Barrington Stage Company

Meeting with Nicholas Martin the artistic director for the Williamstown Theatre Festival I assumed this was the last of our seasonal meetings. This is his third and final year of running WTF. But he surprised me by stating that he will be back next year. To direct a play. In an at times intense and emotional interview we discussed his legacy. As well as insights regarding Stephen Sondheim and his impact on musical theatre in America. Martin is directing Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" this summer. It will feature a cast of many of the WTF "Family."

Sweeney Todd, the masterpiece of the now 80-year-old genius, and Williams grad, Stephen Sondheim, is given a state of the art, Broadway level production at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. With no compromise on artistic integrity this is stunning musical theatre in an intimate setting. We enjoy signifiying, titubating performances and magnificent music up close and personal at a fraction of Broadway ticket prices. This is Berkshire theatre at its finest.

Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield has launched its season with a sell out, smash hit production of the Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez. There are just a few seats available for the run which ends on June 17. Just when the Main Stage starts the Sondheim musical Sweeney Todd. The hit Whipping Man must give way on Stage Two for a two week run of last year's hit Freud's last Session. The play which premiered with Barrington is having a tuneup prior to opening Off Broadway this summer. Let the games begin.

WAM Theatre recently presented its inaugural event, ‘A WAM Welcome’ at the Barrington Stage Company Second Space. The evening of three diverse theatrical selections celebrated live theatre pieces created by women. WAM Theatre was able to donate $1000 to Women for Women International, whom WAM Theatre chose as their first beneficiary.

Barrington Stage Company presents the New England premiere of Matthew Lopez’s drama, The Whipping Man. The post-Civil War-set play about a Jewish Confederate soldier and his former slaves, who share his faith, will feature Clarke Peters (HBO’s Treme and The Wire), LeRoy McClain and Nick Westrate. Christopher Innvar directs the Barrington Stage production at Stage 2. Performances dates are May 26â€"June 13.

The launch of the Fourth of July arts season in the Berkshires will be like an explosion in a fireworks factory. There has never been a greater offering of superb and diverse performances. While three days of James Taylor and Carole King at Tanglewood sold out ages ago there are many other top options. Mass MoCA is going head to head with Tanglewood on Friday night. It has Richie Havens vs. The Pops. Barrington Stage and Williamstown Theatre Festival will duke it out with dueling Sondheim musicals. There is a ton of stuff at Shakespeare & Company including the opening of John Douglas Thompson in Richard III. Jacobs Pillow and Berkshire Theatre Festival are in the mix. We offer a complete rundown.

There will be just tons of live music blasting from Mass MoCA this summer from a rock festival with Wilco, to the perennial Woodstocker, Richie Havens, to Carolina Chocolate Drops and a reggae dance party. Oh yes, there will also be some exhibitions. A show by Petah Coyne will open on May 29 and remain on view forever. But not quite for 25 years like Sol Lewitt.

Barrington Stage Company, in Pittsfield, Ma. will present A WAM welcome a benefit for Women for Women International on April 9-11. This evening of three diverse theatrical selections celebrates live theatre pieces created by women.

The Things They Carried: A Staged Reading is part of the 2010 Big Read in the City of Pittsfield . Three readings will be presented, including two public performances on Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17 at 7 p.m. at the BSC Mainstage, 30 Union Street , Pittsfield . In addition to the Friday and Saturday public performances, a matinee reading will be presented on Thursday, April 15 at 12:30 p.m. for invited local schools and Vietnam veterans.

The 2009 Tony Award winning Best Play, by Yasmina Reza has gone through yet another cast change. Jeff Daniels returns in the role for which he was nominated for a Tony. Lucy Liu adds star power to the Marquee. Yet again Dylan Baker demonstrates why he is the best actor you never heard of. Oscar nominee Janet McTeer completes the quartet of embattled parents in the most amusing and entertaining play now on Broadway.

Compared to other Berkshire theatre companies it seems that Barrington Stage plays it safe in running the hits. This season opening with Sweeney Todd. But Julianne Boyd in a recent interview responded that it just smart business in a tough economy. She takes pride in developing six productions that have moved on to New York. She is also excited by the cultural renaissance and economic development in Pittsfield.

The sexual predators Madame la Marquise de Merteuil (Elizabeth Aspenlieder) and Le Vicomte de Valmont (Josh Aaron McCabe) are involved in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at Shakespeare & Company through March 21. While all is fair in love and war this drama deftly conflates those extremes.

In the dead of winter The Clark Art Institute collaborated with its neighbor The Williamstown Theatre Festival with a reading of the hilarious Yasmina Reza play ART. This summer, when the Clark mounts Picasso Looks at Degas, they will again join forces with a reading of Steve Martin's comedy Picasso at the Lapin Agile.

The Clark and the Williamstown Theatre Festival present a staged reading of Yasmina Reza's international hit Art February 5 at 7 pm at the Clark. Hailed as "a remarkably wise, witty and intelligent comedy" by The London Times, Art is sure to tickle your funny bone and brain. Reservations are required for this free event.

In addition to its large foundation contributions, Berkshire Bank has launched a "Join the excitement Grant" program. It intends to award four $5,000 grants to area non-profits in February, 2010. The recipients will be based on votes made by the general public.

The Barrington Stage Company season will start on May 27 with a Stage 2 production of "The Whipping Man" and run through December with "A Christmas Story." Not for the squeamish that arch villain "Sweeney Todd" will be serving up gory meat pies to the delight of one and all starting June 17.

The hot stove is glowing in the off season. This week Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield will announce its schedule which opens with the musical Sweeney Todd. We will learn other details. Artistic director Julianne Boyd is also announcing a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

David Esbjornson was Arthur Miller's director of choice late in life, staging the premieres of his last two plays. He will bring Miller's classic "All My Sons" to the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston through February 7.

Julianne Boyd, the artistic director of Barrington Stage in Pittsfield likes to start the season with a popular musical. For the third time, marking his 80th birthday, Boyd will direct a Stephen Sondheim production, this time, the ghoulishly delicious Sweeney Todd. It will run from June 17 through July 17 to the delight of one and all.

The Berkshires will be booked solid for the Fourth of July weekend. On Friday night Keith Lockhart will lead the Pops in its 125th anniversary concert. On Saturday and Sunday the legendary song writers James Taylor and Carole King will bring their world tour to Tanglewood.

Last summer Amanda McBroom played two memorable SRO evenings at Barrington Stage 2. She was a sensation. This weekend she returns to meet the apparently insatiable thirst for genuine cabaret singers that exists in the Berkshires and surrounding hills. We talk to her about her two great talents, songwriting and singing powerful songs straight from the heart.

On the occasion of the anniversary of the death of Matthew Shepard, six days after being assaulted by Aaron James McKinney and Russel Arthur Henderson, there were 120 productions all across America of "The Laramie Project Ten Years Later: An Epilogue." The Barrington Stage production occured during the first "Out in the Berkshires" three day Holiday weekend. It included an all star cast of actors and community leaders.

Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt opened their musical "The Fantasticks" in 1960. It closed in 2002 and has had more than 20,000 global productions since then. Jones dropped by after a matinee to discuss the longest running musical with Barrington's artistic director, Julianne Boyd. The Pittsfield production may be the shortest running ever of the beloved musical.

The Fantasticks tells an age-old tale of a boy, a girl, two fathers, and a wall. Its stage is a wooden platform, its scenery a tattered cardboard moon. Using only these bare essentials, it has become the most performed musical in history. Its creator Tom Jones tells us why.

Pittsfield becomes the first city in the Berkshires to openly welcome LGBT visitors. On Columbus Day weekend, October 10-12, it kicks off an "Out in the Berkshires" weekend full of music, theatre and dance performances for the gay community and its friends. It's great to see the region openly welcome this segment of our population.