BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY ANNOUNCES 2023 SEASON
THE BOYD-QUINSON STAGE
CABARET
Book by Joe Masteroff
Based on the play by John Van Druten and Stories by Christopher Isherwood
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Choreography by Katie Spelman
Directed by Alan Paul
BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY
By Pearl Cleage
A NEW BRAIN
Music and Lyrics by BSC Associate Artist William Finn
Book by William Finn and James Lapine
Directed by BSC Associate Artist Joe Calarco
and a fourth production to be announced
ST. GERMAIN STAGE
The World Premiere of
THE HAPPIEST MAN ON EARTH
By BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain
Based on the memoir of the same name by Eddie Jaku
The World Premiere of
tiny father
By Mike Lew
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Co-World Premiere with Chautauqua Theater Company and Barrington Stage Company
FAITH HEALER
By Brian Friel
Starring BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar, Mark H. Dold, Gretchen Egolf
Directed by Julianne Boyd
(Pittsfield, MA – January 31, 2023) – Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul, will produce a 2023 season that will feature two major musical revivals, two world premiere plays, and two modern classic play revivals.
“‘You gotta have heart and music.’” Bill Finn wrote those lyrics for his musical A New Brain, and they were my guiding principle as I planned my first season as Artistic Director of Barrington Stage Company,” commented Alan Paul. “The 2023 season is a mix of reimagined classics and dynamic new works. Although their subjects are vastly different, each show explores how the human spirit prevails against indomitable odds. The 29th Season is a bridge between past and future, and I am so pleased to celebrate so many of the writers, directors, and actors who have been an essential part of BSC’s history. I believe new work is the heart and soul of a theatre, so I am especially excited to produce two world premiere plays, one of which was commissioned by BSC. I am also thrilled to include such core artists as composer/lyricist Bill Finn, playwright Mark St. Germain, and actors Christopher Innvar, Mark H. Dold and Gretchen Egolf. Most gratifying is that Founding Artistic Director Julianne Boyd will return to direct a production. I have inherited a theatre of the highest quality, and I am excited to lead the charge of making world-class theatre in the Berkshires.”
BOYD-QUINSON STAGE
The Boyd-Quinson Stage will open with a new production of the 1966 Tony Award winning musical Cabaret (June 14-July 8), which will be directed by Alan Paul and choreographed by Katie Spelman. The legendary show by the team of John Kander & Fred Ebb (Chicago, New York, New York) and a book by Joe Masteroff (She Loves Me) is regarded as one of the great musicals of the 20th century.
Next up will be a revival of Blues for an Alabama Sky (July 18-August 5) by author Pearl Cleage. Originally produced in 1995, this dreamy, atmospheric work set during the Harlem Renaissance has won a newfound appreciation as a contemporary classic that was ahead of its time.
BSC Associate Artist and two-time Tony Award winner William Finn (BSC: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Royal Family of Broadway), will be represented with a rare revival of his deeply personal, wonderfully idiosyncratic musical, A New Brain (August 16-September 9), co-written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner James Lapine (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods), and directed by BSC Associate Artist Joe Calarco (BSC: A Doll’s House, Part 2; Ragtime; Breaking the Code). Finn commented, “When James Lapine and I worked together on A New Brain for New York City Center’s Encores! in 2015, we felt it’s less about illness and more about relationships. The show should be done, and I’m thrilled that Alan has chosen it for his first season as Barrington Stage Company’s Artistic Director.”
A fourth production to be announced will play the Boyd-Quinson Stage from September 27 through October 15.
ST. GERMAIN STAGE
The St. Germain Stage season opens with the world premiere of The Happiest Man on Earth (May 24-June 17), a new play by Mark St. Germain (BSC: Eleanor; Dr. Ruth, All the Way; Freud’s Last Session), based on the extraordinary 2020 memoir of the same name by Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku (1920-2021), published when Jaku was 100 years old. “Jaku survived the horrors of Buchenwald, Auschwitz and a Nazi Death March,” St. Germain commented. “This is an inspirational, life affirming story of a man who believed the power of love can save all of us.”
tiny father (July 1-23) is a world premiere play by playwright Mike Lew, directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel (Broadway: Hand to God, Present Laughter) and co-produced with Chautauqua Theatre Company. Yew and von Stuelpnagel previously collaborated on the critically acclaimed Teenage Dick at New York’s Public Theater. Lew said, “I am ecstatic that BSC and Chautauqua are teaming up for the world premiere of tiny father and that my longtime collaborator Moritz von Stuelpnagel will come along for the ride. When I first became a parent, I knew the experience would fundamentally alter my perspective, but becoming a NICU parent was another experience entirely. I can’t wait for BSC’s audience to become the first people ever to witness that journey.”
The season will conclude with a revival of Faith Healer (August 1-27), a modern classic by Irish playwright Brian Friel (Dancing at Lughnasa, Translations), starring BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar (BSC: The Importance of Being Earnest; A Doll’s House, Part 2; Private Lives), Mark H. Dold (BSC: Waiting for Godot, Harry Clarke, Freud’s Last Session) and Gretchen Egolf (BSC: A Picasso, Much Ado About Nothing, Private Lives) and directed by Julianne Boyd.
Additional details on the 2023 BSC season, including gala, concerts, and staged readings, will be announced in coming weeks.
THE BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY 2023 SEASON
Boyd-Quinson Stage
30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA.
Cabaret
Book by Joe Masteroff
Based on the play by John Van Druten and Stories by Christopher Isherwood
Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Set Design by Wilson Chin
Choreography by Katie Spelman
Directed by Alan Paul
June 14- July 8
Opening Night: Sunday, June 18 at 2:00 pm
Leave your troubles outside and willkommen to the decadent and debaucherous world of Cabaret. Far-right propaganda and antisemitism are taking over pre-war Berlin, but not at the sexy and seedy Kit Kat Klub, where outcasts and artists gather to pass their days and nights where life is beautiful!
Blues for an Alabama Sky
By Pearl Cleage
July 18-August 5
Opening Night: Friday, July 21 at 8:00 pm
The Harlem Renaissance fills the streets with jazz, gin, and opportunity, but not for singer Angel and her chosen family of artists and activists who navigate the cultural and social changes in their neighborhood. When a handsome young man from Alabama catches her eye, she must decide if she wants to pursue her dreams with her friends or seek easy comfort with her southerner.
A New Brain
Music and lyrics by BSC Associate Artist William Finn
Book by William Finn and James Lapine
Directed by BSC Associate Artist Joe Calarco
August 16 – September 9
Opening Night: Sunday, August 20 at 2:00 pm
Gordon can’t get past his writer’s block when a medical emergency forces him to reassess if his songs (or lack thereof) are more important than his family, his friends, or his partner. He needs to navigate a mean nurse, shelves of books and a bossy frog to get to the heart of his music.
St. Germain Stage
36 Linden Street, Pittsfield, MA
World Premiere
The Happiest Man on Earth
By BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain
Based on the memoir of the same name by Eddie Jaku
May 24- June 17
Opening Night: Sunday, May 28 at 1:30 pm
Eddie Jaku had countless near-death experiences while he was in or trying to escape multiple Nazi concentration camps. Despite all his grief and tragic losses, Eddie declared himself “The Happiest Man on Earth” and is ready to tell the story of his first 100 years.
World Premiere
tiny father
By Mike Lew
Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Co-World Premiere with Chautauqua Theater Company and Barrington Stage Company
June 25-July 23
Opening Night: Friday, June 30 at 7:30 pm
Daniel never planned on being a father, at least not in the near future, until he finds himself in the NICU gazing at his daughter born at just 26 weeks. With the humor, heart and help of the night nurse, Daniel has barely three months to step up and figure out what it means to be ‘Dad.’
Faith Healer
By Brian Friel
Starring BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar, Mark H. Dold, Gretchen Egolf
Directed by Julianne Boyd
August 1-27
Opening Night: Saturday, August 5 at 7:30 pm
Across the remote countryside of Scotland and Wales, the mysterious and charismatic Frank Hardy travels from village to village as a faith healer, performing miracles for the most desperate. The healer questions the validity of his gift to heal people with the power of faith, as his wife and his manager reflect on his successes, inconsistencies, and Frank’s character itself. A powerful testament to relational entanglement, Faith Healer is an exploration of the deeply subjective nature of personal reality and how that perception affects the realities of others.
TICKET INFORMATION
BSC Season Tickets are now on sale and offer true flexibility: any show, any theatre, any time. These season tickets allow you to buy tickets in bulk, with a maximum of a 14-Ticket Stack. This means that you can book 14 tickets for any BSC play/musical for any number of tickets per show. You can also use these tickets to bring friends and family to shows. (Ticket Stacks are non-transferrable, but you are welcome to book for guests. Ticket stack quantities available are packaged to offer the largest discount, savings, and availability to a seven-show season. The final day to purchase season tickets is March 13, 2023. Please call the Box Office for more information at 413-236-8888 or by visiting BarringtonStageCo.org/Tickets. The Box Office will open for single ticket sales on Tuesday, March 14 at 10:00 am ET.
ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
Barrington Stage Company (BSC) is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC’s mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company’s Artistic Director in 2022.
BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.
BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Comden & Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).
BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 38 new works, 19 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres. Following the industry-wide shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic, BSC was the first Equity theatre in the US to return to live performance with its critically acclaimed production of Harry Clarke, starring BSC Associate Artist Mark H. Dold and directed by Ms. Boyd.
The 2022 season featured a critically acclaimed revival of Ain’t Misbehavin’, which won two Berkshire Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Ensemble; Nilo Cruz’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics; Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler’s A Little Night Music, winner of eight Berkshire Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Musical; the world premiere play All of Me by Laura Winters, winner of two Berkshire Theatre Awards; the world premiere play Andy Warhol in Iran by Brent Askari, winner of a Berkshire Theatre Award for world premiere of a new play; May Treuhaft-Ali’s world premiere play ABCD; the Youth Theatre’s world premiere production of The Supadupa Kid; and Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, winner of three Berkshire Theatre Awards including Outstanding Production of a Play.
Follow Barrington Stage Company on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
# # #