Barrington Stage Company

Barrington Stage Company has assembled a dream team for the world premiere of The Royal Family of Broadway. It is a musical makeover of the 1927 play by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber. When word gets out about the first smash hit of the Berkshire season tickets may be hard to come by between now and July 7. This production was home grown by Barrington's Musical Theatre Lab.

Arts leaders and the media met at Shakespeare & Company to hear good news about state and federal funding. With manufacturing long gone from the region cultural tourism is the major industry. The arts season attracts more than 400,000 visitors and generates 4,000 plus jobs. Congressman Richard Neal announced $348,000 in NEA funding for the Berkshires. The federal funding cycle provides $900,700 to the Massachusetts Cultural Council and $1,092,400 to the New England Foundation for the Arts to benefit cultural groups across the state. He reported that the NEA this year got an increase of $3 million for a total of $152,849,000.

Wih medieval ignorance and devastating consequeneces science deniers dominate key cabinet positions in the reactionary Trump administration. Fundamentalism and misinformationm result in parents refusing to vaccinate children. These issues and concerns create uncanny relevance for the revival of Mark St. Germain's 1991 play Typhoid Mary. It launches the season for Barrington Stage Company on the stage that bears his name.

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein there will be extensive programming of his music during the 2018 Tanglewood season. As has been the case in recent years James Taylor returns. There is extensive programming of popular artists in the shoulder seasons before and after the residence of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Highlights include Roger Daltry and Tommy, Steve Miller, Peter Frampton, Judy Collins, Steve Stills, Bela Fleck, Andy Grammer, Steve Martin and Martin Short among others.

The 2018 season of Barrington Stage Company which will feature three world premieres, including a major new musical from Tony Awards winners William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin, a new play from Off Broadway Alliance Award winner Lloyd Suh, and the first major production from playwright, Rachel Lynett. The season starts with Typhpid Mary by Mark St. Germain in the theatre named for him.

In his final months theatre critic, Larry Murray, founded Berkshire Theatre Critics Association. In its first annual presenttation of awards "The Berkies" he rallied to enjoy the occasion and to present the first award in his name, for service to the community. We were packed into Mr. Finn's Cabaret last year but last night the event occured before a capacity, attentive audience in the Mark St. Germain Stage of the Pittsfield company. Many more regional companies were nominated and participated in the awards evening. Next year three more companies will be eligible.

For community and school based fall programming Barrington Stage has revised the 1938 Patrick Hamilton play Gaslight. It's best know for its second of two film versions in 1944 which starred Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotton and the ingenue, Angela Lansberry as the frisky maid Nancy. The Barrington production, while well cast and crafted, given the zeitgeist and setting of the 1880s, is dark, somber and drab.

It's not yet Holiday season and Barrington Stage is first out of the get with booking for the 2018 season It annouices. the world premiere of The Royal Family of Broadway, a new musical comedy based on The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman & Edna Ferber, by the Tony Award winning creators of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; and West Side Story, in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbin’s 100th birthdays.

There was a brief run, just six performances, of Georgie: My Adventures with George Rose, written and performed by Ed Dixon at Barrington Stage Company. Himself a distinguished character actor, this is a drama about drama, in the telling of a father/ son mentoring relationship with the renowned British born character actor George Rose.

This season Julianne Boyd has taken another crack at Sondheim's Company and critics appear to be unanimous that a sensational production is on the short list of her best work. She is noted for loving musicals and this one is a corker.

From 9 AM to noon there was an ordely and peaceful demonstration in front of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield. Pickets came and went with between 40 and 80 individuals linuing the sidewalk at any given time. Most passing cars honked their support. There was a media presence. While museum director, Van Shields, remained hunkered down in the bunker, board president Elizabeth "Buzz" Hayes McGraw delivered her boilplate message to a TV crew from Albany.

Moving on from an endemic fixations with plays about milennials Barrington Stage has progressed by a generation with This by Melissa James Gibson. The focus is on the trials and tribulations of friends who met in college. Add to this a dark and sexy stranger in a French doctor without borders,

This is the second producton of the musical A Legendary Romance with music and lyrics, Geoff Morrow, book by Timothy Prager. While it needs more work, the norm for musicals, starring Jeff McCarthy and Lora Lee Gayer it is the best work we have seen this season from Wiliamstown Theatre Festival. It is a tragic love story set to music about lives and careers ruined during the 1950s when Holywood was on trial for its alleged communism.

When ethical concerns and second guessing of its "reboot" plans surfaced the Berkshire Museum has spent money it doesn't have for expensive PR and marketing. Heavy hitters have been hired to deflect tough questions from the media and flack the museum's strategy to sell 40 works of art and change its mandate.

Leaving our thinking caps at home there was no heavy lifting in the delicious British farce, Taking Steps, by the redoubtable Alan Ayckbourn. At last count he has written 77 plays. After the knockout job that director, Sam Buntrock, and a truly gifted cast did with this one, one hopes that over time Barrington will produce the other 76.

Speech and Debate is a 2007 play by Tony winner Stephen Karam (The Humans). Since then there have been more than a hundred productions. It is being refreshed at Barrington Stage. It focuses on the bonding of three high school misfits. The awkward and insecure Howie (Austin Davidson) came out when he was nine. The uptight, preppy Solomon (Ben Getz) is a closeted wannabe investigative reporter. Diwata (Betsy Hogg) is a plain Jane, nerdy teen, passed over by the drama club, who wants to be a star. This makeover of a popular play slogs along until coming alive when the amazing Hogg takes the bit in her mouth and races hell for leather to a remarkable finish. Fasten your seat belts.

Last summer at Williamstown Theatre Festival the director, Danny Sharron, collaborated with playwright, Jason Kim (HBOs' Girls) to develop a new play. The Model American is being given a hip and sleek world premiere at Nikos Stage. There is, however, nothing to like about its amoral anti hero and arguably the play itself. It is performing to sold out audiences with mostly positive reviews.

Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield has a reputation for mounting an annual blockbuster revival of a vintage musical. It also has an an agenda to present message plays that inspire and inform audiences. In the era of Trump Barrington is presenting Ragtime which seemingly conflates the mandates for entertainment and education. It results in a long evening top heavy with big ideas, multiple characters and confusing subplots.

The Irish playwright, Conor McPherson, challenges us to think about how we would react if the world turned upside down, and no longer functioned. How would we survive?

The brilliant and versatile Jeff McCarthy is a perennial star for Barrington Stage Company. In the era of Trump the season opens with a message play Kunstler by award winner Jeffrey Sweet. It transfers from a sold out Off Broadway run at 59East59 Theatres. In this two hander McCarthy is paired with Erin Roche. The young black student aspires to be a lawyer but not like Kunstler who she initially admired but now despises.

After a long illness, on March 10, the widely respected publisher and editor of Berkshire on Stage and Screen, Lawrence “Larry” Murray, passed away. He organized the Berkshire Theatre Critics Association. Last November he rallied to attend the First Annual Bertkshire Theatre Awards. He presented the top award, named for him, to Jullian Boyd of Barrington Stage for community service through theatre.

Barrington Stage Company adds a reading of the musical Butterflies, Speech & Debate on the St. Germain Stage, and its annual youth production, Bye Bye Birdie, at the Pittsfield Museum.

The Barrington Stage Company season begins on May 18 with Kunstler by Jeffrey Sweet. It will end on October 22 with Gaslight (Angel Street) by Patrick Hamilton. The featured musicals, a signature of BSC will be Ragtime, June 21 to July 15 and Sondheim's Company which will be directed by BSC's Julianne Boyd from August 10 to September 3.

The 10X10 Upstreet Arts Festival returns to downtown Pittsfield for the sixth year and features music, theatre, dance, film, visual art, spoken word, comedy and more, including BSC’s 10X10 New Play Festival.

During the Fall meeting of American Theatre Critics Association there was the traditional lunch wih the stars at Sardi's. Our correspoindent Sandy Katz was on hand to soak up the fun and files this spirited report.