[title of show], Sweeney Todd and Show Boat on Tap from Signature in VA

The Signature Theatre in Arlington, Virginia has announced the lineup for its 20th anniversary 2009-2010 season. Along with the world premiere of Ricky Ian Gordon’s autobiographical musical Sycamore Trees and the D.C. premiere of [title of show], the company will put their own spin on two great American musicals, Sweeney Todd and Show Boat, as well as mount new productions of Claudia Shear’s Dirty Blonde and Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife.

The Signature’s new production of Show Boat promises to reinvent the American classic with a new staging, new orchestrations and a new overture by Jonathan Tunick. Following the lives of three generations of show folk on the Mississippi, the Kern-Hammerstein musical opens on November 10, with a closing date set for January 17, 2010. Eric Schaeffer will direct.

Schaeffer will also direct a new production of the first musical ever presented at Signature, Sweeney Todd. The Sondheim-Wheeler classic returns with a new environmental staging and all the music and mayhem intact. Performances begin February 9, 2010, with a closing set for April 4, 2010.

After opening on Broadway last fall, [title of show] will have its Washington D.C. premiere this spring. Written by Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, the musical about making a musical opens March 30, with the closing set for June 20, directed by Matthew Gardiner. No word on whether Bowen and Bell will re-create their roles in the show, which also featured Heidi Blickenstaff and Susan Blackwell in the original cast.

Having its world premiere at the Signature is Ricky Ian Gordon’s Sycamore Trees. A member of Steppenwolf who composed the opera Grapes of Wrath, Gordon's new work mixes opera and Broadway to tell an autobiographical tale about his family’s less-than-idyllic, post-WWII flight from the Bronx to the suburbs. Directed by Tina Landau, performances begin May 18, with the closing set for June 20.

Rounding out the Signature’s 2009-2010 season is Shear’s Dirty Blonde, a play with music featuring Tony Award nominee Emily Skinner in two roles: screen legend Mae West and as West’s most committed fan, Jo, an office temp and aspiring actress. Performances of the show begin August 11 with a closing set for October 4, directed by Jeremy Skimore.

Doug Wright’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife will run January 12 through March 7, starring Andrew Long and directed by Alan Paul.