An outlawed gay love gets set to music in ‘Midnight at The Never Get’ – DC Metro Theater Arts

Midnight at The Never Get—the Off-Broadway smash hit and third production in the Signature Features 2021 Season—will stream April 30 through June 21, 2021, in HD on Marquee TV. With book, music, and lyrics by Jonathan Larson grant winner Mark Sonnenblick (Independents, Dragons Love Tacos), Midnight at The Never Get features the performance of a lifetime from a 1960s underground gay nightclub in Greenwich Village.

If life is a rehearsal for your memory, what moment would you replay? It is 1965 in New York City and cabaret crooner Trevor is in love—with Arthur, his songwriter. With their romance outlawed, the two create an act in the back room of an illegal Greenwich Village gay bar. However, pressures from a world on the cusp of change expose an ache for what they could never have in a wistful and whimsical serenade with tunes reminiscent of the Great American Songbook.

Midnight at The Never Get stars Sam Bolen (Lucille Lorton Award for Midnight at The Never Get, New York City Center Encores!’s Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and Christian Douglas (Signature Vinyl, Arena Stage’s Newsies) and features Bobby Smith (Simply Sondheim, Studio Theatre’s A Class Act).

“Mark Sonnenblick has written a musical that is romantic and heartbreaking,” says Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner, who directs. “It’s a story about the tectonic power of a love affair and the trace it leaves behind, for better or worse. I’m very excited to bring this haunting and moving musical into your living rooms with this filmed production.”

“Central to Signature Theatre’s mission is the development and promotion of new musicals,” says Managing Director Maggie Boland. “Midnight at The Never Get is a heartfelt and bittersweet story of love and yearning and we are thrilled to be a part of its bright and promising future as part of the American musical canon.”

Midnight at The Never Get will be available to stream from April 30 through June 21 in HD on Marquee TV, an on-demand streaming platform dedicated to global arts and culture. Signature Features subscribers will receive early access to streaming. Single stream tickets are available to purchase for $35 and subscriptions to the full season for $200. Tickets and subscriptions can be purchased at SigTheatre.org. The show will be available to stream for 72 hours after patron’s initial viewing has begun. Closed Captioning and an audio described version will be available in English.

Midnight at The Never Get’s book music and lyrics are written by Mark Sonnenblick with conception by Sam Bolen, Max Friedman, and Mark Sonnenblick. Directed by Signature’s Associate Artistic Director Matthew Gardiner (Simply Sondheim, A Chorus Line), with Music Direction by Angie Benson (Assassins, Olney Theatre Center’s Singin’ in the Rain), the complete creative team includes Costume Design by Frederick P. Deeben (Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose; PCPA Theaterfest’s Oklahoma!), Lighting Design by Adam Honoré (Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, The Public’s Ain’t No Mo), Sound Design by Ryan Hickey (Simply Sondheim, Gun & Powder), Orchestrations by Adam Podd (NYMF’s Peter Who?, Pope! (an epic musical)), Casting by Kelly Crandall d’Amboise (Simply Sondheim, Light Years), and Production Coordinator Kerry Epstein (Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, Simply Sondheim). The production was filmed by Chiet Productions, Director of Photography Justin Chiet, Associate Producer/Editor James Gardiner, with assistant editing by Natalie Ridgley. Full bios are below.

Mark Sonnenblick (Book, Music & Lyrics/Conception) OFF-BROADWAY: York Theatre Company: Midnight at The Never Get; Soho Playhouse: Independents; Ars Nova: Stompcat in Lawndale. REGIONAL: TheatreworksUSA: Dragons Love Tacos; Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Wheel of Misfortune; Washington National Opera: Twenty Minutes Or Less. VIRTUAL COVID SITUATION: Saturday Night Seder. AWARDS: Mark has been nominated for Primetime Emmy, Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle awards. He has won a MAC Award (“Show of the Year”), a Bistro Award, a Jonathan Larson Grant (American Theatre Wing), a Harold Adamson Lyric Award (ASCAP), and “Best Production” at the New York Fringe Festival.

Max Friedman (Conception/Original Direction) BROADWAY: Be More Chill (Associate, dir. Stephen Brackett). OFF-BROADWAY: Midnight at The Never Get. NYC CABARET: Lincoln Center American Songbook: Joe Iconis & Family, Charlie Rosen’s Broadway Big Band, Ruby Manger Live! The Farewell Engagement, LoserSongs: An Evening with Will Roland; Noel Carey & Julia Mattison’s Wayward Brainchildren, Paul Jabara’s Rachael Lily Rosenbloom… and don’t you ever forget it. REGIONAL: Midnight at The Never Get in Provincetown. AWARDS: 2017 Bistro & 2019 MAC Awards for Midnight at The Never Get.

Matthew Gardiner (Director) SIGNATURE: Director: Simply Sondheim, Signature Vinyl, A Chorus Line, Billy Elliot, Passion, Girlfriend, Crazy for You, Midwestern Gothic, Jelly’s Last Jam, La Cage Aux Folles, West Side Story, Cabaret, Soon, Sunday in the Park with George, The Threepenny Opera, Tender Napalm, Dreamgirls, Dying City, Xanadu, Really Really, The Hollow, Side by Side by Sondheim, Art, [title of show], See What I Wanna See; Choreographer: Blackbeard, Titanic, The Fix, Company, Sweeney Todd, Dirty Blonde. INTERNATIONAL: South Korea- OD Company: Doctor Zhivago (Director); Titanic (Choreographer). DC THEATRE: Director: Round House Theatre: Caroline, or Change; Ordinary Days; Ford’s Theatre: The Laramie Project; Kennedy Center: Snow White, Rose Red (and Fred!); MetroStage: tick, tick…BOOM!; Studio Theatre: Jerry Springer: The Opera; Reefer Madness; Choreographer: Round House Theatre: The Legend of Georgia McBride; Shakespeare Theatre: The Tempest; MetroStage: Jacques Brel is Alive And Well…; Studio Theatre: Grey Gardens, Adding Machine. EDUCATION: Carnegie Mellon University.

Angie Benson (Music Director) SIGNATURE: Ol’ Blue Eyes: Frank Sinatra, Assassins, Grand Hotel, Girlfriend. NATIONAL TOUR: A Chorus Line, Barry Manilow’s Copacabana. DC AREA: Olney Theatre Center: Singin’ in the Rain, Elf. REGIONAL: Playhouse Square: I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change; Northern Stage: The Sound of Music, A Christmas Carol: The Musical (Composer); Stoneham Theatre: The Who’s Tommy; Kansas City Starlight: First Date, Miss Saigon; West Virginia Public: Seussical; Unicorn Theatre: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert; Utah Musical Theatre: Side By Side By Sondheim, New Theatre: Have You Met Miss Jones (starring Shirley Jones and Patrick Cassidy).

Frederick P. Deeben (Costume Design) SIGNATURE: Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose. REGIONAL: PCPA Theaterfest: Oklahoma!, Noises Off, Hamlet, Cyrano de Bergerac, Monty Python’s Spamalot, Fiddler on the Roof, The Tempest, The Wizard of Oz, Three Sisters, The Rivalsl, Hairspray, Pride and Prejudice, Curtains, Macbeth, The Music Man, Les Miserables, White Christmas, The Heart’s Desire (world premiere), Hot Mikado, Urinetown, Company, The Chalk Circle, Much Ado About Nothing, Anna in the Tropics, Seussical, As You Like It, The Wildest!! (world premiere), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Our Town, 42^nd Street, Wonderful Town, Rope (world premiere); The Western Stage: Clean House, The Threepenny Opera, Big River, Anything Goes, Sweeney Todd; Sierra Repertory Theatre: Bell Book & Candle; Surflight Theatre: Man of La Mancha, Grease, Phantom, 1776, Dames at Sea. OPERA: The Merry Widow, Cosi Fan Tutti, Faust. AWARDS: 3 Indy Awards (Santa Barbara), 1 Robby Award (Los Angeles). EDUCATION: MFA Syracuse University 1997, BA Gettysburg College 1987.

Adam Honoré (Lighting Design) SIGNATURE: Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, Simply Sondheim, A Chorus Line. OFF-BROADWAY: Select: The Public: Ain’t No Mo; Classic Stage Company: Carmen Jones; Ensemble Studio Theatre: Behind the Sheet; Carnegie Hall: Faux-bia!. INTERNATIONAL: Austria: Haydn’s The Seasons; Manila: The Band’s Visit; Kinky Boots; Fun Home (International Premiere, featuring Lea Salonga). REGIONAL: Select: Arena Stage, Capital Repertory Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Huntington Theater Company, Shakespeare Theatre Company. AWARDS: Drama Desk, Henry Hewes, Helen Hayes Nominee; AUDELCO Award recipient. www.HonoreLighting.com @itsadamhonore

Ryan Hickey (Sound Design) SIGNATURE: Simply Sondheim, Gun & Powder, A Chorus Line, Assassins, Blackbeard, Grand Hotel, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Billy Elliot, Passion, Scottsboro Boys, Girlfriend (Helen Hayes nomination), Light Years (Helen Hayes nomination), Crazy for You, An Act of God, A Little Night Music (Helen Hayes nomination), Jesus Christ Superstar, Midwestern Gothic, Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, Titanic. DC AREA: Olney Theatre: South Pacific; Monumental Theatre Co.: Brooklyn. REGIONAL: Drury Lane Production: Smokey Joe’s Café, Deathtrap (Jeff Award nomination); Virginia Stage Company: A Christmas Carol (’17-’18), Oliver Twist, The Odd Couple, The Woman in Black, Frankie and Johnny in the Clare de Lune; EDUCATIONAL: Montgomery College: Summer Dinner Theatre (’17-’19); Ohio Northern University: How to Succeed in Business…. Assistant/Associate credits: Geva Theatre: The Humans; Drury Lane: Crazy for You, Hazel, Bye, Bye, Birdie, White Christmas, Peter and The Starcatcher, Beaches, West Side Story, Camelot; VSC: The Great Gatsby, A Christmas Carol (’11-’14); Sound Supervisor: Virginia Stage Company (’11-’14)

Adam Podd (Orchestrations) POPS/SYMPHONIC ORCH: National Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, New York Pops, Houston Symphony; OFF-BROADWAY: Midnight at The Never Get, Fiction In Photographs; NEW YORK MUSIC THEATRE FESTIVAL: Peter Who? (formerly The Spidey Project), Midnight at The Never Get, Pope! (an epic musical), Touché.

Kerry Epstein (Production Coordinator) SIGNATURE: Resident Stage Manager: Fifteen seasons and over 65 productions. Selected credits include Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, Simply Sondheim, Gun & Powder, A Chorus Line, Assassins, Blackbeard, Grand Hotel, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Billy Elliot, Passion, The Scottsboro Boys, John, Light Years, Crazy for You, A Little Night Music, Jesus Christ Superstar, Mrs. Miller Does Her Thing, Titanic, Freaky Friday, Jelly’s Last Jam, West Side Story, Cabaret, Sunday in the Park with George, Miss Saigon, Company, Shakespeare’s R&J, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Sunset Boulevard, First You Dream, Les Miserables, The Visit, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Studio, The Witches of Eastwick, Into the Woods, Nevermore. Stage Management mentor for Signature in the Schools. INTERNATIONAL: Dublin Theater Festival. DC AREA: The Kennedy Center New Visions/New Voices, Arena Stage/Georgetown University. REGIONAL: Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, EDUCATION: Dickinson College.

Justin Chiet (Director of Photography) SIGNATURE: Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, Simply Sondheim, After Midnight, Signature Vinyl, plus over 7 years of Signature marketing content. DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: One Destiny; Olney Theatre Center: A Christmas Carol, Singin’ in the Rain, and years of material for the DC Theatre Community including Arena Stage; TheaterWashington; Synetic Theatre Company; Woolly Mammoth Theater Company; and Folgers Shakespeare Theatre Library. Chiet Productions is a full service digital multimedia production company providing work such as commercial, documentary, narrative film, corporate, educational, and live event content for television and online distribution. Works include projects such as PBS’s Live At 9:30 TV show; the glowmedia project’s King of the World and other short films in the Mental Health Educational Series; several outdoor music festivals for iHeartRadio; and a feature length American adaptation of Shakespeare’s, King Lear.

James Gardiner (Associate Producer/Editor) SIGNATURE: Daniel J. Watts’ The Jam: Only Child, Simply Sondheim, After Midnight, Signature Vinyl and over 500 marketing, education, and development videos. DC AREA: Ford’s Theatre: One Destiny; Olney Theatre Center: Singin’ in the Rain; Woolly Mammoth Theater Company; Folger Theatre; Synetic Theatre Company; TheatreWashington.

ABOUT SIGNATURE

Signature is widely recognized as the premiere venue in Washington to see musical theater, especially new musicals. Recently called “a dream for patrons” and “the gold standard for producing musicals” by The Washington Post, Signature is renowned for its interpretations of Stephen Sondheim’s work, inventive adaptations of overlooked or forgotten musicals, and investment in fresh new projects. The Theatre is an industry leader in developing and producing new work and is home to the largest musical theater development program in the United States.

Signature features the finest talent from the D.C. metropolitan area and New York on its stages and has been a creative home to such luminaries as Chita Rivera, Sheryl Crow, Barry Levinson, George Hearn, Emily Skinner, Kathleen Marshall, Ann Reinking, Marc Kudisch, Judy Kuhn, Deborah Monk, Boyd Gaines, Heidi Blickenstaff, James Lapine, Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey, John Kander and Fred Ebb, Cameron Mackintosh, Terrence McNally, and the company’s signature composer, Stephen Sondheim. Under the leadership of Maggie Boland, Managing Director, Signature draws more than 100,000 patrons annually to its Arlington home and has been cited for its achievements by a wide range of local and national media.

ABOUT MARQUEE TV

Launched in 2018, Marquee TV (www.marquee.tv) is the on-demand streaming platform dedicated to global arts and culture. Serving up a world-class catalogue of contemporary and classic masterpieces, including dance, opera, music, theatre, and documentaries, Marquee TV has been designed for a growing digital audience of determined culture lovers and the arts-curious.

Founded by a team of media tech entrepreneurs who were also behind the BBC’s iPlayer and the ground-breaking U.S. platform TenduTV, Marquee TV is available on iOS and Android apps, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire, Comcast X1, Cox, Smart TVs and additional platforms. Premium subscription pricing in the U.S. is $8.99 a month or $89.99 for one year. Learn more at https://www.marquee.tv/ and follow along @MarqueeArtsTV on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Midnight at The Never Get is sponsored by Celie & Tabitha Niehaus and The Ted & Mary Jo Shen Charitable Gift Fund. Lighting is sponsored by an anonymous donor and music is sponsored by The Meredith Foundation.