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

BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY HOSTS FIRST YOUTH OPEN MIC NIGHT
Free Event for Young Performers to be Held on January 19 at Mr. Finn’s Cabaret

(PITTSFIELD, MA) January 2, 2013 – Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, is proud to host a free Youth Open Mic Night at Mr. Finn’s Cabaret on Saturday, January 19 from 7-9pm.

As part of its ongoing engagement in community development, BSC will host its first-ever Youth Open Mic Night. This drug- and alcohol-free event is open to all youth ages 19 and younger and is free to attend. The event will provide an opportunity for youth in the community to perform in a professional venue for an audience of their peers. Youth are welcome to perform songs, poems, performance art, or play with their band, and each participant who signs up will be given a 10-minute time slot.

Mr. Finn’s Cabaret is equipped with a PA system, microphones, drum kit, amps, chords and a piano for use by participants. To sign up to perform, youth should contact Frank La Frazia at 413-997-6117 or flafrazia@barringtonstageco.org and provide their name, type of performance, and the number of people performing in their act. The deadline to sign up to perform is Thursday, January 17. No sign-up is required for youth who just want to attend and not perform. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Youth Open Mic Night will be held in Mr. Finn’s Cabaret, located on the lower level of Barrington Stage’s Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, 36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, on Saturday, January 19 from 7-9pm. Doors will be open from 6:30-7pm for entry (doors will be closed during the event from 7-9pm). For more information, visit 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 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 and played more than 1,000 performances. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway and ran 775 performances. 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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