Signature Theatre’s 2025 Luminary Awards Gala, held April 10 at The Pershing Square Signature Center, honored playwrights Dominique Morisseau and Sarah Ruhl, both concluding their Signature residencies this season.
The evening began at 6 PM with cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, followed by entertainment and an awards presentation at 7 PM, dinner at 8:30 PM, and a dance party, dessert, and nightcap at 9:30 PM.
READ: Obie-Winning Musical Oratorio for Living Things to Make Off-Broadway Return
The celebration featured performances and appearances by Tony nominee Sara Bareilles, currently collaborating with Ruhl on a musical adaptation of The Interestings; Animal Wisdom and Oratorio for Living Things creator Heather Christian; Quentin Earl Darrington, who played Don Cornelius in the San Fran premiere of Morisseau’s Hippest Trip–The Soul Train Musical; Tony nominee Sidney DuPont, who played Tony Cornelius in the same production; stage and screen star Nathan Lee Graham, who played Queen Elizabeth I in Ruhl’s Orlando at Signature; Stranger Things breakout Maya Hawke, who plays the title role in the upcoming production of Ruhl’s Eurydice; Jo Lampert, seen in Ruhl’s Orlando; Grey's Anatomy actor Kelly McCreary, who played Simone in Morisseau’s Bad Kreyòl; director Jack Serio, acclaimed for his Signature production of Samuel D. Hunter’s Grangeville; Tony nominee Michelle Wilson, who starred in Signature's world premiere of Morisseau’s Confederates; and Signature Premiere Resident Lauren Yee, whose Cambodian Rock Band made its New York premiere at Signature in 2020.
The evening also featured sneak peeks from Hippest Trip—The Soul Train Musical and The Interestings, two musical theatre projects with books by Morisseau and Ruhl, respectively. The evening concluded with an after-party DJ set by Jimmy Keys.
Signature Artistic Director Emily Shooltz stated, “I am beyond lucky to share my first season at Signature with Dominique and Sarah, two brilliant writers whose passion for the art form and generosity towards their collaborators and audiences exemplifies all that a Signature Residency represents for me. Their work is lighting the way for our next chapter, and I am overjoyed to celebrate their Signature residencies, and deservedly honor them as luminaries of our field.”
Check out photos from the evening in the gallery below.
-Matthew-Murphy.jpg)
