ANNOUNCES INITIAL CASTING
FOR 2019 SEASON

SINGLE TICKETS AVAILABLE AT BARRINGTONSTAGECO.ORG

(Pittsfield, MA– May 15, 2019) Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in the Berkshires (Pittsfield, MA) under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, announced today casting for its 25^th Anniversary season. Casting will include Elijah Alexander, Mara Davi, Carson Elrod, Joel de la Fuente, Mykal Kilgore, Alyse Alan Louis, Kate MacCluggage, Jeff McCarthy, Julia Murney, Jonathan Raviv, Debra Jo Rupp and more. Full casting for the 25^th Anniversary season is below.

The 2019 Season at BSC will begin with Hold These Truths, starring Drama Desk Award nominee Joel de la Fuente (Amazon’s “The Man in the High Castle”) as “Gordon Hirabayashi.” Written by Jeanne Sakata (Vineyard Theatre’s Do You Feel Anger?) and directed by Lisa Rothe (Irish Repertory Theatre’s Wild Abandon), Hold These Truths begins previews May 22 and will open May 25 for a run through June 8.

The cast of the World Premiere of the Bonnie & Terry Burman New Play Award Grand Prize Winner, America v. 2.1: The Sad Demise & Eventual Extinction of The American Negro by Stacey Rose (The Danger: A Homage to Strange Fruit), will include Ansa Akyea (Mixed Blood’s Autonomy) as “Donovan,” Jordan Barrow (The Wallis’ Witness Uganda) as “Grant,” Kalyne Coleman (Trinity Rep’s Julius Caesar) as “Leigh,” Peterson Townsend (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’s Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly) as “Jeffrey” and Peggy Pharr Wilson (BSC’s 10×10 New Play Festival) as “The Voice.” Directed by Logan Vaughn (MCC’s The Light), America v. 2.1 begins previews June 14 and will open June 20 for a run through June 30.

Starring in a new production of Into the Woods will be Zoë Aarts (Rider University’s Heathers) as “Lucinda,” Leslie Becker (Broadway’s Amazing Grace) as “Jack’s Mother/Giant’s Wife,” James Cella (Judson Theatre Company’s Twelve Angry Men) as “The Steward,” Sarah Dacey Charles (Broadway’s Les Misérables) as “Cinderella’s Stepmother/Granny/Cinderella’s Mother,” Mara Davi (BSC’s Company; Broadway’s Dames at Sea) as “The Baker’s Wife,” Mykal Kilgore (Broadway’s Motown the Musical) as “The Witch,” Dorcas Leung (Broadway’s Miss Saigon) as “Little Red Riding Hood,” Pepe Nufrio (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis’s Evita) as “Rapunzel’s Prince,” Megan Orticelli (Northwestern University’s Little Shop of Horrors) as “Florinda,” Jonathan Raviv (Broadway’s The Band’s Visit) as “The Baker,” Amanda Robles (Jerome Robbins Theater’s From Here to Eternity) as “Cinderella,” Thom Sesma (Second Stage’s Superhero) as “Narrator/Mysterious Man,” Clay Singer (Riverside Theatre’s Next to Normal) as “Jack,” Anna Tobin as “Rapunzel” and Kevin Toniazzo-Naughton (The Walnut Street Theatre’s Matilda) as “Cinderella’s Prince/The Wolf.”

Into the Woods features music and lyrics by 13-time Tony Award winner Stephen Sondheim, a book by James Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George) and original Broadway direction by James Lapine. Orchestrations are by Jonathan Tunick (Sweeney Todd) with musical direction by BSC Associate Artist Darren R. Cohen (BSC’s West Side Story) and direction by BSC Associate Artist Joe Calarco (BSC’s Ragtime). Into the Woods will begin previews June 19 and will open on June 22 for a run through July 13.

Time Flies and Other Comedies will feature Cary Donaldson (BSC’s See How They Run; Broadway’s Straight White Men), Carson Elrod (BSC’s Taking Steps), BSC Associate Artist Jeff McCarthy (BSC’s Kunstler), Ruth Pferdehirt (Elf National Tour) and BSC Associate Artist Debra Jo Rupp (BSC’s The Cake). Written by David Ives (Venus in Fur) and directed by Tracy Brigden (Atlantic Theater Company’s Human Error), it will begin performances on July 5 and open July 10 for a run through July 27.

The cast of Gertrude and Claudius will include Elijah Alexander (Broadway’s Metamorphoses; Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Twelfth Night) as “Claudius,” Nick LaMedica (War Horse First National Tour) as “Hamlet,” Kate MacCluggage (Broadway’s The Farnsworth Invention) as “Gertrude,” Douglas Rees (BSC’s The Cake) as “Amleth,” Obie Award winner Rocco Sisto (BSC’s The Birds; Broadway’s The King and I) as “Polonius,” Mary Stout (BSC’s A Doll’s House, Part 2) as “Herda” and Greg Thornton (“Law & Order”) as “King Rorik.” Gertrude and Claudius, a new play by BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain (Dancing Lessons, Freud’s Last Session), is based on the novel by John Updike. Commissioned by Orlando Shakespeare Theater, it received its World Premiere in Orlando opening February 20, 2019. Featuring direction by Julianne Boyd (BSC’s West Side Story, Company), Gertrude and Claudius begins performances July 18 and opens July 21, for a run through August 3.

The season will continue with If I Forget by Steven Levenson (Dear Evan Hansen), directed by Jennifer Chambers (BSC’s The Cake). The cast of If I Forget will include J. Anthony Crane (BSC’s Ragtime) as “Michael,” Mitch Greenberg (Broadway’s Fiddler on the Roof) as “Howard,” Laura Jordan (“The Other Two”) as “Holly,” Isaac Josephthal (The Pearl Theatre Company’s Public Enemy) as “Joey,” Lena Kaminsky (Kitchen Theatre Company’s 2.5 Minute Ride) as “Sharon,” Kathleen Wise (“The Path”) as “Ellen” and Robert Zukerman (BSC’s 10×10 New Play Festival) as “Lou.” Previews begin August 1, with opening night set for August 4 for a run through September 1.

From BSC’s Musical Theatre Lab comes the World Premiere Musical Fall Springs, featuring Alyse Alan Louis (Broadway’s Amelie) as “Eloise Bradley,” L.E. Barone (“Dirty Blonde”) as “Vera Mariposa,” Sam Heldt (Diversionary Theatre’s The Loneliest Girl in the World) as “Felix Cushman,” Jorrel Javier (The Lightning Thief National Tour) as “Cooper Mitford,” Lacretta (Broadway’s Disaster!) as “Veronica Mitford,” Ken Marks (Broadway’s Airline Highway) as “Noland Wolanske,” Julia Murney (Broadway’s Wicked) as “Beverley Cushman” and Eliseo Román (Broadway’s In the Heights) as “Roberto Mariposa.” Fall Springs features music and lyrics by Niko Tsakalakos (BSC’s Pool Boy), book and lyrics by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb (Boom), musical direction by BSC Associate Artist Vadim Feichtner (BSC’s The Royal Family of Broadway) and direction by Stephen Brackett (Broadway’s Be More Chill). Fall Springs begins performances August 9, opens August 14 and runs through August 31.

The season will conclude with the World Premiere of American Underground by Brent Askari (Digby’s Home), directed by Julianne Boyd. Performances begin October 2 with an opening night set for October 6 for a run through October 20. American Underground is the recipient of a Bonnie & Terry Burman New Play Award.

The 2019 Youth Theatre Production will be Ragtag Theatre’s Hansel and Gretel, featuring a book by Sam LaFrage (Ragtag Theatre’s Cinderella) and music and lyrics by Lewis Flinn (Broadway’s Lysistrata Jones) and Sam LaFrage. For the first time in its history, BSC has commissioned a new musical for its Youth Theatre production. The World Premiere of Hansel and Gretel is by Ragtag Theatre Company, currently in residency with the Youth Theatre program. Ragtag Theatre’s goal is to empower and inspire audiences to live big colorful lives and to embrace what makes them different. Hansel and Gretel begins previews July 24 and opens July 27 for a run through August 10.

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Additional casting and creative teams for all productions will be announced shortly.

Performance schedules for all productions are available by visiting www.barringtonstageco.org.

Both single tickets and 2019 season passes are now on sale and available at www.barringtonstageco.org or by calling 413-236-8888 or visiting the Mainstage box office (30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201). Tickets range from $20 to $75.

ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY

Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is an award-winning regional theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, BSC has a three-fold mission: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways of bringing new audiences into the theatre—especially young people.

Barrington Stage commissioned and produced the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son, which also won the Laurents/Hatcher Award for Best New Play by an Emerging Playwright in 2016 and recently concluded a Broadway run, starring Kerry Washington. American Son was later made into a Netflix movie, and will soon be released nationally.

Barrington Stage first 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, BSC premiered 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) played Off Broadway at the Westside Theatre. BSC’s all-time record-breaking musical On the Town was originally produced at BSC in 2013 before transferring to Broadway, where it was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival. In 2016, Barrington Stage swept the first annual Berkshire Theatre Awards by winning 20 out of the 25 awards. In 2017, BSC produced the much-lauded revival of Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit. In 2018, BSC produced the critically-acclaimed production of West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ 100th birthdays. BSC has won the Best of the Berkshires Readers’ Choice for Best Live Theatre for the past two years. 2019 marks BSC’s 25th Season Anniversary.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT
WWW.BARRINGTONSTAGECO.ORG

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