(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – On the Town, the landmark Broadway musical featuring music by Leonard Bernstein and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based on the ballet Fancy Free by Jerome Robbins, kicks off Barrington Stage Company’s 2013 summer season on June 12, 2013. The musical will be followed by a staging of Chaim Potok’s award-winning drama, The Chosen, based on his acclaimed novel of the same name and adapted for the stage by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok. Performances of The Chosen are from July 18 through August 3, 2013. The summer season will also include a staging of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, the first Shakespeare produced by Barrington Stage.

On the Town will be directed by Tony Award-winner (Urinetown) John Rando and choreographed by Emmy Award-winner (TV’s SMASH) Josh Bergasse, with music direction by BSC associate artist Darren Cohen. Performances for On the Town will be from June 12 through July 13, 2013.

From the director/adapter of BSC’s powerful, acclaimed 2011 production of My Name Is Asher Lev, The Chosen tells the much-beloved story of two boys, two fathers, and two very different Jewish communities in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Set against the backdrop of World War II, Posner and Potok’s award-winning adaptation introduces us to Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders, both passionate, intelligent young boys on opposite sides of a baseball game. When the game takes a turn, and Reuven is injured by Danny, a unique friendship is born. As the boys grow up, they learn important lessons about their fathers, their community and themselves. Director: TBA.

Single tickets will go on sale March 1, 2013. Passes to the 2013 season at the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage and St. Germain Stage are on sale now by calling 413-236-8888 or online at Barrington Stage Company.

On the Town is the story of three sailors on a 24-hour leave in New York City in 1944. Squeezed for time, they all manage to find love and incredible adventures in the Big Apple. On the Town features the first Broadway score by Bernstein, Comden and Green with such gems as “New York, New York,” “I Can Cook Too,” “Lonely Town” and “Some Other Time.”

Barrington Stage will mount its first-ever Shakespeare play, Much Ado About Nothing, August 8-25, 2013. Director Julianne Boyd and BSC veteran actors Christopher Innvar, Gretchen Egolf and Mark H. Dold join together in one of the greatest romantic comedies ever written. The dazzling love story between the headstrong Beatrice (Gretchen Egolf) and the confirmed bachelor Benedick (Christopher Innvar) – both always ready to do combat with a “merry war” of witty insults – is set against a darker story of intrigue and deceit as the machinations of Don John (Mark H. Dold), an illegitimate half-brother of the reigning Prince, unfold.

 

ST. GERMAIN (STAGE 2) STAGE SEASON:

American Premiere

Bashir Lazhar, St. Germain Stage season opener

Barrington opens the 2013 St. Germain Stage season with the American premiere of Bashir Lazhar, written by Canadian playwright Evelyne de la Cheneliere, in a translation by Morwyn Brebner. Directed by BSC Associate Producer Shakina Nayfack, Bashir Lazhar will be presented from May 22 through June 8 at the St. Germain Stage.

Bashir Lazhar tells the story of an Algerian immigrant who is hurriedly hired as the teacher at an elementary school in Montreal for a class of distressed students. His unorthodox teaching methods draw him into surprisingly explosive territory.

Adapted for the screen under the title Monsieur Lazhar, it was nominated for a 2012 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

A second play at the St Germain Stage running June 13 through July 6 will be announced at a later date.

 

In the Musical Theatre Lab

Barrington Stage Company’s Musical Theatre Lab, under the leadership of William Finn, Artistic Producer, and Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, kicks off its eighth season with the award-winning musical Southern Comfort from July 19 through August 10 (press opening: Wednesday, July 24 at 7:30pm).

Southern Comfort, based on the award-winning documentary of the same name, was first produced in 2011 by CAP21 Theatre Company, NYC (and a staged reading at the 2012 NAMT Festival of New Musicals). This will be the second production of the musical. Starring BSC veteran Jeff McCarthy and Annette O’Toole, who will be reprising their 2011 roles, Southern Comfort has a folk blue-grass score, with music by Julianne Wick-Davis and book and lyrics by Dan Collins. Wick-Davis and Collins are recipients of the 2012 Jonathan Larson Award for Southern Comfort. Tom Caruso, associate director of the upcoming Broadway musical Matilda, will direct.

Southern Comfort tells the story of male transgendered Robert Eads (Annette O’Toole) and his tight-knit community of individuals, including his trans girlfriend Lola Cola (Jeff McCarthy), living in the back hills of ‘Bubba Land’ Georgia. When Robert discovers that he has ovarian cancer, he refuses to let it dampen his spirits or his determination to live life fully. The show is a celebration of a uniquely American family, living life openly, honestly, and courageously by choosing to remain in rural Taccoa, Georgia, simply because it is the home they have grown to love.

 

A world premiere by Mark St. Germain

Celebrated author of BSC’s recent hit plays Freud’s Last Session, The Best of Enemies and Dr. Ruth, All the Way, Mark St. Germain will premiere Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah on the St. Germain Stage from August 15 through September 29, with a press opening on Wednesday, August 21 at 7:30pm.

In 1937, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, famous authors and frenemies, meet in Hollywood – the City of Dreams – to confront their own. Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah is a drama about the cost of love, friendship and the price of being a writer.

Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah is produced as part of a rolling world premiere agreement between Barrington Stage Company and the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

COMMUNITY PROJECT:
Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Tried Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf

Beginning in late February/early March, Barrington Stage will collaborate with Shirley Edgerton’s Rites of Passage Educational Program for African American young women and develop a play using Ntozake Shange’s For Colored Girls Who Have Tried Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf as a model. The young Berkshire County women will work with two playwright/poets in the community, Jamuna Sirker and Nakeida Bethel-Smith, and develop their own evening of poems/stories.

Next summer, as part of the 2013 WordXWord Festival, BSC will present the play For Colored Girls, performed by a professional cast of seven women. A landmark in African American literature, this powerful play expresses the many struggles and obstacles African-American women face throughout their lives. The following week, the local women will read their poems/stories at BSC. This performance will be followed by others throughout the area. For more information, please contact BSC’s Literary Associate Megan Dieterle at 413-997-6103.

All shows, casting and schedule subject to change. A full season of Mr. Finn’s Cabaret, staged readings and other exciting 2013 events will be announced soon.

2013 Season Passes Now on Sale

For the 2013 Season, Barrington Stage is introducing the Premium Combo Pass which includes seven shows for the price of five. This pass is the best value of the season and provides a savings of up to 31% off the 2013 single ticket price. Combo Passes include front orchestra section A seating at all three shows at the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage on any date (On the Town, The Chosen, Much Ado About Nothing), plus tickets to any date at all four St. Germain Stage shows (Bashir Lazhar, Southern Comfort, Scott and Hem in the Garden of Allah and one more show TBA).*

Patrons who order a 2013 pass on or before December 18, 2012, will get access to the best seats beginning February 1, 2013, and the $5 per pass handling fee will be waived.

*Stand-alone Mainstage Passes may also be purchased at this time and are available for a range of prices and seating sections. Passes for St. Germain Stage alone are not for sale at this time, but may be available at a later date.

Single tickets will go on sale March 1, 2013

Reservations for groups of 15 or more are now being taken and may be arranged by contacting Group Sales at 413-236-8888 (or toll-free at 855-TIX-2BSC). For information on shows, passes and tickets visit Barrington Stage Company.

About Barrington Stage Company

Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage’s mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre—especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin’s musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway, where it won two Tony Awards. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway and played for two years. Barrington Stage was voted “Best Live Theatre” by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and 2012 and was named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region 2009-2012.