BOARD
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Edward Norton and
Catherine Keener in
Burn This at Signature
Theatre, 2002.
SPOTLIGHT
Signature’s Board Chairman Edward Norton Tells His Signature Story
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ON SIGNATURE THEATRE
There are few theatres in America whose work and
mission have excited and inspired me for as long as
Signature’s has. I started with Signature in a 99-seat
black box and have seen it grow into the major
institution it is now. We have a great vision for the
next twenty years and an inspired and dynamic team.
It’s thrilling to be a part of.
Edward Norton, Signature Theatre Gala, 2014.
EDWARD’S SIGNATURE HIGHLIGHTS
1) My first play with
Signature, during the
Edward Albee Season,
in the spring of 1994.
Fragments was my
first paying job as
a theatre actor in
New York and
working with Albee
and Jim Houghton on
Albee’s new play as
he wrestled with it
and shaped it was
completely thrilling.
I loved everything
about the experience
and was so impressed
by Jim Houghton
that I decided then
and there that this
was the company
I wanted to be a part of.
The highlights from over 20 years with Signature Theatre are, for me:
2) Acting in Burn This during the Lanford Wilson season
in 2002…again directed by Jim.
This is still a highlight of my whole career as an actor. The cast,
the play, the post 9/11 mourning affecting the emotions of the
audience and making the play feel visceral and relevant…
it all amounted to an incredible creative experience.
And getting to work closely with Lanford.
3) Seeing how radically the Signature Ticket Initiative
affected the makeup of the audience during the first
season in which Signature implemented that program,
during the August Wilson season.
I remember talking to four young women after one of the shows
and asking how they liked it, to which they gushed that it had been
a “life altering experience.” I asked them if that was the first time
they’d seen an August Wilson play and they all said, “It’s the first
time we’ve seen any play in a theatre ever!” That’s when I realized
that Jim had doubled down on making Signature a company that
was really rooted in a mission of ‘service’ – service to the playwright
as always, but now also service to the community, in terms of
making sure that theatre is an experience accessible to everyone.
4) The night
we opened The
Pershing Square
Signature Center
in 2012.
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This was the culmination of nearly 5 years
of really hard work
and a lot of stress for
all of us. Raising
nearly $100 million
in the absolute
worst days of an
economic meltdown
was one of the most
audacious and at
times almost crazy
endeavors I’ve ever
been a part of.
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Edward Norton in Fragments
at Signature Theatre, 1994.
James Houghton, Erika Mallin
and Edward Norton,
Signature Theatre Gala, 2012.
Students at a student
matinee performance through
the Signature Ticket Initiative.
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