FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BSC Press Director Charlie Siedenburg, 551-655-0968
WALLY DUNN JOINS BARRINGTON STAGE’S BUTLER
PERFORMANCES NOW THROUGH JUNE 13
ADDED PERFORMANCE WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10
(PITTSFIELD, MA) Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre company in Downtown Pittsfield, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, has announced that NY actor Wally Dunn has joined the cast of Richard Strand’s Butler, directed by Joseph Discher.
Dunn replaces David Schramm, who starred in the title role of Butler and regrettably has had to withdraw from the remaining performances on doctor’s orders due to vocal problems.
Wally Dunn makes his Barrington Stage debut with Butler. His Broadway credits include The Iceman Cometh (with Nathan Lane) at B.A.M., Spamalot, Gypsy (Bernadette Peters), One Mo’ Time, Master Class. National Tours: West Side Story, Spamalot, All Shook Up, Master Class. Off-Broadway credits include Roundabout, Vineyard, Theatre for a New Audience. Regional: Goodspeed, Hangar Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Cleveland Play House, Hartford Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse, New Jersey Shakespeare Festival, Pittsburgh Public, McCarter Theatre, New York Stage & Film, Geva. Film: The School of Rock, In & Out, In Dreams, The Opportunists, 24 Hour Woman, The Good Shepard. TV: 30 Rock, The Carrie Diaries, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU.
Butler began performances May 14 and will run through June 13 at the St. Germain Stage at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield.
Butler also stars Ben Cole (BSC debut) as Lt. Kelly, Maurice Jones (BSC debut) as Shepard Mallory and John Hickok (BSC’s Pool Boy, Broadway’s Little Women) as Major Cary.
Based on actual events that changed the lives of over 10,000 slaves, Butler is set at the beginning of the Civil War and follows Major General Benjamin Butler, who has just been given command of Fort Monroe in Virginia. The inexperienced but shrewd Butler meets his match when an equally shrewd runaway slave enters the fort and asks for asylum. Uproariously funny, witty and very moving, Butler is the recipient of the Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.
Due to popular demand, a Wednesday, June 10 performance at 3pm has been added. Performances times for Butler are Tuesday through Saturday at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 4pm and Sunday at 3pm. There will be two additional matinees Thursdays June 4 and June 11 at 4pm. Tickets start at $40. For ticket and performance information, call the BSC Box Office at (413) 236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.
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 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. St. Germain’s Becoming Dr. Ruth (which premiered at BSC as Dr. Ruth, All the Way in 2012) played Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in fall 2013. BSC’s all-time record-breaking musical, On the Town, originally presented in 2013, is currently on Broadway with BSC as a co-producer. Barrington Stage was voted “Best Live Theatre” by The Berkshire Eagle, was named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region, and Best Summer Theater in New England by Yankee Magazine.