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BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE HAROLD GRINSPOON FOUNDATION IN SUPPORT OF “A CELEBRATION OF YIDDISH FOLKLORE & MUSIC”
Programming presented in conjunction with BSC’s “Fiddler on the Roof”

April 13, 2012 – (PITTSFIELD, MA) Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director Tristan Wilson, is pleased to announce it is the recipient of a $1,000 grant award from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. The funds will support BSC’s “A Celebration of Yiddish Folklore & Music” July 8 and 9 at the Mainstage Theatre (30 Union St.) in conjunction with the five-week run of Fiddler on the Roof June 13-July 14. This special program is presented in partnership with the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA, and will include a talk with Aaron Lansky, Founder of the Yiddish Book Center, on Sholem Aleichem’s stories and a lecture/concert on klezmer music, featuring the acclaimed klezmer band Golem.

A Celebration of Yiddish Folklore & Music

New Riffs on Everyone’s Favorite Yiddish Story with Aaron Lansky,
Founder and President, Yiddish Book Center, Amherst, MA
Sunday, July 8 at 3pm
Fiddler on the Roof is warm, familiar and fun – but it’s a far cry from the stories by Sholem Aleichem on which it’s based. In this lively presentation, acclaimed author and Yiddish Book Center founder Aaron Lansky will explore the deeper meaning of those rollicking and often profoundly unsettling tales, compare them to their incarnation in Fiddler, and discuss the ways in which Jews continue to reinvent their past – and their future. The lecture will conclude with a Q&A session with the audience. Tickets: Free, reservations recommended.

Fiddler Off the Roof
A klezmer event with Golem and Seth Rogovoy
Monday, July 9 at 7pm
Hailing from New York City, the acclaimed Yiddish/klezmer band Golem entertains with its brash, unique style of old-time klezmer, Yiddish theater music and Eastern European folk juiced with rock ‘n’ roll energy and a 21st century sensibility. Preceding Golem’s concert, host Seth Rogovoy, award-winning music critic and author of The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music, puts the music of Fiddler on the Roof and Golem into context of hundreds of years of klezmer history in a multimedia program. This event is presented in coordination with the Yiddish Book Center’s YIDSTOCK: Festival of New Yiddish Music. Tickets: $25/$30.

Fiddler on the Roof, the Tony Award-winning musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph Stein, based on characters and stories created by Sholom Alecheim, features one of the most beloved scores in the history of the American theatre – “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” and “Far from the Home I Love.” Fiddler tells the universal tale of Tevye, the milkman, who tries to hold on to ‘tradition’ as the world around him and his family changes in the little village of Anatevka. Playing June 13-July 14 at the BSC Mainstage (30 Union St), Fiddler will be directed and choreographed by Gary John LaRosa with music direction by Darren R. Cohen. Performances Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Friday matinees at 2pm (excluding June 13 and June 15), Sunday at 5pm. Additional Saturday matinee July 14 at 2pm. Tickets: $15-$62.

Tickets to New Riffs on Everyone’s Favorite Yiddish Story, Fiddler Off the Roof with Seth Rogovoy and Golem and the musical production of Fiddler on the Roof are available for purchase at the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888, in person at 30 Union Street or online at barringtonstageco.org. Special rates to these programs are also available for groups of 15 or more and may be reserved by calling 413-236-8888.

About the Harold Grinspoon Foundation
Real estate entrepreneur Harold Grinspoon established the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in 1993 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Harold’s wife, Diane Troderman, has been his active partner in all of his philanthropic activities. They are deeply committed to charitable giving, primarily in the Jewish world. Through the Harold Grinspoon Charitable Foundation, a private family foundation established in 1986, Harold and Diane support work in areas that:

  • Encourage young people to reach their academic and leadership potential
  • Promote literacy and early childhood education
  • Reward excellence in teaching and education
  • Support entrepreneurship among young people
  • Promote education and health in Cambodia

For more information, visit www.hgf.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’s Circle-in-the-Square Theatre 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 to the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater and then to New World Stages and has played more than 600 performances. Barrington Stage was voted “Best Live Theatre” by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and was named “Best Theatre Company” in Metroland’s Best of the Capital Region 2009-2011.

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