A scene from 'Guys and Dolls' (photo by Kevin Sprague)
(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is closing in on a record-setting single ticket sale total of $1 million for the first time in the theater’s 17-year history for the 2011 season. The landmark is expected to be passed this weekend with cabaret singer Amanda McBroom’s two performances on Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24, and continue to post new records with the return engagement of the play Best of Enemies, a summer hit that returns for a two week engagement in early October.
Celebrating its sixth year in Pittsfield (the theater reopened with Ring ‘Round the Moon in August 2006 following a 10-month full restoration), Barrington Stage presented more than 250 performances in 2011 that included: Guys and Dolls, the world premiere of The Best of Enemies and The Game on the Mainstage; Zero Hour, Going to St. Ives, the world premiere of Mormons, Mothers and Monsters (a production of the Musical Theatre Lab) and My Name is Asher Lev on Stage 2; the Youth Theatre production of All Shook Up; concerts, cabarets, staged readings and the Conversations With… series, along with other special events. Upcoming 2011 performances include Amanda McBroom at Stage 2 Sept. 23 and 24 and the return of Mark St. Germain’s The Best of Enemies for a limited run at the Mainstage October 5-16.
“This has been an exciting summer at BSC,” said artistic director Julianne Boyd, who cofounded the company in Housatonic, Mass., in 1995. “The stars were aligned and everything came together beautifully.
Total subscription sales for 2011 are 33% greater than 2010 subscription sales. Stage 2 subscriptions nearly doubled from 2010 to 2011 – representing an all-time record number of subscriptions.
BSC has already exceeded the total 2011 ticket sales goal by more than 10% and expects to be 15% over the goal by year-end. Total ticket sales are expected to be 35% higher than 2010 total ticket sales.
Barrington Stage expects to hit the single-ticket million-dollar mark when cabaret singer Amanda McBroom performs this weekend
2011 attendance is currently more than 43,000. Total 2011 attendance is expected to surpass 48,000, exceeding last year’s attendance by more than 18%. Since BSC moved its home to Pittsfield in 2006, attendance by Pittsfield residents has steadily increased and now represents nearly 25% of all ticket sales
Guys and Dolls was the best-selling musical and the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s The Best of Enemies was the best-selling play in Barrington Stage’s 17-year history. BSC’s extended run of My Name Is Asher Lev was one of the highest-grossing productions on Stage 2, second only to Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (2009), which currently holds the title as the longest-running, highest grossing production in BSC’s Stage 2 history.
In August, BSC announced that the perennial favorite Tony Award-winning musical Fiddler on the Roof would open the 2012 season. This was the earliest season announcement in BSC’s history and has already yielded more than $15,000 in subscriptions for next season.
FlexPass subscriptions to the 2012 Mainstage season, including Fiddler on the Roof, are now available at 2011 prices with no handling fees through December 22, 2011 and start at $105. Patrons who order 2012 Mainstage FlexPass by October 1, 2011 will be given advanced access to priority seating beginning January 3, 2012. All other subscribers may select seats beginning February 1. For more information on 2012 subscriptions or to order today, call 413.236.8888, visit the Box Office at 30 Union Street or go to Barrington Stage Company (BSC).