Theater News

Full Cast, Creative Team Set for Signature’s Seven Guitars

Ruben Santiago-Hudson
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

Kevin Carroll, Cassandra Freeman, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Brenda Pressley, Lance Reddick, Roslyn Ruff, and Charles Weldon will star in the Signature Theatre Company’s production of August Wilson’s Seven Guitars, July 31-September 3. The production, to be directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, will open officially on August 17.

The show kicks off the beginning of Signature’s three-play salute to Wilson, who died last year; it will continue with revivals of two more plays from Wilson’s “Hill Cycle”: Two Trains Running and King Hedley II. Set in 1948, Seven Guitars concerns seven individuals in Pittsburgh who share frustration, joy, and loss. The original 1996 Broadway production ran for 188 performances. It received eight Tony Award nominations, including Best Play, with Santiago-Hudson winning the Tony as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Canewell.

The Signature production will feature original music by Obie winner and blues legend Bill Sims, set design by Richard Hoover, costumes by Karen Perry, lighting by Jane Cox, sound design by Darron L. West, and fight direction by Rick Sordelet.

Carroll, who will play Canewell, is currently starring in the Public Theater production of Satellites. Freeman, who will play Ruby, appeared in the Guthrie Theater’s production of Intimate Apparel. Henderson, who will play Red Carter, starred in the Broadway production of King Hedley II and the Off-Broadway production of Jitney. Pressley, who will play Louise, has been seen Off-Broadway in Fran’s Bed and And the World Goes ‘Round. Reddick, who plays Floyd, has starred in the TV shows Oz and The Wire. Ruff, who will play Vera, has appeared Off-Broadway in The Cherry Orchard and Macbeth. Weldon, who will play Hedley, is the co-founder of the Negro Ensemble Company and a veteran of many Wilson works.

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Seven Guitars

Closed: October 7, 2006