Shakespeare as a Starting Point: Shakespeare and the American Musical
A conversation with Matthew Gardiner
Booking and details
Dates Thu, Jan 22, 2026, 7:30pm
Venue Folger Theatre
Tickets Free; Registration required
Please note: Children under the age of 4 are not permitted.
Signature Theatre’s Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner leads a lively discussion around Shakespeare’s connection with and impact on American musical theater.
Exploring the different ways composers have been inspired by Shakespeare’s works, with specific emphasis on Stephen Sondheim, this talk will be accompanied by live performances of selections from Play On!, Kiss Me Kate, West Side Story, and more.
Signature’s Director of Artistic Development Anika Chapin will round out the evening.
How to attend the festival
Individual events – $20
Reading Room Festival All-Access Pass – $125
Access to all staged readings, panel discussions, workshops, and community celebrations included in the Festival.
Students – Free admission to readings and conversations
Admitted free one-half hour before event start time, with a valid ID.
Who’s Who
Matthew Gardiner
Matthew Gardiner has directed and/or choreographed more than 40 productions at Signature Theatre, including A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, HAIR, Ragtime, She Loves Me, RENT, A Chorus Line, West Side Story, La Cage aux Folles, Jelly’s Last Jam, The Threepenny Opera, and No Place To Go, as well as several world premieres including Really Really, Soon, and Midwestern Gothic, and contemporary plays like Strategic Love Play, JOB, Dying City, and Tender Napalm. With Signature’s special commitment to producing the work of Stephen Sondheim, Matthew has directed and/or choreographed many Sondheim musicals including Into the Woods, Passion, Sunday in the Park with George, Company, Sweeney Todd, and the world premiere of Simply Sondheim.
Anika Chapin
Anika Chapin is a dramaturg who specializes in musical theatre. She is the Director of Artistic Development at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University teaching musical theater dramaturgy. Before that, she was the Artistic Associate and resident Dramaturg at Goodspeed Musicals. She was previously the Literary Manager at Two River Theater. She was also the producer of Encores! Unscripted, a discussion series about topics in theater created by WNYC and City Center Encores!.
Camilo Linares
Camilo Linares (Caballero) Folger Theatre: Valor, Agravio y Mujer (The Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrongs): The Reading Room Festival 2025. Shakespeare Theatre Company: The Comedy of Errors; GALA Hispanic Theatre (Company Member): Las hermanas Palacios, Picasso (2019, 2023), Tia Julia y el escribidor; Spooky Action Theater: Frontières Sans Frontières; 1st Stage: Laughs in Spanish, Mojada; Studio Theatre: Fun Home; The Kennedy Center: The Day You Begin; Mosaic Theater Company: Theory; Imagination Stage: Òyeme, the Beautiful. Upcoming: Spooky Action Theater: Professor Woland’s Black Magic Rock Show. Camilolinares.com @ezkatons @manplesa
Kalen Robinson
Kalen Robinson (Fourth Woman: Midas’ Daughter and others) Folger Theatre: Our Verse in Time to Come (reading); Woolly Mammoth: The Sensational Sea-Minkettes; Theatre Alliance/The Kennedy Center: Look Both Ways; Imagination Stage: Nate the Great, The Hula Hoopin’ Queen; Signature Theatre: Passing Strange; Constellation Theatre: Once on This Island; Round House Theatre: Spring Awakening. Regional: Fulton Theatre: Cinderella, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. IG: @k_nicole143
Alex Stone
Alex Stone (performer) Folger Theatre: debut; Signature Theatre: Fiddler on the Roof, The Bridges of Madison County; Constellation Theatre Company: The Last Five Years. Regional: Summer Lyric at Tulane: Jesus Christ Superstar, Newsies; Clinton Area Showboat Theatre: Dial M for Murder, The 39 Steps. National Tour: Jesus Christ Superstar 50th Anniversary, Fiddler on the Roof. www.alexanderstone.net @justalexstone