Theatre Intelligence
The Berkshire Theatre Scene Comes Alive Memorial Day Weekend
Shakespeare & Co.'s "The Ladies Man," photo by Kevin Sprague
Even die hard musical theater fans can get tired of seeing revivals of Gypsy and Company, which is why Barrington Stage Company‘s commitment to incubating and producing new musicals is so welcome. For the last two summers, BSC has devoted its Stage II to its Musical Theater Lab under the direction of William Finn, the Tony-award winning composer and lyricist, who developed his Broadway hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at BSC (which is getting a “revival” this summer that opens on June 11.) To inaugurate its new Stage II at Pittsfield’s VFW Hall, Barrington Stage will present two free staged readings this weekend of WATT!?!, a new musical comedy about James Watt, the oft-ridiculed United State Secretary of the Interior under Ronald Reagan,who The New York Times once characterized as a “loudmouth with a taste for controversy.” He became infamous for refusing to allow the Beach Boys to give a July 4th concert on the National Mall in Washington, DC, because he said rock concerts attract “an undesirable element.” Instead of the Beach Boys, he wanted Wayne Newton. The new musical is written by David Javerbaum, an Emmy award winning writer for John Stewart’s Daily Show, who’s been nominated for a Tony for his new Broadway musical, Cry-Baby. The performances are May 24 at 4 PM and May 25 at 7 PM.
Box Office: 413.236.8888.
News & Notes from the Rialto
• The Berkshire Theatre Festival opens its 80th season with Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker starring BTF regulars Jonathan Epstein, James Barry and Tommy Schrider. Previews are May 22 - 23, and opening night is May 24 and it runs through June 25.
Box Office: 413.298.5576
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• Shakespeare & Company begins previews of its first show of the season, The Ladies Man, a “freely translated and adapted” version of a French farce by Georges Faydeau, on May 23.
Box Office: 413.637.1199
• Just a few years ago, the Williamstown Theatre Festival did not open until July 4th weekend. Now, WTF begins it season on June 11 with Beyond Therapy, a comedy about two New Yorker who meet through a personal ad, by Christopher Durang. Online tickets sales for the season begin on May 31 at noon; telephone sales begin June 3.
Box Office: 413.597.3400.
• The Berkshire Playwrights Lab, a new theater company, will present five staged readings at the Mahawie Theatre in Great Barrington this summer. Founded by Joe Cacaci, Jim Frangione, Bob Jaffee and Claudia Crane, the Berkshire Playwrights Lab will present work by both emerging and established playwrights. They have not yet selected the play for the first reading that is scheduled for June 25.
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