office or by calling Ticketmaster at (703) 573-SEAT. Student discount tickets are $30 and must be purchased the week of the performance. Signature is also offering “$22 for Tuesdays,” making available $22 tickets to the first two public Tuesday performances on March 6th and 13th.
CAST BIOS
Natascia Diaz (Sophie/Anastasia) SIGNATURE: Kiss of the Spider Woman (Aurora/Spider Woman, 2009 Helen Hayes nomination). BROADWAY: Man of La Mancha (original revival cast, Antonia, u/s Aldonza), Seussical. OFF-BROADWAY: By The Way, Meet Vera Stark, (u/s Gloria, Ana Mae); Delacorte Theatre: The Capeman (2010, Esmeralda Agron), Jacques Brel; tick, tick…BOOM! (Susan, LA Ovation Award nomination); Sondheim’s Saturday Night (Dakota Duran). DC AREA: MetroStage: Rooms (Monica P. Miller, 2009 Helen Hayes Award); Kennedy Center: Carnival (Rosalie),A Little Night Music (Petra); Arena Stage: Agamemnon and His Daughters (Elektra); Wolf Trap: West Side Story (Anita, 2006 St. Louis Kevin Kline Award, 1996, Chicago Joseph Jefferson Award). REGIONAL: Papermill: Pippin (Catherine). CONCERT: Library of Congress: Jonathan Larsen. TV: “Nurse Jackie,” “Law and Order,” “Law and Order SVU,” “Damages,”HBO’s“Leonardo da Vinci,” “A Dream of Flight,” “Oz,”Voice of Miss Chiquita Banana. FILM: Every Little Step (Self).
Erin Driscoll(Bella/Dominika, et al) SIGNATURE: Hairspray, [title of show], Sweeney Todd, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Witches of Eastwick, Into the Woods, Assassins, Urinetown (2006 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Actress). DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: Parade, A Christmas Carol; Olney Theatre: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Cinderella, Anything Goes; Round House Theatre: A Year with Frog and Toad; Kennedy Center: Regina with Patti LuPone (Alexandra Cover). REGIONAL: Arden Theatre: A Year with Frog and Toad, Candide; John W. Engeman Theatre, Long Island: Jekyll and Hyde.
Doug Kreeger (Sasha/Grigori) SIGNATURE: The Visit. BROADWAY: Les Miserables (Original Revival Cast). OFF-BROADWAY: Veritas (Fringe Award), The Last Castrato, Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings (Carnegie Hall & Disney Hall), Rooms: A Rock Romance (Cast Recording), Departure Lounge, Thrill Me: The Leopold and Loeb Story (Cast recording), Judas & Me, Yank!, Swimming Upstream (Fringe Award). INTERNATIONAL TOUR: Grease, Hair (Cast Recording). NATIONAL TOUR: Peter Pan. DC AREA: MetroStage: Rooms: A Rock Romance. REGIONAL: Pittsburgh CLO:Jesus Christ Superstar;Yale Rep:Pop!; Geva:Rooms: A Rock Romance; Actors Fund Concert at the Ambassador Theatre:The Visit; The Old Globe:The Times They Are ‘A-Changin’; Barrington Stage:The Human Comedy; Arkansas Rep:Children of Eden; Bay Street Theatre:Hair. AWARDS: Helen Hayes Award Nominee.
John Lescault(Brother Russia) SIGNATURE: Art, The Lieutenant of Inishmore,Crave, Angels in America, Available Light, Shooting in Madrid, Melville Slept Here. NEW YORK: Lincoln Center:Le Deserteur. DC AREA: Kennedy Center:Defiant Requiem, Opera Lafayette's Sancho Pansa, Le Deserteur;CATF:From Prague, Yankee Tavern;Round House Theatre: Farenheit 451,A Prayer for Owen Meany, Wintertime, Our Town; Folger Theatre: The School for Scandal, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Elizabeth the Queen, Macbeth; Shakespeare Theatre Company: Henry V, Tamburlaine, Edward II, The Winter’s Tale, Richard II, Don Carlos; Theatre J:The Disputation, Hannah and Martin, Death; Woolly Mammoth Theatre: Heaven, Psychic Life of Savages. INTERNATIONAL: Prague Spring Music Festival: Defiant Requiem. FILM/TV: Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln,The Day Lincoln Was Shot, Unsolved Mysteries (As John Wilkes Booth).
Kevin McAllister(Anton/Dmitri, et al) SIGNATURE: Sweeney Todd, Show Boat. NATIONAL TOUR: The Kennedy Center: Phantom Tollbooth (Tollbooth, Azaz). DC AREA: Ford's Theatre: Parade (Jim/Newt/Riley), Civil War (u/s with perf.); Everyman Theatre: Stick Fly (Kent); Teatro 101: Wild Party (Burrs), Sideshow (Jake); Toby's: Rent (Collins), Ragtime (Coalhouse), Phantom of the Opera (Persian), The Full Monty (Horse), Dreamgirls (Curtis). REGIONAL: Artpark: Aida (Mereb); Philadelphia Opera Company: Porgy and Bess. RECORDINGS: Wynton Marsalis' All Rise, Philip Glass Symphony No. 5, Dancing Princesses (Joe).
Amy McWilliams (Lubov/Alexandra, et al)SIGNATURE: Les Misérables (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble), The Happy Time, The Witches of Eastwick, Sex Habits of American Women, Nevermore, Urinetown, Zander’s Boat, In the Garden, The Fix, Working, Cabaret. DC AREA: Woolly Mammoth: Maria/Stuart; Round House Theatre: Charming Billy; Forum Theatre: Scorched; Theatre Alliance: Bread of Winter, Ambition Facing West; Theatre J: Shlemiel the First; Kennedy Center: Sondheim Celebration (Sunday in the Park with George, Merrily We Roll Along), Tennessee Williams Revisited (A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie); Ford’s Theatre: A Christmas Carol; Grapes of Wrath, Inherit the Wind, appearances at Arena Stage, TFA, Charter Theatre, Imagination Stage, Keegan Theatre, American Century Theater, and the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater.
Christopher Mueller(Mikhail/Father Gapon, et al) SIGNATURE: Chess, Sweeney Todd, The Boy Detective Fails (u/s), The Hollow (u/s), Giant (u/s), Kiss of the Spider Woman (u/s), Sizzling Summer Cabaret Series 2008-11. DC AREA: Shakespeare Theatre Company: Two Gentlemen of Verona (a rock opera); Arena Stage: Redhand Guitar workshop, Skindiver reading; The Kennedy Center: 2011 Kennedy Center Spring Gala, New Year's Eve at The Kennedy Center; Keegan Theatre: The 25th Annual...Spelling Bee, RENT; Imagination Stage: Dr. Doolittle, Disney's Mulan; Adventure Theatre: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; The Washington Savoyards: Music Man; Kensington Arts Theatre: Night of The Living Dead The Musical reading.
Tracy Lynn Olivera(Natalia/Zoya) SIGNATURE: The Hollow, The Boy Detective Fails, Les Misérables (Fantine, Helen Hayes nomination), Anyone Can Whistle in Concert, ACE, The Happy Time, Merrily We Roll Along (Helen Hayes nomination); Allegro (Helen Hayes nomination); Follies; Side Show; Sweeney Todd; Mack and Mabel in concert, and many concerts and cabarets. BROADWAY: Ragtime (2009 revival). DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Ragtime, Sunday in the Park with George, Passion, Merrily We Roll Along; Shakespeare Theatre: Candide; Ford’s Theatre: Liberty Smith, Meet John Doe, Shenandoah, A Christmas Carol, Songs from the Tall Grass; Folger Theatre: Comedy of Errors; MetroStage: Closer Than Ever, The Last Five Years; Olney Theatre: The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Grease, Carousel (Helen Hayes nomination); Rorschach: company member, Rough Magic, J .B., God of Vengeance. REGIONAL: Goodman: Candide. UPCOMING: Bachelorette.
Stephen Gregory Smith(Sergei/Felix, et al) SIGNATURE: Hairspray (Corny Collins), The Boy Detective Fails (Billy Argo), Sunset Boulevard, Les Misérables (Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Ensemble), Kiss of the Spider Woman, Into the Woods (Jack), My Fair Lady,Assassins (Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald), Pacific Overtures, The Highest Yellow, One Red Flower (Billy), Allegro (Charlie), 110 in the Shade (Jimmy, 2004 Helen Hayes Award),Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Grand Hotel, Gypsy. DC AREA: DCAC: High Fidelity (Rob); Studio Theatre: Adding Machine: A Musical (SHRDLU); MetroStage: tick, tick…BOOM! (Jon); Ford’s Theatre: The Civil War, Meet John Doe; Arena Stage: Damn Yankees; KennedyCenter: Regina; Wolf Trap: Street Scene (Dick); Olney Theatre Center: The Secret Garden (Dickon). CABARET: Swinging Santas,The Stephen Gregory Smith Show, Insomneioke, Ebony and Ivory, The Last Garage Hurrah, Use What You Got.
Russell Sunday (Viktor/Nicholas, et al) SIGNATURE: The Boy Detective Fails (Det. Brown), The Hollow (Ellis), Chess (Walter Anderson), Sweeney Todd (Ensemble, Sweeney u/s), Les Misérables (Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Ensemble, Jean Val-Jean u/s performed). DC AREA: Studio Theatre: Jerry Springer: The Opera (Chucky, Helen Hayes nomination, Outstanding Ensemble); MetroStage: Closer than Ever, The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!); Theatre J: David in Shadow and Light (Goliath); Toby’s Dinner Theatre: Jekyll and Hyde (Jekyll/Hyde, 2003 Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Male Lead), Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd), Titanic (Andrews), Aida (Radames), Miss Saigon (Chris), Kiss Me, Kate (Fred), Beauty and the Beast (Gaston & The Beast), Damn Yankees (Young Joe), Annie Get Your Gun (Frank Butler), Carousel (Billy Bigelow).
Rachel Zampelli (Ulla/Witch, et al) SIGNATURE: Chess, See What I Wanna See, Holiday Mayhem, LaChiusa’s Ladies, December Divas II, Anyone Can Whistle in concert, The Happy Time, Saving Aimee. DC AREA: No Rules Theatre Company: Stop Kiss; Adventure Theatre: Twas the Night Before Christmas; Studio Theatre 2ndStage: POP!, Jerry Springer: The Opera, Reefer Madness: The Musical; Folger Shakespeare Theatre: The Comedy of Errors, Orestes: A Tragic Romp, A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Ford’s Theatre: Shenandoah. REGIONAL: Two River Theatre Company: Orestes: A Tragic Romp; New Repertory Theatre: Into the Woods, Romeo and Juliet; Greenbrier Valley Theatre: Nevermore; Black Swan Theatre (Special Appearance, Oregon Shakespeare Festival): Breast Entanglements.
SIGNATURE’S 2011-12 SEASON TICKET INFORMATION
The remaining line-up for Signature Theatre’s 2011-2012 season features the Tony Award®-winning play God of Carnage and the Washington DC premiere of the cult classic musical Xanadu. Signature is also home to the world premiere works Brother Russia, and Really Really (playing now through March 25th). For more information, please contact the Signature Box Office at (703) 820-9771 or go to our website at www.signature-theatre.org.
ABOUT SIGNATURE
Recipient of the 2009 Regional Theatre Tony Award®, Signature Theatre is a non-profit professional theater company in Arlington, Virginia dedicated to producing contemporary musicals and plays, reinventing classic musicals, and developing new work. Under the leadership of co-founder and Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer and Managing Director Maggie Boland, Signature has presented 37 world premiere productions and is renowned for combining Broadway-quality productions with intimate playing spaces.
In addition to hosting the finest talent from the DC metropolitan area and New York, Signature has been home to such theatre luminaries as Chita Rivera, George Hearn, Hunter Foster, Emily Skinner, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company’s signature composer, Stephen Sondheim. Since its founding in 1989, Signature has won 72 Helen Hayes Awards for excellence in the Washington, DC region’s professional theater and has been honored with 293 nominations.
Signature is partially supported by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts and by a gift from Arlington County through the Arlington Commission for the Arts and the Cultural Affairs Division of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources.
DIRECTIONS
Signature Theatre is located at 4200 Campbell Avenue (22206) off I-395 at the Shirlington exit (#6). After the exit, blue Signature signs mark the way to the theatre. Free parking is available in two adjacent public garages. Please note that Campbell Avenue is a new street and some GPS online mapping systems do not yet recognize Signature Theatre’s address. For directions visit http://signature-theatre.org/map.htm.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Subscriptions/Groups: (703) 820-9771
Single Tickets: Ticketmaster (703) 573-SEAT (7328)
Signature Administration (571) 527-1860
Signature Theatre • 4200 Campbell Avenue • Arlington, VA 22206
Comments