FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BSC Press Director Charlie Siedenburg, 551-655-0968

BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY RECEIVES GRANT FROM
GREYLOCK FEDERAL CREDIT UNION
IN SUPPORT OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING

(PITTSFIELD, MA) Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, is pleased to announce the receipt of a $25,000 grant from Greylock Federal Credit Union. $15,000 from this grant will benefit the nationally acclaimed Playwright Mentoring Project (PMP), and $10,000 provided to sponsor BSC’s annual Youth Theatre production of Hairspray JR.

Greylock Federal Credit Union is also the sponsor of this year’s BSC Education Benefit on September 12 featuring popular singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega in concert on BSC’s Boyd-Quinson Mainstage.​  BSC’s Playwright Mentoring Project (PMP) is the major beneficiary of this event.

Now entering its 14th year, PMP is a six-month, extra-curricular theatrical arts program for at-risk youth in Pittsfield and North Adams, MA. Through careful instruction from artistic mentors, peer mentors and playwrights, participants learn the fundamentals of theatre and improvisation.  PMP uses theatre as a means of self-exploration and self-expression as the participants write and produce their own original plays based on their life stories and struggles. The proceeds from this grant will expand the program, so new and returning participants can take advantage of this highly beneficial program.

BSC’s Youth Theatre is designed to engage local youth, ages 13-19, in an intensive theater setting.  Every year, over 100 students audition for a role in the show. There is no cost to the participants. Students cast in the show sign a contract and enter professional level rehearsal and performance schedule. The majority of patrons who attend Youth Theatre are young families, many of whom have never previously attended a theatrical production. The proceeds from this grant will allow for inexpensive tickets so families and friends can attend and support young talent.

About Greylock Federal Credit Union
Greylock Membership is open to anyone who lives, works, attends school, worships or regularly conducts business in Berkshire County. Greylock Federal is wholly owned by its more than 70,000 members and offers full-service branches in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, Lee, Adams, North Adams, Williamstown and Lanesborough. More information is available online at www.greylock.org.

Greylock’s family of businesses includes:

  • Greylock Insurance Agency with six locations county-wide, handles commercial and personal lines including auto, homeowner’s, life, disability, long-term care insurance, all forms of bonding, and 24/7 claims service.
  • Greylock Investment Group with offices in Pittsfield offers access to a full array of services including financial planning, retirement planning, investment management, mutual funds, annuities and portfolio management.
  • Greylock Marketing Group in Pittsfield is a full-service advertising agency dedicated to helping other credit unions, businesses and not-for-profit organizations meet their communications and marketing objectives.
  • Greylock’s Employee Benefits Services offers comprehensive consultation and brokerage services for group medical, dental, life and disability insurance.

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. 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. 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.

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