How many of us can say our life’s path was determined by someone else’s high school play? Matthew Gardiner and his twin brother, James, were so transported by a cousin’s performance of The Wiz that it pointed the 4-year-olds toward their future careers: Matthew was recently promoted to artistic director of Signature Theatre in July, making him the youngest head of a major Washington-area theater, and James is Signature’s deputy director of creative content and publicity. Both of their parents were computer programmers. “How James and I fell in love with musical theater was a mystery to everybody,” recalls Matthew. Now he’s running a Tony Award–winning theater of his own in Arlington. As for his vision for the future of Signature Theatre, he’ll continue to both reinvent classic musicals and debut new works, but with an emphasis on lifting up underrepresented voices. This season, that will include shows like the debut of We Won’t Sleep, a musical about Jeannette Rankin, the first U.S. congresswoman.
Here’s what drives Gardiner to create:
The Golden Girls
Like his affection for When Harry Met Sally … and Legally Blonde, Gardiner considers the classic sitcom, costarring Broadway grande dame Bea Arthur, a guilty pleasure. Still, “In the last two years, as the world fell apart, I got great comfort from those four women.”
The Godfather Part II
“It’s the one that I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m going to pop in and watch, but it’s the one that I hold in the highest regard,” says Gardiner. The director calls both Francis Ford Coppola’s direction and screenwriting “brilliant,” but he adds that his favorite director (and choreographer) of all time is Cabaret auteur Bob Fosse. “I think that was a spectacular mind,” he says.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel only came out in 2019, but Gardiner has already read it three times. “It’s gorgeous. It’s superb,” he says of the story of “a young Vietnamese queer man and his relationship with his mother.”
Stephen Sondheim
Gardiner doesn’t even have to think about it: The composer and lyricist behind his favorite musical, Sunday in the Park with George (which he directed in 2012 and whose set still decorates his home), is one of his most prominent influences. “I think there’s just such a richness to the characters he creates and puts forward in the music—nobody compares to him,” says Gardiner.
Rent
“Rent was such an iconic musical in my journey in loving musical theater,” says Gardiner, who is opening Signature Theatre’s season with a reimagined production of the 1996 musical, playing from November 2 to January 2, and is directing the production himself. He believes that its theme of the need for community has taken on new importance in the face of COVID.
Feature image by Michael Butcher
This story originally ran in our November issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
