Barrington Stage Company

The Pulitzer and Tony winning Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris is currently on the short list of most produced plays in America. In a co production with Dorset Theatre Festival where it was staged his summer it runs through October 13 at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. This is its fifth review for Berkshire Fine Arts.

With several major Berkshire arts organizations now closed until next year it's time to reflect on the intense and often remarkable 2013 high season. It's impossible to be everywhere, often with conflicts on any given night, but we offer highlights of what we managed to review. In addition to the Berkshires we covered five new plays at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The busy season included a number of interviews with artistic directors, actors and playwrights.

Barrington Stage Company announces two productions for the theater’s 20th Anniversary Season - Kiss Me, Kate the musical comedy masterpiece by composer Cole Porter and authors Sam and Bella Spewack and the world premiere romantic comedy Dancing Lessons by Mark St. Germain. The new play was well received during a staged reading over the holiday weekend.

With two of the three original cast members- Joey Collins as F.Scott Fitzgerald and Angela Pierce as studio representative Miss Evelyn Montaigne, the play commissioned and premiered by the Contemporary American Theatre Festival has transferred from Shepherdstown, West Virginia to Barrington Stage. With the addition of Ted Koch as Hemingway "Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah" has been written and directed by Mark Saint Germain. It is being staged in the theatre which has been named for him.

The Pulitzer prize-winning play, Clybourne Park is a response to A Raisin in the Sun, the 1959 play of hope and change toward a better future for African Americans. Clybourne Park depicts a different perspective of the events of that play and a version of reality 50 years after those fictional events.

Following On the Town and the Chosen Barrington Stage ends its main stage season with yet another run away hit. Julianne Boyd charms and delights as producer/ director of the first ever attempt at Shakespeare his iconic comedy Much Ado Nothing. Barrington's mainstays Christopher Innvar and Gretchen Egolf soar to new heights as the feisty lovers Benedick and Beatrice. On every level from sets to costumes this is a gorgeous and hilarious seasonal treat.

A new play by Mark St. Germain "Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah" will run at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Mass from August 15 through September 29. It was commissioned for the Contemporary American Theatre Festival where we saw it earlier this summer in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. We met for breakfast to discuss changes for the still evolving play which is now in its eighth draft.

Twenty three years ago Ed Herendeen left an administrative position at Williamstown Theatre Festival to found Contemporary American Theatre Festival for Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. There out of the glare of the urban theatre world he has nurtured the creation of 100 new plays through commissions, premieres and second productions. He strives to create an environment which is review proof and writers are able to experiment without fear of failure.

In 2011 a production of My Name Is Asher Lev enjoyed a sold out run at Barrington Stage Company. There is a similar response to The Chosen adapted and directed by Aaron Posner based on a novel by Chaim Potok. While based on a conflict between sects of fundamentalist Jews its humanistic theme of coming of age between two friends and rivals has universal appeal to audiences.

During a visit to the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shephardstown, West Virginia we met with the artistic director Ed Herendeen. We discussed the process of commissioning Mark St. Germain's Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah. It transfers soon to Barrington Stage Company. We debated the controversial Modern Terrorism which we had seen the previous evening. This is the first of two parts of that lively dialogue.

In varying stages of gender reassignment and an ability to pass in hostile Bubba Land a circle of friends are the focus of a new musical Southern Comfort having its world premiere at Barrington Stage. For audiences willing to accept this complex work on its own terms the experience to remarkable.

WAM Theatre, presents Claiming Her Place, a benefit to be held Sunday, June 30 at 7pm at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington. Co-produced and hosted by Tony nominee Jayne Atkinson, the evening will feature a celebrity panel discussing the challenges women face in the entertainment industry. The panel includes: Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under),Michel Gill (House of Cards), Marin Mazzie (Tony Nominee), Linus Roache (Law & Order) and Debra Jo Rupp (That '70s Show).

The new play Muckrakers by Zayd Dohrn is surely provocative and timely as breaking news. It explores the dichotomy of Big Brother spying on our privacy and extreme measures for government agencies to expose and prevent acts of terrorism. While advancing vital and relevant issues how does this translate into a compelling evening of theatre? For that, heads or tails. Your call.

The first musical of Leonard Bernstein On the Town is rarely produced. This season however there are two. The first at Boston's Lyric Stage and now in the Berkshies at Barrington Stage. With tony winner John Rendo directing and choreography by Emmy winner Jushua Bergasse don't be surprised if a producer takes this revival to Broadway. Musical theatre just doesn't get better.

The play Bashir Lazhar by Évelyne de la Chenelière preceded Monsieur Lazhar which was a 2012 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Film. The play, translated from French by Morwyn Breubner is being presented to enthusiastic audiences at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. It is a one man performance by an American actor, Juri Heney-Cohn with a convincing Algerian accent.

Julianne Boyd, the artistic director of Barrington Stage in Pittsfield called for a morning chin wag about the upcoming season. That led to a lively discussion of the current state of theatre and impact of criticism. Now in its 8th season the company has just completed raising $7 million. This is part one of an extended dialogue.

Here is the complete and final rundown, at least for now, of shows, cabaret, benefits and events for the 2013 season of Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield, Mass. The fun begins on May 22 and winds down on October 13.

Featuring an eclectic mix of Broadway standards and cabaret songs, Tony and Golden Globe-winning actress Linda Lavin’s new cabaret will show you why Stephen Holden of The New York Times calls her “…a human tornado who lets nothing stand in her way…She has a jazz side, can swing and scat and even growl like Louis Armstrong, and displays a special fondness for Brazilian bossa nova.” T

Claybourne Park, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and 2012 Tony Award for Best Play is coming soon to a theatre near you. Here in the Berkshires from September 26 through October 13 at Barrington Stage in co production with Vermont's Dorset Theatre Festival where it will run from August 15-31. It begs questions about regional theatre companies focused on a short list of recycled Broadway and Off Broadway plays.

Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, under the leadership of Artistic Director, Julianne Boyd, and Managing Director, Tristan Wilson, proudly announces two additional productions as part of the theatre’s 19th season; the world premiere of Muckrakers by Zayd Dohrn and Disney’s The Little Mermaid JR.

The 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival returns to downtown Pittsfield for the second year from February 14-24, 2013, and features music, theatre, dance, film, visual art, spoken word, comedy and more, including BSC’s 10×10 New Play Festival.

Barrington Stage Company will launch its season with the musical On the Town from June 12 to July 13. It will be followed by The Chosen, Chaim Potok’s acclaimed novel has been adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok. A rare for Barrington Shakespeare play completes the main stage season with Much Ado About Nothing. The St. Germain Stage features The Chosen, Chaim Potok’s acclaimed novel which has been adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok. Followed by the musical Southern Comfort and a premiere of Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah by Mark St. Germain.

Barrington Stage Company announces that the acclaimed new play, The Best of Enemies, by Mark St. Germain (Dr. Ruth, All the Way and Freud’s Last Session), will be presented from November 27 through December 23 at New Jersey’s George Street Playhouse, 9 Livingston Avenue, New Brunswick, NJ. For tickets call 732-246-7717 or purchase online at www.georgestplayhouse.org. Opening night is Friday, November 30 at 8pm.

Single ticket sales exceeded $1M for the second time in BSC’s 18-year history, even breaking last year’s total (the first time was in 2011). Total season pass sales for 2012 are 30% greater than 2011 season pass sales. St. Germain Stage passes alone increased 44% from 2011 to 2012 (after nearly doubling from 2010 to 2011) – representing an all-time record number of season passes. 2012 attendance is more than 51,000, representing a 6% increase over 2011.

During the run of Lord of the Flies some 2,500 students will attend five morning performances. This experience, combined with reading the classic William Golding novel, will be the focus of class room discussion. The production with a cast of ten boys is full of sanguine energy and exuberance. The play ends a strong season for Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield.