Photo Coverage: Signature's HOME Opens Off-Broadway

Signature Theatre Company's (James Houghton, Founding Artistic Director; Erika Mallin, Executive Director) production of HOME opened last night, Sunday, December 7. HOME is the second production of Signature's 2008-2009 Season, celebrating the historic Negro Ensemble Company (NEC).

HOME, by Samm-Art Williams and directed by Ron OJ Parson, continues through January 4, 2009 at The Peter Norton Space located at 555 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues).

The cast of HOME includes Tracey Bonner (The Talented Tenth), Kevin T. Carroll (Take Me Out), and January LaVoy (Two Trains Running).

Samm-Art Williams' critically acclaimed HOME is a wonderfully theatrical tale of one man's struggle to stay true to himself amidst a rapidly changing and turbulent America. Leaving behind his family's farm in North Carolina, Cephus Miles seeks refuge and prosperity in the North. Three actors portray more than twenty-five characters over the course of Cephus's epic journey from adolescence to adulthood, spanning the 1950's through the Vietnam War and Civil Rights eras. The show ran at Broadway's Cort Theatre from 1980 to 1981, and received Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for Best Play.

HOME features set design by Shaun Motley; costume design by Ilona Somogyi; lighting design by Michael Chybowski; soundscape and vocal arrangements by Kathryn Bostic and casting by Telsey + Company. Chandra LaViolette is production stage manager.

Signature's 2008-2009 season is an examination of a body of work from the historic Negro Ensemble Company's collective of writers, whose contributions helped shape America's theatrical heritage. Ruben Santiago-Hudson serves as Associate Artist for the season, which also includes Charles Fuller's ZOOMAN AND THE SIGN and a staged reading of Douglas Turner Ward's DAY OF ABSENCE.

HOME follows Leslie Lee's THE FIRST BREEZE OF SUMMER, which opened earlier this season to glowing reviews and was extended twice by popular demand.

Signature Theatre is proud to be presenting the works of the historic NEC. The company has an extensive theatre training program and in its 40 year history has produced more than two hundred new plays. The NEC's distinguished alumni include writers such as Stephen Carter, Lonne Elder, Charles Fuller, Leslie Lee and Samm-Art Williams, and actors Angela Bassett, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Esther Rolle and Denzel Washington.

Tickets are available on Signature's website at www.signaturetheatre.org, by phone at (212) 244-PLAY (7529) and in person at the Box Office at 555 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues). Through The Signature Ticket Initiative, which seeks to make great theatre accessible to the broadest possible audience, all regularly-priced single tickets ($65) are available for $20 during the regular runs of each production for the entire season. The Signature Ticket Initiative continues through Signature's 20th Anniversary Season (2010-2011).

The Signature Ticket Initiative is made possible by the lead sponsorship of Time Warner Inc. Generous support for The Signature Ticket Initiative is provided by Margot Adams, in memory of Mason Adams.

Support for the Negro Ensemble Company Season is provided by American Express.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit signaturetheatre.org or call (212) 244-PLAY (7529).

Performance Schedule: Tuesday at 7pm, Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Matinees Saturday & Sunday at 2pm

Added shows December 17, 24 and 31 at 2pm;
Friday, December 26 and January 2 at 2pm
No performances December 25 and January 1

For information and tickets visit: www.signaturetheatre.org

Tickets by phone: (212) 244-PLAY (7529), or in person: Box Office - 555 West 42nd Street (between 10th and 11th Avenues)

Photos by Peter James Zielinksi

John Earl Jelks and Yaya DaCosta

Russell Hornsby

Douglas Turner Ward

Ron OJ Parson

Playwright Leslie Lee

Ron OJ Parson and January LaVoy

January LaVoy

Tracey Bonner

Stephen McKinley Henderson

Kevin T. Carroll, Tracey Bonner, Samm-Art Williams, January LaVoy, and Ron OJ Parson

Kevin T. Carroll

January LaVoy and Yaya DaCosta

Tracey Bonner, Kevin T. Carroll, January LaVoy, and Ron OJ Parson