Arts & Entertainment

Queery: Matthew Gardiner

The Signature Theatre director answers 20 gay questions

Published

15 years ago

May 12, 2011

Joey DiGuglielmo

Matthew Gardiner (Photo by Kristina Sherk; courtesy of Signature Theatre)

Matthew Gardiner’s first exposure to Stephen Sondheim is a vivid memory. He was 5 and remembers his mom watching “Into the Woods” on PBS. He was supposed to be in bed but hid behind the sofa watching it unbeknownst to her.

“His lyrics are unlike anybody else’s who writes for musical theater,” the 27-year-old gay College Park, Md., resident says. “His music is spectacular and he’s an amazing wordsmith.”

Gardiner is directing “Side by Side by Sondheim,” which runs through June 12 at Arlington’s Signature Theatre. It’s a revue of the gay composer’s early works that features music from “West Side Story,” “Company,” “Follies,” “A Little Night Music” and more. Gardiner changed a couple of the songs — with Sondheim’s blessing — and tweaked the between-song patter, but says the simple presentation is intrinsic to the show.

“There’s no reason to clutter Sondheim’s work with excessive spectacle,” he says. “His words are what you want to focus on.”

Gardiner is also directing “Art,” another current Signature production. Eric Schaeffer, whom Gardiner calls “my mentor and teacher” slated him for both productions — it’s the first time Gardiner knows of that a Signature director has helmed simultaneous productions.

Gardiner and his twin brother grew up active in the arts. He studied ballet for years but eventually wanted to find something that would allow him more creative input so he pursued directing. He joined Signature after going to school at Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Mellon University. And though he has a group of friends with whom he enjoys exploring new restaurants and activities in Washington, the theater, he says, is his life.

“I’m a workaholic and I’m doing what I love and I love the people I do it with,” he says. “So it’s not a job for me. It’s what I want to be doing. I have a wonderful group of friends and we do lots of stuff together but I enjoy the theater most so I spend a lot of time doing it.”

Gardiner is single and lives in Arlington. (Photo courtesy of Kristina Sherk)

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

Since I was 18 but it took a while to have the conversation with my parents. They probably knew since I was 5 when I begged my mother to buy me all the Judy Garland albums. Was it hard to tell them I was gay? No. They knew. But is a conversation about sexual preference with your parents a bit awkward. Sure.

Who’s your LGBT hero?

Socially: Harvey Milk. Artistically: There are many. But presently, Arthur Laurents, who recently passed away. He was a giant in the theatre world (the writer of West Side Story, which in my opinion is perfection) and an open and proud gay man.

What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

Ali’s Bar at Signature Theatre

Describe your dream wedding.

I don’t think I’ve ever given that much thought. I guess something simple and intimate, with close friends and family. Something personal, that speaks to my relationship with that other person.

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?

Arts education

What historical outcome would you change?

Everything happens for a reason. But I guess the election of and the re-election of George W. Bush.

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Being in an elevator with Al Pacino.

On what do you insist?

110 percent. Will you always achieve or get from those around you? No. But I strive for and expect it from those around me.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?

I enjoy sharing YouTube videos. The most recent was a video of Anne Reinking, Donna McKechnie and Chita Rivera singing “Let Me Entertain” you on a television special in 1987. Look it up. It’s amazing.

If your life were a book, what would the title be?

“Questionable Sensibility”

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

Protest

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

The tooth fairy… definitely the tooth fairy.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?

I have no advice, except to keep on. I am amazed daily by people who dedicate their lives to fighting for their rights and others.

What would you walk across hot coals for?

My parents and brother.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

Well the whole “show queen” stereotype … oh and the word “twink.”

What’s your favorite LGBT movie?

“Philadelphia.” That scene with Tom Hanks, listening to the Maria Callas recording, it does a number on me every time I see it. Also “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” but for very different reasons.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

If by customs you mean etiquette then I think nothing is overrated. Shaking hands, opening the door for others, saying please and thank you. I’m all for social etiquette and good manners.

What trophy or prize do you most covet?

Positive feedback on my work from my brother. Is that corny? OK, my “Most Improved” trophy from a bowling team I was on in elementary school. I was awful.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

Have confidence and don’t worry what others think of you and your decisions. I still have to remind myself of this.

Why Washington?

Because it’s my home. I grew up here. And because it is one of the most exciting theatre towns in America.

Related Topics:Art Homepage Special Feature Matthew Gardiner Side by Side by Sondheim Signature Theatre Stephen Sondheim

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Celebrity News

Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam

Kylie Minogue made surprise appearance alongside gay icon

Published

1 minute ago

August 2, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Kylie Minogue with Madonna at the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam on Aug. 2, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Cejlon Studio)

AMSTERDAM — Madonna on Sunday headlined the final night of the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam.

The gay icon took the stage shortly before 2:30 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET on Saturday) during Club Confessions, a set that MISTR, a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term HIV care, organized.

“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage inside Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall that can hold up to 6,000 people.

Stuart Price, who produced Madonna’s 2005 “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album and “Confessions II,” which debuted on July 2, DJed the set.

Kylie Minogue made a surprise appearance. She and Madonna performed a new remix of “Love Sensation” from “Confessions II.”

(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)

“Throughout my career, I’ve always supported efforts to fight HIV and AIDS, and that fight begins with education and access,” said Madonna in a MISTR press release. “With MISTR, (CEO) Tristan (Schukraft) is expanding access to HIV prevention and sexual healthcare for everyone. Through this work, he’s helping preserve and strengthen LGBTQ+ spaces while investing in the communities and culture that have long sustained us.”

Minogue in an Instagram post thanked Madonna, Price, Schukraft, and MISTR.

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A post shared by Kylie Minogue (@kylieminogue)

Madonna appeared at The Abbey in West Hollywood, Calif., in April. Madonna in June celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York’s Times Square.

Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced the World Pride Music Festival that also featured Bebe Rexha and Paris Hilton, among others.

“Pride has always been about bringing our community together,” said Resnicow. “At a moment when too many people are being told to hide or make themselves smaller, gathering openly, joyfully, and without apology matters more than ever. I couldn’t be prouder of what this festival brought to life in Amsterdam — one dance floor, completely free.”

Theater

Reggie White relishing first season as artistic director of Woolly Mammoth

First five shows a reminder that ‘pressure is a privilege’

Published

9 hours ago

August 2, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Reggie D. White (Photo by Ambe J. Williams)

Madly talented and preternaturally energetic, Reggie D. White, 38, is about to launch his first season as artistic director of D.C.’s boundary-pushing Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

White brings a lot to the job. As actor, playwright, and director, his varied resume includes a 2019 Broadway acting debut in Matthew López’s Tony Award–winning play “The Inheritance,” his semi-autobiographic play “Fremont Ave.” that opened to acclaim last season at Arena Stage, and a number of exciting regional directing credits.

A longtime admirer of Woolly, the out theater-maker was selected from a pool of candidates before receiving the offer last November and starting work in January. His season of five world premieres kicks off with gay playwright Steve Yockey’s “Venus” (Sept. 9-Oct. 4), a darkly funny study of modern relationships told through two lesbians looking back on their first encounter.

White was introduced to Woolly Mammoth as a pre-law student at Cal State Hayward in the San Francisco Bay Area, long before he foresaw a life in the arts. “As part of a random theater history course, I was assigned to write a paper on a counterculture company called Woolly Mammoth,” he recalls “Strange name. I was like what the hell is that?”

Nineteen-year-old White was intrigued. Research acquainted him with Howard Shalwitz who co-founded Woolly in 1980, and the company’s commitment to living playwrights and new work. He also learned how theater could be used as a tool for difficult conversations and shape the way people thought about social issues by employing imagination and rigor.

“Never in a million years did young me envision that one day I’d be Woolly’s third artistic director in its 46-year history,” says White. “It’s kind of serendipitously insane.”

WASHINGTON BLADE: Was there a moment when the enormity of the job hit you?

REGGIE D. WHITE: After I’d signed my contract and finished all the paperwork, I got my keys and sat in the theater by myself in the dark and thought about what an incredible honor it is to be trusted with what happens in this beautiful space [in D.C.’s Penn Quarter]. I might have cried. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to remember it’s real.

BLADE: Are you curating the upcoming 2026–2027 season?

WHITE: Yes, I am. It’s very rare that an incoming artistic director gets to program their first season, but I was lucky in terms of time. After being hired late last year, I asked Woolly’s managing director Kimberly E. Douglas, if she thought it would be crazy if I programmed the season. She warned me it would be hard.

I invoked tennis legend Billie Jean King’s maxim “pressure is a privilege” and got to work.

These plays [dubbed White’s “first five”] represent both the kind of theater that Woolly can do really well and speak directly to my voice as curator and how I want to contribute to the larger theatrical conversation in the DMV.

Getting here has meant a lot of late nights. But I knew the juice would be worth the squeeze.

BLADE: As a queer artistic director, what makes you unique?

WHITE: When I was playing in “Inheritance” on Broadway, after a performance, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sotomayer came backstage to meet the cast. She spoke about how her lens on the world as a Puerto Rican woman shapes her decisions. Similarly, because I’m a queer Black man I see through a lens that shapes my work.

I know I’m not the only queer artistic director in town. For me, it influences how I make editorial decisions. Out of this season’s five plays there are explicitly queer characters in four [“Venus,” “Chanukkah Spectacular,” “Ten Grand,” and “Love I Awethu Further”] and I’m directing two [“Venus,” “Ten Grand”].

BLADE: Will we see familiar faces?

WHITE: Every show this season will feature a Woolly Mammoth company member in its cast. Our company also includes designers and directors who we’ll include. I’m invested in continuing to provide a showcase for their work.

BLADE: How do you think queer audiences will receive the season?

WHITE: Very well, I think. For queer people who’ve had to navigate the world subversively and solve problems in unique ways, I think it will be especially interesting. I find theater a potent place for questions.

Like all artistic directors. I’ll show up for the job in my own way. I’m just excited that I’ve been invited to bring the fullness of myself to the role.