Update browser for a secure Made experience

It looks like you may be using a web browser version that we don't support. Make sure you're using the most recent version of your browser, or try using of these supported browsers, to get the full Made experience: Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.

Calendar Cart
Donate
American Musical Voices Project: Part Three

And the Curtain Rises

Mar 15 – Apr 10, 2011
{{ViewModel.SecondaryBtn.Title}} {{ViewModel.PrimaryBtn.Title}}
About Cast Creative Venue
{{ViewModel.PrimaryBtn.Title}}

Ever wonder how the first musical was created?

Well, if And the Curtain Rises is to be believed, the process was fraught with confusion, disorder, and a whole lot of humor. And the Curtain Rises, a valentine to musical comedy, is a classic backstage comedy about the creation of the first American musical. In 1866, producer William Wheatley finds his play a disaster, the actors in revolt, the costumes and scenery destroyed and his production in shambles. When a fire at the theater next door leaves a French ballet troupe stranded without funds in New York City, Wheatley decides to turn sour apples into apple sauce, adds a touch of music and dance—et voilà, the American musical is born.

“Signature’s American Musical Voice Project is the most ambitious embrace of new musical theater in the DC region.” —The Washington Post

Book by Michael Slade
Music by Joseph Thalken
Lyrics by Mark Campbell
Music Direction by Boko Suzuki
Choreography by Josh Walden
Directed by Kristin Hanggi

Cast Members

Erik Altemus

George C. Boniface

OFF-BROADWAY: Matt in The Fantasticks. REGIONAL: Muny: Annie, Meet Me in St. Louis, Camelot; Musical Theatre Guild of Los Angeles: Parade; University of Cincinnati: Jesus in Godspell, Passion, Cabaret, The Cradle Will Rock. TV: HBO: Miraculous Year (Pilot). FILM: American Film Institute: The Newman Shower. EDUCATION: BFA, Musical Theatre, University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) 2009. www.erikaltemus.com

Anna Kate Bocknek

Marie Bonfant

NEW YORK: MOMA: Balcony Scene. REGIONAL: American Stage: Othello; Theater at Monmouth: Once Upon a Mattress; Ensemble Theater of Cincinnati: The Frog Princess; Bigfork Playhouse: Anything Goes; Grease; Crazy for You; Hello, Dolly!; Chicago; Washington Ballet Internship 2005. EDUCATION: BA, James Madison University.

Kristen Calgaro

Justine

NEW YORK: New York Classical Theatre: Much Ado About Nothing; Broadway Workshop: Brigadoon. NATIONAL TOUR: Dr. Dolittle (w/ Tommy Tune). DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Broadway: 3 Generations; Bay Theatre: The Glass Menagerie. REGIONAL: Goodspeed: Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; North Shore: Cinderella; 5th Avenue: White Christmas; Sierra Rep; White Christmas; Deertrees: Out of Sterno. TV: Law & Order. FILM: Kumare, South by Southwest Film Festival, March ’11. EDUCATION: University of Virginia, Religious Studies & Spanish, Phi Beta Kappa. UPCOMING: Cape May Stage; The Understudy.

Kevin Carolan

C.H. Morton

BROADWAY: Chicago, 10th Anniversary Celebration, The Ritz, Dirty Blonde. OFF-BROADWAY: Encores!: Pardon My English; NYMF: Have A Nice Life (Best Ensemble Performance, 2006). NATIONAL TOUR: Chicago, Dirty Blonde. DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: Kudzu!. REGIONAL: Barrington Stage: A Streetcar Named Desire; Goodspeed: Happy Days! A New Musical; Berkshire Theatre Festival: Morning’s At Seven; George Street Playhouse: Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Studio Arena Theatre: A Thousand Clowns; Wilma Theatre: Dirty Blonde; American Stage Company: The Butter And Egg Man, Lucky Guy. TELEVISION: The Middle, Boardwalk Empire (dir. Martin Scorsese), Curb Your Enthusiasm, White Collar, Fringe, Sonny With A Chance, Spin City, All My Children, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Trinity (recurring). COMEDY: Member: Friars Club, The Improv (Miami), Upright Citizen’s Brigade (NYC): Gravid Water.

Alma Cuervo

Mme. Grimaud

BROADWAY: includes Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts), Cabaret (Schneider), Titanic (original Ida Straus), The Heidi Chronicles, Ghetto, Quilters; Is There Life After High School?, Censored Scenes From King Kong, Bedroom Farce, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. NATIONAL TOURS: Wicked (Morrible), My Fair Lady, Cabaret, M. Butterfly. OFF-BROADWAY: Sondheim and Weidman’s Road Show (directed by John Doyle). REGIONAL: recent includes Cincinnati: The Three Sisters (Sarah Ruhl’s adaptation); Huntington: The Miracle At Naples; Northern Stage: The Year of Magical Thinking. AWARDS: OBIE for Uncommon Women and Others; Barrymore for The Beauty Queen of Leenane (PTC); PHOEBE for Wit (Theatre Virginia). TV: Norman Lear’s a.k.a. Pablo (series co-star), Law & Order: Criminal Intent. EDUCATION: BA from Tulane; MFA from Yale Drama.

Nick Dalton

William Wheatley

BROADWAY TOURS: Hair (Europe), Hairspray (Las Vegas), Legally Blonde (1st National). NYC/OFF-BROADWAY: NYMF: Trails, Don Imbroglio, Liberty; York Theatre: Its Not What I Say, Ethan Frome (by Adam Gwon); Musicals Tonight!: Ernest in Love, Love From Judy; Active Theatre Company: Romance Romance. REGIONAL: Walnut Street Theatre: Fiddler on the Roof (Barrymore nomination); North Shore Music Theatre: The Three Musketeers; Ogunquit Playhouse + Gateway Playhouse: The Full Monty; Mill Mountain Playhouse: Funny Thing Happened...; Arizona Broadway Theatre: Jekyll + Hyde (title role); Mason Street Warehouse: Wicked City (by Chad Beguelin and Matt Sklar). TV: Host of Zoo Sounds (ABC & PBS), All My Children. FILM: Liszt For President (Euro Indie Winner). EDUCATION: Western Michigan University. Proud member of AEA. www.nickdalton.org

Suzanne Darling

Gabrielle

NATIONAL TOUR: Radio City Christmas Spectacular. INTERNATIONAL TOUR: 42nd Street. REGIONAL: Debbie Does Dallas The Musical; Carnegie Hall: Holiday Spectacular with Elaine Stritch; Avery Fisher Hall: You Oughta Be In Pictures (w/ Karen Ziemba); Brooklyn Lyceum: All Is Full Of Love (world premiere). TV: Love Is Blind (pilot).

Erick Devine

Jeremiah Burnett

BROADWAY: Ragtime, Seussical, Cats, Sid Caesar & Co. OFF-BROADWAY: Enter Laughing, Anne of Green Gables, Lucky Stiff, (all 3 on CD), A Winter’s Tale. ENCORES: Of Thee I Sing, Allegro. NATIONAL  TOUR: Big River (Deaf West), Ragtime, White Christmas, Me & My Girl (Helen Hayes nomination), Annie Get Your Gun (w/Cathy Rigby), Grand Hotel. DIRECTED: HMS Pinafore, Candide (both w/Kristin Chenoweth), Anything Goes (w/Kelli O’Hara), ...Molly Brown (w/Cathy Rigby), Annie Warbucks (w/Gavin MacLeod), 1776, ...Forum, Most Happy Fella, Compleat Wks of WmShkspr (Abridged), Der Fledermaus, Miracle on 34th Street.

William Diggle

James Timoney

DC AREA: Olney Theatre: Call of the Wild; Ford’s Theatre: Lincoln in Love (world premiere reading); Kennedy Center TYA: Chasing George Washington (Nat’l Tour). REGIONAL: Texas Shakespeare Festival: Amadeus, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Much Ado About Nothing; Wayside Theatre: The Matchmaker; Kiss Me, Kate; A Christmas Carol; Totem Pole Playhouse: I Love You, You’re Perfect…; Prather Entertainment: White Christmas; Hello, Dolly!; Monomoy Theatre: Macbeth, Oklahoma!, A Servant of Two Masters, The Butter and Egg Man, Noises Off!. EDUCATION: University of Houston PTTP: MFA.

Greer Gisy

Regine

REGIONAL: Queens Theater in the Park: One Ride; Knoxville Coliseum: Nutcracker; Clayton Center: Coppelia. NYC: March, Broadway on Broadway, Carnegie Hall Presents: Jaccom, The Knocks. TV: Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, A Dance for Life. FILM: Step Up 3D.

Laura Keller

Jacqueline

REGIONAL: Goodspeed Opera House, Reprise! (LA), Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival: A Funny Thing Happened...Forum; Riverside Theatre: La Cage Aux Folles; St. George Theatre: On the Town; CRT: The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. EDUCATION: The Rock School for the Pennsylvania Ballet.

Rachel Schur

Simone

SIGNATURE: And the Curtain Rises. TOURS: Jersey Boys: Francine; Phoenix Entertainment: FAME!; NETworks Tours: A Chorus Line. REGIONAL: The North Carolina Theatre: A Chorus Line: Val. DC AREA: Toby’s Dinner Theatre: West Side Story, Oklahoma!; MetroStage: CabarYAY. EDUCATION: James Madison University, BA, Musical Theatre.

Jennifer Smith

Rose Morton

BROADWAY: 11 shows including original companies of La Cage Aux Folles, The Producers, and The Drowsy Chaperone. TOURS: Young Frankenstein. REGIONAL: Goodspeed: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Miss Jones). TV: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. FILM: Confessions of a Shopaholic, The Producers. AWARDS: 2008 inductee into the Buddy Holly Walk of Fame, Lubbock, TX.

Brian Sutherland

Roman Korda

BROADWAY: The Sound of Music, 1776, Victor/Victoria, Steel Pier, Cats, Dance a Little Closer, A Change in the Heir, 110 in the Shade (NYC Opera). TOURS: The Light in the Piazza, Disney’s On the Record, Cabaret (w/Joel Grey), 42nd Street (European tour). DC AREA: Arena Stage: Guys and Dolls, Ford’s Theatre: Shenandoah. REGIONAL: St. Louis Rep: Kiss Me, Kate; Fantasticks; Pittsburgh Public: Man of La Mancha; Guthrie Theatre: Pirates of Penzance; Coconut Grove Playhouse: Breaking Legs; Cincinnati Playhouse: She Loves Me; Indiana Rep: Enter the Guardsman. UPCOMING: Film: Burning Blue.

Sean Thompson

Charles Barras

REGIONAL: Walnut Street Theatre: The Eclectic Society, Cinderella; Arden Theatre Company: Candide, A Year With Frog and Toad; Bristol Riverside Theatre: Honey Brown Eyes (reading); Prince Music Theater:  Jamaica; Wilma Theater: The Life of Galileo; Mauckingbird Theatre Company: A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Flashpoint Theatre Company: The Little Dog Laughed; Media Theatre: Oliver!, Sean Thompson in Concert; Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center: The Seduction of Sheila Valentine (concert reading); Shawnee Playhouse: Camelot, Wit; Maples Repertory Theatre: Oklahoma!, Run For Your Wife, CLUE The Musical, Barefoot in the Park; Great Plains Theatre: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. EDUCATION: Temple University, 2008, Theater and English, Cum Laude.

Rebecca Watson

Millicent Cavendish

BROADWAY/NY: By Jeeves (dir. Alan Ackybourn), The Cocoanuts, Romeo and Juliet, Tim and Scrooge, Disney’s Hercules. TOUR: Moon Over Buffalo. REGIONAL: Berkeley Rep: To The Lighthouse (World Premiere/American Theatre Critics Nomination); Portland Stage: Julius Caesar (Cassius); Goodspeed: 1776, Me and My Girl, Annie Get Your Gun; Barrington Stage: Ring Round the Moon; Studio Arena: The Snow Ball; Indiana Rep.: The Miser; Kimmel Center, PA: I’ll Be Seeing You (World Premiere); Arkansas & Connecticut Rep.: Into the Woods; Alabama Shakespeare Festival: Major Barbara, Measure for Measure, The Cherry Orchard, Twelfth Night; PaperMill & Pioneer: Peter Pan; Arizona Theatre Co./Phoenix Symphony: Oklahoma!. TV: Cupid, Third Watch, Law & Order, Guiding Light, All My Children, As the World Turns. FILM: By Jeeves. www.RebeccaWatson.org.

Creative Team

Beowulf Boritt

Scenic Design

SIGNATURE: And the Curtain Rises. BROADWAY: Act One (Tony Award®), The Scottsboro Boys (Tony Award® nomination), Therese Raquin (Tony Award nomination), Hand to God, On The Town, Sondheim On Sondheim, …Spelling Bee, LoveMusik, Rock Of Ages, Chaplin, Bronx Bombers, Grace, The Two and Only. OFF-BROADWAY: 100 shows including The Toxic Avenger, The Last Five Years, and Miss Julie. DC AREA: Kennedy Center: Little Dancer; Ford’s Theatre: Come from Away, The Laramie Project, Fly. OTHER: New York City Ballet: The Seven Deadly Sins, the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. AWARDS: 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence.

Signature Theatre

4200 Campbell Ave Arlington, Virginia

Parking Ali's Bar Getting Here FAQs