Two Theaters Bank on Bigger, Better Venues

At Signature, meanwhile, the move to new, larger digs has stepped up the interest from writers and producers in trying out new works there. Schaeffer said that he's been fielding more and more outside proposals for plays and musicals in recent months, and that part of the reason is his bigger theater, called the Max. Its size can accommodate productions that could be replicated on the big stages of Broadway and elsewhere.

For breathtaking impact, though, no recent development for the city's theaters competes with the projected opening Oct. 1 of the Shakespeare's new Harman Center for the Arts. "This is certainly the most dramatic moment in the history of this theater," Goldsborough said.

The numbers alone are pretty staggering. The company's budget will rise from $15.2 million this season to between $18 million and $19 million for the next season, Goldsborough said. The company will add 49 new full-time employees, bringing the total to 153. The number of performances will increase from 324 to 408, and the addition of the Harman Center to the existing 451-seat Lansburgh Theatre will increase by 43 percent the number of tickets that must be sold.

To fill the two spaces, Kahn has put together a season of eight shows; the ninth, the annual Free for All, is an outdoor event at Carter Barron Amphitheater in Rock Creek Park.

The lineup, which will be formally unveiled at a news conference today at the Lansburgh, will contain three works by Shakespeare: "The Taming of the Shrew," directed by Rebecca Bayla Taichman; a "Julius Caesar" directed by David Muse; and Kahn's production of "Antony and Cleopatra." Those last two plays will comprise a unit that will run as a "Roman Repertory" at the Harman in the spring of 2008. Patrick Page, who played Iago in Kahn's 2005 "Othello," will appear as the same character -- Marc Antony -- in both "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra."

Interestingly, the Harman will open in October not with Shakespeare but with two plays running in repertory that are by another Elizabethan dramatist, Christopher Marlowe: "Tamburlaine," starring Avery Brooks and directed by Kahn; and "Edward II," with Gale Edwards directing. Kahn said that when he revealed his plans. someone said to him, " 'Only you would open a new Shakespeare theater with Marlowe.' And I thought, why not? We're a classical company and why not start with the greatest contemporary of Shakespeare?"

George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara," directed by Ethan McSweeny, also will be staged in the Harman. Keith Baxter will direct Moliere's "Imaginary Invalid" in the Lansburgh, where Chicago director Mary Zimmerman -- who staged a popular "Pericles" for Kahn in 2004 -- will return with "Argonautika," her adaptation of the story of Jason and the Argonauts.

In its role as a broad-based performing arts venue, the Harman also will be home to performances by Washington Ballet, Washington Performing Arts Society and CityDance Ensemble.

Signature, meanwhile, launches its first full season in its new $16 million complex with a three-pronged examination of the work of "Chicago" composers John Kander and the late Fred Ebb. "The Visit," one of their last works, will be directed by Galati, choreographed by Reinking and star Rivera. "Kiss of the Spider Woman" and "The Happy Time" will complete Signature's Kander and Ebb Celebration.

Schaeffer will direct "Merrily We Roll Along" -- Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's 1981 musical, with a story that unfolds in reverse chronologically -- and there will be that as-yet undisclosed world-premiere musical. D'Amboise will direct his dance-play "The Studio" and a poetry-theater piece, "The Word Begins," will come courtesy of performance artists Sekou "tha Misfit" and Steve Connell. A limited engagement of "The Tricky Part," written and performed by Martin Moran, rounds out Signature's offerings.

Initially, the 2007-08 season was to usher in the first full production of one of three original musicals commissioned under a $1 million grant to Signature by the Shen Family Foundation, but the timetable has been pushed back. Schaeffer said the first project, by Michael John LaChiusa, will receive a workshop production in Shirlington next spring and then a full production during the 2008-09 season.