by Terrance McNally, Stephen Flaherty, and Lynn Ahrens
Signature Theatre 2023-24
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Ashleigh King; Music Direction: Jon Kalbfleisch; Scenic Design: Lee Savage; Costume Design: Erik Teague; Lighting Design: Tyler Micoleau; Sound Design: Eric Norris
“The voices at Signature Theatre have never sounded more honeyed, or pulsated more urgently, than they do in director Matthew Gardiner’s mellifluously full-bodied revival of “Ragtime.” Jon Kalbfleisch, Signature’s go-to music director, leads a splendid 16-member orchestra — which amounts to one musician for every 16 ticket holders in Signature’s 277-seat main theater, the Max. It’s tantamount to being ringside at a cast album recording session, listening to the big, sweeping musical strokes in Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens’s score, a composition apt for a show about our boisterous American pageant. For pageantry is “Ragtime’s” brand. And Gardiner masters the form here, casting the parts, fictional and real, as emblematic cogs in an evolutionary demographic machine.” - Peter Marks, Washington Post
“Once again, Director Matthew Gardiner has assembled an impressive cast of talented actors, melded them into a flawless ensemble, and crafted a stunning story that takes the audience on an emotional journey that is a joy to experience. In the hands of Gardiner and company, Ragtime weaves a rich and lustrous tapestry of sight and sound that is truly extraordinary. ”- BroadwayWorld
“Gardiner’s Ragtime, even at a whopping three hours, is so tight that you’ll find yourself wondering where the time went.”- Washington City Paper
by James Lapine & Stephen Sondheim
Signature Theatre 2022
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Music Direction: Jon Kalbfleisch; Scenic Design: Lee Savage; Costume Design: David Reynoso; Lighting Design: Amanda Zieve; Sound Design: Eric Norris
“Into the Woods seems especially urgent right now… a winner for Signature, a troupe that has long staked its reputation on robust revivals of the musicals of Stephen Sondheim… The new production, staged by director Matthew Gardiner in what looks like the ruins of a forest cottage, adheres to the company’s high standards for musicality and design. ”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“The theater gods are surely smiling at Signature Theatre’s deliciously detailed production of a Sondheim classic, Into the Woods, directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner with extraordinary clarity… Gardiner’s movement work in the ensemble, small group, and solo numbers is impeccable. ”- DC Theater Arts
“A resplendent and totally original production of Into the Woods”- Talkin’ Broadway
by Ethan Lipton
Signature Theatre 2022
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Music Direction: Ian Riggs; Scenic Design: Paige Hathaway; Costume Design: Frederick P Deeben; Lighting Design: Max Doolitte; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
“Although Lipton wrote “No Place to Go” in response to the financial crisis more than a decade ago, Gardiner’s shrewd decision to revive the show amid the pandemic accentuates the unnerving specter of joblessness. If this is an employee evaluation, then he gets full marks — for casting Smith, of course, and for understanding that “No Place to Go” has a way forward.”- Thomas Floyd, Washington Post
by Joe Masteroff, Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick
Signature Theatre 2022
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Kelly D’Amboise; Music Direction: Jon Kalbfleisch; Scenic Design: Lee Savage; Costume Design: Alejo Vietti; Lighting Design: Adam Honore; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“Exceedingly well done. An audience member would have to be show tune averse not to fall hard for director Matthew Gardiner’s endearing production”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“This production feels like a breezy interlude from the cares of the world thanks to the meticulous synchronization of every element of this classic musical. Under the Direction of Matthew Gardiner, professional polish and pizazz permeates every facet of this production..”- BroadwayWorld
“There are many pleasures to behold in Matthew Gardiner’s sprightly, delightful trip to that fabled shop around the corner…effervescently funny, gorgeously sung.”- Metro Weekly
“Under Signature honcho Matthew Gardiner’s steady direction, this She Loves Me achieves a welcome intimacy… Ewoldt, Kolluri, Gardiner, and music director Jon Kalbfleisch’s 10-piece orchestra stick the landing, making this forever-uncool musical seem pretty goddamn hot. Bravo.”- Washington City Paper
by Johnathan Larson
Signature Theatre 2021
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Rickey Tripp; Music Direction: Mark G Meadows; Scenic Design: Paige Hathaway; Costume Design: Erik Teague; Lighting Design: Adam Honore; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“Gardiner approaches “Rent” with such inventive elan that the production stands as a joyous opening act for his own leadership run — and reinforces the notion honed over his many years of directing at Signature that he’s an outstanding steward of the American musical.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“Matthew Gardiner and company are giving us a wonderful theatrical experience complete with a superb cast and production elements. If you only know the original staging, you need to see this production. If you are a first time Rent virgin, you need to see this production. You'll be "Over The Moon" for sure.”- BroadwayWorld
“Staged in semi-immersive fashion by Signature artistic director Matthew Gardiner, the production transmits the urgency of youthful drive and ambition amidst dire circumstances, a quality that propels the La Bohème-inspired story, and certainly connects these ’90s characters and their travails to the present-day… These characters’ voices still ring true, and their songs still move an audience from their hearts to their tapping feet. The bonds of chosen family, rendered persuasively onstage and felt in the very atmosphere of the building, still light the candle of community that makes a theater feel like home.”- Metro Weekly
by Mark Sonnenblick
Signature Theatre 2021 (Filmed Production)
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Music Direction: Angie Benson; Costume Design: Frederick Deeban; Lighting Design: Adam Honore; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey; Editor: James Gardiner; Filmed by Chiet Productions
“Director Matthew Gardiner adeptly turns his eye for onstage spectacle to the screen.”- Thomas Floyd, Washington Post
“Director Matthew Gardiner stages the flashes back and sideways smoothly, with his handsome leads in tuxes always commanding the Never Get’s cabaret stage.”- Metro Weekly
“Midnight at the Never Get brings a vintage cabaret experience into your home, along with a play that will have you questioning the reliability of memory and the validity of "the one" when it comes to true love. I could watch it again and again.”- Theatremania
“Signature’s Midnight at the Never Get is love in its purest sense. The show is all about the thrill and doubt and politics and complications and pain that defines that love, and chasing it anyway. Midnight will haunt your relationships and memories, and you will be better for it.”- Georgetown Voice
by Stephen Sondheim
Signature Theatre 2021 (Filmed Production)
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Music Direction: Jon Kalbfleisch; Lighting Design: Adam Honore; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“Gardiner, Signature’s associate artistic director, reasserts his command here of the Sondheim canon — the company’s originating raison d’etre. As the organization continues its search for a new artistic director, following the departure last year of founder Eric Schaeffer, SIMPLY SONDHEIM suggests that his successor might be in plain sight.”- Peter Marks, The Washington Post
“I wasn’t expecting “Simply Sondheim” to be quite as good as it is, since greatest-hits musical revues too often feel aimless. Not this one: Mr. Gardiner’s scenery-free staging, in which the songs are locked together without benefit of plot or connective narration, moves from number to number so quickly that you scarcely have time to catch your breath. “Simply Sondheim” has no dead spots, no slack patches, no weak moments of any kind: Every element of the show is exactly right”- Terry Teachout, Wall Street Journal
“The almost two hours of gorgeously filmed theatrical concert, superbly directed and choreographed by Signature’s associate director Matthew Gardiner, spans through 50 years of work… Outstandingly conceived and executed, the work is entirely absorbing.”- Washington Blade
by James Kirkwood, Nicholas Dante, Marvin Hamlisch and Edward Kleban
Signature Theatre 2019
Director Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Denis Jones; Scenic Design: Jason Sherwood; Costume Design: Sarah Cubbage; Lighting Design: Adam Honore; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“On the company’s compact main stage, the sounds of a 10-member orchestra reverberating in a hall seating 275, the musical’s own heart feels bigger, somehow. In these closer quarters, too, the faces beaming so resiliently out of those glossies seem in reality to be more anxious, more conflicted, less certain about the future…As this irresistible revival reminds you, we’re all drawn inexorably back to the line. For love.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“Director Matthew Gardiner has marvelously revived the 44-year-old show… he’s updated the 44-year-old show resulting in a marvelous revival that viewers will wish they could watch again and again. ” Washington City Paper
“Signature’s A Chorus Line is exuberantly alive in the creative hands of director Matthew Gardiner….With this polished production, Signature once again shows that musical theater continues to be relevant as it evolves.” DC MetroArts
by Todd Almond & Matthew Sweet
Signature Theatre 2018
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“A tenderly truehearted rock musical that seems primed for cult-hit status on Signature Theatre’s second stage… Mavrikes and Miller bring a depth of authenticity to their assignments, for what Gardiner guides them to are close to ideal embodiments of the vicissitudes of furtive romance”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
by Lee Hall and Elton John
Signature Theatre 2018
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Jason Sherwood; Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard; Lighting Design: Amanda Zieve; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“Director-Choreographer Matthew Gardiner steers this revival of Lee Hall and Elton John’s Tony-winning 2008 adaptation of the 2000 British movie with the kind of theatrical authority Signature audiences have come to depend on from artistic director Eric Schaeffer’s right-hand man… on any night of “Billy Elliot” the heart leaps, for sure.” - Peter Marks, The Washington Post
“Gardiner’s innovative blocking semi-abstractly ties Billy’s strenuous dance education to the frictions between the miners and the police brought in to contain and intimidate them.” DC Theatre Scene
“Directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner, Billy Elliot is positively exhilarating.” DCMetroArts
“Even if the story is familiar from the film, Matthew Gardiner’s production features genuinely great moments of stage magic, the best of which features a high-flying Billy dancing with his older self… The adaptation of the 2000 film grows under the direction of Matthew Gardiner.” Washington City Paper
by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Signature Theatre 2018
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Lee Savage; Costume Design: Robert Perdziola; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“Signature Theatre presents an exquisite revival of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s ‘Passion’… Director Matthew Gardiner brings this most enigmatic and exotically romantic of Sondheim musicals back to Signature.” - Peter Marks, The Washington Post
“Every aspect of the show is beautifully realized, every character is finely delineated, and Sondheim’s rich, romantic score is played and sung to perfection. For any Sondheim fan, it’s a must; for anyone who has not seen Passion before, it can be a revelation.“- DC Metro Theatre Arts
“Signature's production celebrates the complexities of love with a production filled with a career-defining performance by leading lady Natascia and the type of mature, sleek, and sexy direction rarely seen in Washington. Matthew Gardiner, who once again has excelled as a director and interpreter of Sondheim, has given us a production that though filled with elements of macabre, never lets the musical lose its key message: that love, means many things to many people.” -BroadwayWorld
by Nick Blaemire
Signature Theatre, 2015
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Daniel Conway; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Brian Tovar; Projection Design: Matthew Haber; Sound Design: Lane Elms
“Nick Blaemire fuses the ordinary and the extraordinary in this new musical. Under Matthew Gardiner’s direction, the production offers innovative visual interest throughout and guides the four-person ensemble to bring these four incredibly nuanced characters to life.”- DCTheatreScene
“Under the assured, skillful touch of Director Matthew Gardiner, Signature Theatre has delivered a smart, engaging, delightfully personal-sized production of Soon, a new musical by Nick Blaemire”- DCMetroArts
World Premiere by Royce Vavrek & Josh Schmidt
Signature Theatre 2017
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Ivania Stack; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Ryan Hickey
“Royce Vavrek and Josh Schmidt, are in the business in this Signature Theatre world premiere of piercing the flat surface of America’s heartland via a jagged new musical about ids unleashed with malice aforethought.” Peter Marks, Washington Post
“From square one, these characters are doomed to terrible destinies in the inevitable downward spiral so deliciously typical of the Gothic horror genre. Give Vavrek and Schmidt credit, they know how to drive a plot along a road to destruction and how to start digging when they’ve found what could be the basement of depravity.”- DCTheatreScene
“It’s nice to see a new play that takes some fresh risks with subject matter, and a musical to boot.”- City Paper
by George C. Wolfe, Jelly Roll Morton & Susan Birkenhead
Signature Theatre 2016
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Jared Grimes; Scenic Design: Daniel Conway; Costume Design: Dede M Ayite; Lighting Design: Grant Wilcoxen; Sound Design: Lane Elms
“A dazzling revival…The physical world conjured by Gardiner and set designer Daniel Conway is an eye-filling marvel…this “Jam” jams with infectious style.” Peter Marks, Washington Post
“Credit for how entertaining Jelly's Last Jam is due in part to the choreographer, but it is Director Matthew Gardiner who pulls the show together. He is no longer the "up-and-coming" hot-shot director of musicals. He's there already.” - CurtainUp
by Philip Ridley
Signature Theatre 2014
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Luciana Stecconi; Costume Design: Laree Lentz; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Eric Shimelonis
“The show is being staged superbly in Signature’s small Ark space…An overarching keen intelligence, from pacing to inflection (which here includes East London accents), seems to be a hallmark of Matthew Gardiner’s direction.” Nelson Pressley, Washington Post
“Director Matthew Gardiner has taken what appears to be a daunting and psychologically challenging play to wrap one’s head around and turned it into a thrilling non-linear jaunt through time and space.”- DCMetroArts
by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
Signature Theatre, 2016
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Parker Esse; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Jason Lyons; Sound Design: Lane Elms
"The maturity with which Gardiner conducts his “West Side Story” confirms an impression of his abilities with classic musicals that has been rising with each of his recent productions... Now, there’s this marvelous “West Side Story” on his résumé and in our midst, leaving an audience all at once sated — and hungry for what he does next."- Peter Marks, The Washington Post
"Gardiner’s production is a standout: It engages you in a way that standard proscenium productions of West Side Story can’t. If this doesn’t become your favorite production of West Side Story, I would love to know where you saw it staged better."- Doug Rule, Metro Weekly
“The audacity and depth of "West Side Story" are forcefully reiterated in an up-close revival playing to packed houses at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va… I don't expect to encounter such an affecting, visceral staging of this 1957 musical anytime soon… Signature's associate artistic director, Matthew Gardiner, guides the production in sure, telling fashion; his expert pacing assures maximum effect for the emotional peaks, as well as the welcome comic relief. There's an organic flow to the staging, with every move, subtle or bold, emerging naturally. One measure of Gardiner's incisive touch: Each member of the Jets and the Sharks is deftly defined, even those who barely get a line; no one ever blends into the ensemble. It's no small thing for a director to draw out details of personality the way Gardiner does here.”- Tim Smith, Baltimore Sun
by Jerry Herman & Harvey Fierstein; based on the play by Jean Poiret
Signature Theatre, 2016
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Lee Savage; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Jason Lyons; Sound Design: Lane Elms
"'La Cage is another impressive bit of handiwork from Gardiner, who was responsible for Signature’s sensational revival this past winter of West Side Story. Buoyant and sleek, this incarnation of Herman and Fierstein’s musical also allows us to reflect on the more serious implications of the story. If Signature can accomplish this with a musical that on other occasions has seemed merely politically correct and frilly, there is no telling what else this company can do."- Peter Marks, The Washington Post
by Michael Weller, Lucy Simon, Michael Korie & Amy Powers
OD Musical Company in Seoul, Korea 2018
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Jung Seung-ho; Lighting Design: Seonyong Ma; Projection Design: Suhyun Cho; Producer: Chunsoo Shin
by Peter Stone & Maury Yeston
Signature Theatre, 2016 / OD Musical Company in Seoul, Korea 2018
Director: Eric Schaeffer; Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Paul DePoo; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Amanda Zieve; Sound Design: Lane Elms
“Yeston’s craftsmanship is honored fully on Signature Theatre’s stage, in director Eric Schaeffer’s splendidly sung — and steered — revival… Matthew Gardiner’s crisp dances supply additional rewarding accents” Peter Marks, Washington Post
World Premiere by Paul Downs Colaizzo
Signature Theatre. 2012
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
“As shepherded by Signature’s artistic second-in-command, Matthew Gardiner — who hereby submits his credentials for entry to the first-class cabin of Washington directors — “Really Really” is the sharpest original play the Arlington company has offered up in years… Gardiner’s experience as a choreographer pays off here, for the wordless scene is a sublimely orchestrated exhibition of the giddy wearing-off of hormones and booze.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“[Gardiner] seems like the perfect director for this show, drawing out its ugly jokes and compelling portraits with a fluid ease that makes them feel like just another part of college life.”- Washingtonian
by Tom Eyen & Henry Krieger
Signature Theatre, 2013
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Co-Choreographer: Brianne Camp; Scenic Design: Adam Koch; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Chris Lee; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
“Director Matthew Gardiner has gathered a cadre of singer-actors fully equipped for the vocal rigors of a fairly conventional show-biz story made special by Henry Krieger’s emotionally raw pop score and the propulsive advance of the musical staging. That energy, a hallmark of Michael Bennett’s brilliant original Broadway production, is regenerated slickly by Gardiner… a production destined to bring joy to the world, 250 customers at a time.” Peter Marks, Signature Theatre
by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
Signature Theatre 2014
Director and Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
“Signature Theatre’s new production of The Threepenny Opera—directed and choreographed with unerring cunning by Matthew Gardiner—is cringe-inducing, snarky, impudent, and jarring. Everything it’s meant to be. And I cannot imagine this subversive classic could look, sound, and play any better.”- DCTheatreScene
“For its first-ever production of either Bertolt or Weill, Signature Theatre doesn’t flinch for a second”- MetroWeekly
by James Lapine & Stephen Sondheim
Signature Theatre, 2014
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Daniel Conway; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Jen Schriever; Sound Design: Lane Elms
"On this blissful occasion, the revival, directed with refinement and perspicacity by Matthew Gardiner, boasts an exemplary cast... Gardiner and company puts it all together, impeccably"- Peter Marks, The Washington Post
“Matthew Gardiner, takes what is considered a cool-toned and cerebral show and imbues it with astonishing warmth, quickness and light.” DC Theatre Scene
“Matthew Gardiner and his assembled forces put together a deeply felt portrait of an artist struggling to connect the dots of life and work… In fact, that sense of real relationships, real emotional stakes, is one of the strong points of Gardiner’s staging”- Washington City Paper
by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project
Ford’s Theatre 2013
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Beowulf Borit; Costume Design: Helen Huang; Lighting Design: Rui Rita; Sound Design: John Gromada; Projection Design: Clint Allen
“Not even a government shutdown can blunt the power of this production…Gardiner’s direction, and the heartfelt, fierce, committed performances of his actors, are more than enough to create scenes and locations and moments of pure heartbreak. I hope they get to play the rest of the run at Ford’s, but if they don’t, wherever they perform it will be good enough.”- Washingtonian
“Gardiner’s production is rich in funny, affecting, artfully idiosyncratic evocations of vivid and sometimes disturbing personalities. All in all, the performance suggested that, when and if the production finally unfurls on the Ford’s stage, right next to the box where Lincoln was shot, “The Laramie Project” will be resonant and duly gripping.” Celia Wren, Washington Post
By Christopher Shinn
Signature Theatre, 2012
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Daniel Conway; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Colin K Bills; Sound Design: Matt Rowe; Original Music: Peter Lerman
“Matthew Gardiner’s production supplies the right amount of restraint to a story loaded with resonant detail. The piece is a low-simmering psychological mystery, the sort of sophisticated evening that comes to a satisfying end without the burden of a thorough explanation.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
by John Kander, Fred Ebb and Joe Masteroff
Signature Theatre, 2015
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Jason Lyons; Sound Design: Lane Elms
“The Kit Kat Club roars to life with trashy, Weimar-era decadent splendor in Signature Theatre’s smashing production of Cabaret, directed and choreographed by Matthew Gardiner”- DCTheatreScene
“The production is distinguished by the finely tooled guidance of director and choreographer Matthew Gardiner… Gardiner maneuvers his actors and dancers fleetly, on the show’s grand and tragic march from the two-step to the goose-step.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori
Round House Theatre 2017
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Jason Sherwood; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Grant Wilcoxen; Sound Design: Fitz Patton
“Matthew Gardiner delivers an illuminating version of the 2003 bluesy pop opera, with book and lyrics by Tony Kushner and a score packed with tempestuous, ear-pleasing riches by Jeanine Tesori. Gardiner, whom Round House imported from Signature, where he is associate artistic director, has assembled a formidable array of talent. Set designer Jason Sherwood impressively places the Gellmans’ multistory frame home on a turntable that Gardiner uses deftly to reveal the essential coldness of the household.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“Director/Choreographer Matthew Gardiner has done a great job pacing the show (probably more so than George C. Wolfe on Broadway) and navigating its complexities on a substantive level.”- BroadwayWorld
by Ken Ludwig, George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin
Signature Theatre 2017
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Denis Jones; Scenic Design: Paul DePoo; Costume Design: Tristan Raines; Lighting Design: Jason Lyons; Sound Design: Lane Elms
“Matthew Gardiner’s production of this 1992 Tony-winner, adapted from a 1930 musical, completely resonates in 2017… Way back in 1991, Susan Stroman choreographed the musical’s pre-Broadway tryout at D.C.’s National Theatre. She was slated to direct a New York-bound production at L.A.’s Ahmanson Theatre, but that production has been mysteriously postponed. Should the producers reconsider, Gardiner’s production does indeed have rhythm, and is raring to go in Arlington, Deadrock, or the Great White Way beyond.” Washington City Paper
“Every update and fresh choice Gardiner and the company make only pumps the musical up with even more pizzazz, wit, and charm.” DCTheatreScene
“Signature's production, directed by whiz-bang in-house star Matthew Gardiner, offers up some heady demonstrations of tap, courtesy of choreographer Denis Jones, and there's even one heavenly number in which the ensemble wittily takes up washboards, saws, hooch jugs and emery boards to keep the beat.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
by Andrew Lippa
Carnegie Mellon University Centennial Production, 2014
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Tome Cousin; Scenic Design: Chris Raintree; Costume Design: Erik Larson; Lighting Design: Justin Keenan Miller; Sound Design: Maggie Burke
“The CMU production at the Philip Chosky Theatre is an all-in affair of steamy desire and simmering rage, a triumph for the cast and director Matthew Gardiner and his team”- Pittsburgh Post Gazette
by Douglas Carter Beane, Jeff Lynne & John Farrar
Signature Theatre, 2012
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard; Lighting Design: Chris Lee; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
“An entertainment drolly supervised by director-choreographer Matthew Gardiner. On Misha Kachman’s glitzy set, dotted with palm trees and bathed in the prom-night glow of two dozen disco balls, the cast sings their satirical hearts out.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
“Young phenom Gardiner and his tremendously talented cast of nine never take the material too seriously and play up the camp value to the hilt. This tongue-in-cheek approach allows for the end result to be a good one.”- Maryland Theatre Guide
“It's been just a few months since director Matthew Gardiner had me grinding my teeth with rage; now he's got me giggling like a teenager. Something to be said for a guy who can follow up a grim campus-rape drama with a perfectly pitched roller-disco musical...one thing I'm learning about Gardiner is that he's a devil with the details.”- Washington City Paper
by Adam Gwon
Round House Theatre, 2014
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Frank Labovitz; Lighting Design: Justin Thomas
“It’s a beguiling little tale, set to Gwon’s effervescent, urban-romantic melodies and performed here under Matthew Gardiner’s superlative direction by four smashing actors. “Ordinary Days,” is crucially the sum of four parts, and Edgerly’s compadres have been cast and guided by Gardiner with acute theatrical antennae.”- Peter Marks, Washington Post
by John Dempsey & Dana P. Rowe
Signature Theatre 2015
Director: Eric Schaeffer; Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Misha Kachman; Costume Design: Hunter Kaczorowski; Lighting Design: Ryan O’Gara; Sound Design: Lane Elms
“The verve of this whole cast keeps The Fix marching and sharply dancing (thanks to choreographer Matthew Gardiner) along to the snare-driven score never letting me catch my breath, much less look at my watch.”- DC Theatre Scene
“The dynamic pulse of this musical performance is driven by the show’s intensive dance work. Choreographer Matthew Gardiner fabricates intricately rhythmic routines into the larger ensemble numbers that really exemplify the energy and overall pulse of the performance. From the opening number, “Let the Games Begin” there is a sharp and classy feel to the dancing energy of the piece. Crisp movements in tight synchronization drive home a repetitive notion of severity and sincerity in that fashion. “Simple Words” showcases Gardiner’s versatility as a choreographer, including his ability to created ‘seated dance’ moves and make them an effective part of the routine. Gardiner also finds the intricacies among the smaller numbers like the two-person swanky tap routines featured in “Control” and “Two Guys at Harvard.” Running the gamut of styles and moves, Gardiner pulls out all the stops for the big Act I Finale, “Dangerous Games” and the ensemble-delivered routine here is astonishing.”- TheatreBloom
byJonathan Larson
MetroStage 2015
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Adam Koch; Costume Design: Sasha Ludwig-Siegel; Lighting Design: Mark Lanks; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
by Michael John LaChiusa
Signature Theatre 2009
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Adam Koch; Costume Design: Kathleen Geldard; Lighting Design: Mark Lanks; Sound Design: Matt Rowe
by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine
Carnegie Mellon University, 2020
Director & Choreographer: Matthew Gardiner; Scenic Design: Katherine Sharpless; Costume Design: Oona Natesan; Lighting Design: Alex Talbot; Sound Design: David Gotwald
by Arthur Laurents, Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim
Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma, 2017
Director: Matthew Gardiner; Choreographer: Amy Reynolds Reed; Scenic Design: Kimberly Powers; Costume Design: Jeffrey Meek; Lighting Design: Helena Kuukka
“Under the direction of Matthew Gardiner -- whose 2015 production at Signature Theatre in Washington, D.C., wowed sold-out audiences, including Lyric’s Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron – “West Side Story” remains a period piece but becomes as real and relevant as ever… Gardiner’s visionary version pumps new physicality and vitality into the familiar tale, reestablishing “West Side Story” as a quintessential American musical theater experience.”- NewsOk
“Matthew Gardiner directs this show with conviction and authenticity. Placing the acting front-and-center (let's face it, acting is often the forgotten component in many musical productions) Gardiner carefully crafts the scenes for maximum emotional impact, building the symphony of Laurent’s script as precisely as he does Bernstein’s score.”- Broadwayworld