SIGNATURE Moments
In honor of celebrating the past 25 years we asked some of the Signature family to share some of their favorite
David Henry Hwang
Bill Heck
During my residency,
awesome and obviously a beautiful experience. On top of
Signature season together in The Orphans’ Home Cycle, a nine (yes, nine) hour piece in which our
that, somebody figures out what would be an appropri-
characters courted, married, and built a life. Not only had that space become our home, but on
the night in question we were surrounded by our Signature family, which had essentially become
ate gift for the honoree. In my case, they commissioned a
piece in my honor by the composer Huang Ruo, who had
our actual family. Beyond that, Angels in America itself is a call to embrace one another,
provided music for The Dance and the Railroad, which he
messily, fabulously, to spin forward. Prior says it at Bethesda fountain: “More Life.” Endeavoring
on a lifelong partnership seemed a fitting manifestation of what Kushner had been teaching
called “Flow” and was performed by his ensemble that
evening. It was a beautiful piece that I love very much,
us the whole way along. The time and place made sense. I’d made sure to run it by everyone
which is like the best kind of gift that I can imagine – one
beforehand, particularly Tony and Jim, who added their generous blessings to the many
others. However, there was a small, anonymous voice of dissent that came back at the last
by a fellow artist where the music itself reflects a lot of the
things I write about, a lot of the forms that I’m interested
minute. I sat with Jim before the final show and expressed my misgivings about going
in, and a collaborator with whom I’ve worked at Signature,
ahead with the plan, in light of the lacking unanimity. He grabbed my shoulder, looked
and we’re continuing to work on other projects. Again,
Maggie Lacey
and Bill Heck in
Horton Foote’s
The Orphans’
Home Cycle.
you have the theatre that’s very playwright oriented, it’s
centered around the writer...even when it comes to trying
gine –
can ima ic itself
I
t
a
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t
f gift
e mus
t kind o tist where th e about...
s
e
b
e
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r
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...t
rit
ngs I w
a fellow
one by a lot of the thi
reflects
to figure out the gift to honor the writer around whom
the gala is built that year.
David Henry Hwang: Residency One playwright.
Productions: Golden Child (2012), The Dance and
the Railroad (2013), Kung Fu (2014)
Marsha Stephanie Blake, Nicholas Christopher,
Tonya Pinkins, Saycon Sengbloh, Joaquina Kalukango,
and Corey Hawkins in Katori Hall’s Hurt Village.
That w
a
gratify s the most
ing exp
I think
erience
I
in thea ’ve ever had
t
just lite re. You could
vibrati rally feel the
o
energy ns and the
sides o from both
f the au
dience
.
Joaquina Kalukango
James Houghto