Architect Frank Gehry Architects Founded 1991 | Founder James Houghton Type of business Off-Broadway | |
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Address 480 West 42nd Street
New York City
United States Owner Signature Theatre Company Capacity Irene Diamond Stage: 294
Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre: 191
Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre:191 Headquarters New York City, New York, United States Similar Second Stage Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout Theatre Company, Atlantic Theater Company, Soho Repertory Theatre Profiles | ||
Signature Theatre Company was founded in 1991 by James Houghton.
Contents
Signature has presented entire seasons of the work of Edward Albee, Lee Blessing, David Henry Hwang, Horton Foote, Maria Irene Fornes, Athol Fugard, John Guare, Bill Irwin, Adrienne Kennedy, Romulus Linney, Charles Mee, Arthur Miller, Sam Shepard, Paula Vogel, August Wilson, Lanford Wilson, David Henry Hwang, A.R. Gurney, Naomi Wallace and a season celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company.
In October 2008, Signature announced the creation of the Pershing Square Signature Center. Designed by Frank Gehry Architects, the Center comprises three theatres, two rehearsal studios, a café and bar, bookstore, and offices all on one level. In its new home, Signature continues its Residency One Program, celebrating a single playwright with multiple productions over the course of a year, and Legacy Program, which brings those playwrights back for additional productions. Signature also introduced Residency Five, a program that will feature early- and mid-career playwrights and guarantee them three full productions over the course of a five-year residency.
Signature, its productions and its resident writers have been recognized with a Pulitzer Prize, a 2014 Regional Theatre Tony Award, eleven Lucille Lortel Awards, fifteen Obie Awards, five Drama Desk Awards, and thirty-two AUDELCO Awards. The National Theatre Conference recognized the company as the 2003 Outstanding National Theatre of the Year..
Signature Ticket Initiative
November 2005 marked the institution of the Signature Ticket Initiative, during which tickets to all performances for the initial run of every production are heavily subsidized to broaden the accessibility of Off-Broadway theatre. At the program's onset, tickets cost fifteen dollars, rather than the usual sixty-five. The Signature Ticket Initiative allows seventy percent of the cost of a full-priced ticket to be subsidized.
The lead sponsor on the program is Time Warner, who has made it possible to underwrite over sixty thousand patrons' tickets as of the 2007-2008 season. Other sponsors include The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Margot Adams in Memory of Mason Adams, American Express, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, The Shubert Foundation, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, The Ford Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Lucille Lortel Foundation, The Peter Norton Family Foundation, and The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust. The initiative is also supported by public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
The Pershing Square Signature Center
In 2012 Signature opened The Pershing Square Signature Center, its new Frank Gehry-designed home on 42nd Street.
The Center comprises three theatre spaces, two studios, a shared lobby with a café and bar, bookshop, and concierge desk, and administrative offices that span 70,000 contiguous square feet in MiMA, a mixed-use Related Companies development.