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Matthew Gardiner

@mattcgardiner

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Artistic Director @sigtheatre
Director, Choreographer & Producer
📍Washington, DC
“hot off the press, strictly a mess, nevertheless…”

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Gotta have two old friends, helping you balance along ⚖️❤️✨

Melanie Field (@melanie__field), Jason Gotay (@jasongotay), Jake Loewenthal (@jake_loew) and the band of Signature Theatre (@sigtheatre)'s Merrily We Roll Along perform "Old Friends." Performances run now thru November 1.

🎥 by @sigtheatre and @chietproductions by @mattcgardiner

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11 days ago

Exclusive: Watch an exclusive clip from Signature Theatre’s (@sigtheatre) production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, directed by Matthew Gardiner and starring Jason Gotay, Melanie Field and Jake Loewenthal.

MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG is now playing through November 1! Learn more at the link in our bio.

🎥: @sigtheatre & @chietproductions taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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25 days ago

Along with my twin brother @jamesdgardiner I grew up at the Kennedy Center.

I saw my first professional show there when I was seven, the national tour of The Phantom of the Opera in the Opera House. I performed in multiple productions with the Washington Opera Children’s Chorus. I sang in the Concert Hall with several different choirs. When I thought I was going to be a ballet dancer, I spent two summers in high school studying with Suzanne Farrell in the same rooms where she had rehearsed with Balanchine.

In the summer of 2002, during the Sondheim Celebration, I spent countless hours there, devouring everything and dead set on meeting anyone who had helped make that extraordinary summer happen. The following summer, determined to work with the festival’s artistic director, Eric Schaeffer, I became a student in Overtures, when it was still a joint program between Signature and the Kennedy Center. That summer unquestionably changed my life.

There, I met Gregg Henry, who helped me get one of my first assistant directing jobs the following summer, on Cat on a Hot Tin Roof during the Tennessee Williams Festival. I was assigned to run lines with George Grizzard, who refused to run them and instead told me stories about working with Edward Albee and Uta Hagen. I pinch myself still that I got to hear the stories I did from him. Five years later, I directed my first new musical there, by Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich, in the Family Theater.

The Kennedy Center is where I discovered what a life in the arts could be. It gave me access to artists, ideas and experiences that changed the course of my life. It made the world feel larger and made a life in the theater feel possible.

To watch what is happening there now (because of a monster’s ego) is profoundly sad. The Kennedy Center belongs to the generations of young people who should be able to walk through its doors and discover something that changes them. The thought that they may not have the same opportunities I had, in the same building that gave me so much, is heartbreaking. taken in KennedyCenter by @mattcgardiner

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a month ago

“Here’s to us, who’s like us? Damn few.”
Couldn’t be more in love with these people and more proud of what we made

#sigmerrily taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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a month ago

…rolling along #sigmerrily

📸 by @pickleydoo taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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a month ago

A few more shots from Merrily We Roll Along at @sigtheatre . Apologies in advance if I don’t shut up about it any time soon. Very proud of what we created

📸 by @danielraderphoto and @pickleydoo taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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a month ago

“We’re opening doors, singing, ‘Here we are!’”🎉
Tonight, Merrily We Roll Along officially opens at Signature Theatre (@sigtheatre) in Arlington, Virginia, starring Jason Gotay (@jasongotay), Melanie Field (@melanie__field), and Jake Loewenthal (@jake_loew)—and we’re celebrating with an exclusive first look at production footage. Merrily We Roll Along is now playing through November 1.

See more from the Tony-winning regional theatre's musical at the link in our bio. by @mattcgardiner

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2 months ago

Opening Night of Merrily We Roll Along @sigtheatre . This moment is 25 years in the making for me. 25 years of telling people my dream show to direct is Merrily We Roll Along. It’s a musical about growing up. It’s about the idealistic, uncompromising dreams we have when we’re young, the friendships we cling to, the choices and compromises we make, and the mess we sometimes make along the way. It’s taken this long to get my hands on it for a reason, I know that now. And I don’t think it’s possible for me to be more proud of a production or a company than I am of this one. Come check it out now through November 1 in Arlington, VA

Directed & Choreographed by Me
Music Directed by Jon Kalbfleisch
Set Design by @wilsonchindesign
Costume Design by @ivaniastack
Lighting Design by @corypattak
Sound Design by @eric.m.norris
Wig Design by @annenesmith1
Fights by @caseykaleba
Casting by @josscasting and @shakethedust_charlotte _charlotte
Stage Managed by @kerry_epstein
Associate Director @clanceyyo92
Associate Music Director @barbershopraga
Associate Choreographer @kellydamboise

📸 by @danielraderphoto taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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2 months ago

Summer 2026. The dreamiest

London➡️LA➡️Gibson Island➡️Rehoboth➡️Arlington➡️DC by @mattcgardiner

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2 months ago

Merrily we roll along, bursting with dreams 🎶

Jason Gotay, Jake Loewenthal, Melanie Field along with the cast and band perform the title song of Signature Theatre’s MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. Previews begin on August 25. For tickets visit the link in our bio 🎟️ taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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2 months ago

This material. These three actors. The entire company. A director’s dream. Rehearsing Merrily We Roll Along has been everything I’ve hoped for. In Sondheim heaven. #sigmerrily taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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2 months ago

Today marks my 20th anniversary at @sigtheatre

Somehow, two decades have passed since I walked into the old garage space for my very first day as the Resident Assistant Director. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of growing up here. Four years as Resident Assistant Director, eleven as Associate Artistic Director, and now five as Artistic Director.

When I tell people I’ve been at Signature for 20 years, they usually look at me like I’m crazy. Maybe I am. But the truth is, there’s simply no place like it. I’ve never stepped inside another theatre that matches the heart, community, and artistic excellence of Signature. It’s a place that has challenged me, inspired me, and allowed me to grow in ways I never imagined.

To everyone who has been on this journey with me- thank you for making Signature not just the place where I work, but the place where I’ve built a life in the theatre.

Here are 20 photos to celebrate 20 unforgettable years. (The last slide is from Sondheim’s lyric sketches/notes for Merrily… felt fitting) taken in Signature Theatre by @mattcgardiner

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3 months ago