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

William Shakespeare makes his BSC debut!

 Barrington Stage Company presents Shakespeare’s
Much Ado About Nothing

Christopher Innvar, Gretchen Egolf, Mark H. Dold, John Cariani star
Directed by Julianne Boyd
August 8 through 25
Boyd-Quinson Mainstage

Featuring an original jazz score by Andrew Gerle

(Pittsfield, MA)  Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd Artistic Director and Tristan Wilson Managing Director, presents William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Julianne Boyd beginning August 8 with an official opening scheduled for August 11 at 5pm and running through August 25 at the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.

Director Julianne Boyd sets this Much Ado in Messina, Sicily, in the mid-1930s. The strains of jazz and Latin rhythms fill the air as the fun-loving, confirmed bachelor Benedick (Christopher Innvar) returns home from war to be met by the smart, headstrong Beatrice (Gretchen Egolf) – always ready to do combat with a “merry war” of witty insults. Their love story is set against a darker one of young love between Claudio (Babak Tafti) and Hero (Christina Pumariega), threatened by the machinations of the malicious Don John (Mark H. Dold). At once passionate, sexy and bitingly funny, Much Ado is filled with some of the most comedic repartee ever written, and is considered a precursor to the ‘screwball’ comedy.

As previously announced, BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar (Benedick), Gretchen Egolf (Beatrice) and Mark H. Dold (Don John) are joined by actor/playwright (Almost, Maine) John Cariani, in his BSC debut as the play’s “master of malapropisms” Dogberry. The production will also feature Babak Tafti (BSC’s The North Pool) as Claudio, Christina Pumariega as Hero, David Bishins (Don Pedro),  Philip Kerr (Leonato), John Pasha  (Borachio), Gordon Stanley (Antonio/Friar/Sexton), Scott Aiello (Conrade), Ben Cole (Watchman), David Ryan Smith (Verges/Friar Francis), Emily Taplin Boyd (Margaret), Kim Wong (Ursula), and BSC’s Musical Theatre Apprentices Jane Bernhard, Jenifer Dillow, Michael Kushner, Kyle Scanlon, and Chloe Tiso.

Much Ado About Nothing features an original score by Andrew Gerle, who makes his BSC debut. Gerle’s theater work includes Gloryana (2012 Kleban Award, 2011 Richard Rodgers Award); Meet John Doe (Jonathan Larson Award, new cast album on Broadway Records); The Tutor (three Richard Rodgers Awards); currently working on an adaptation of The Tempest with Fantasticks lyricist Tom Jones.  Other works: The Beach (opera), selected for New York City Opera’s VOX reading series; Renovations (play). Andrew is also the author of “The Enraged Accompanist’s Guide to the Perfect Audition.” He teaches Musical Theatre Songwriting at Yale University.

The creative team for Much Ado About Nothing includes Michael Anania (sets), Sara Jean Tosetti (costumes), Philip S. Rosenberg (lighting), and Will Pickens (sound).  Jeremy Robin Lyons is the Music Director. Cassie Abate is the choreographer. Claudia Hill-Sparks (voice and text coach). Renee Lutz is production stage manager.

Performances of Much Ado About Nothing are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday-Saturday at 8pm, Wednesday and Friday matinees at 2pm (excluding 8/9), Sunday at 5pm. Press Opening: Sunday, August 11 at 5pm. Tickets: start at $20.   Preview perfromances August 8-10 tickets are $15/$20. Seniors: $39 & $34 all matinees. Youth ages 6-18, tickets $15 all performances (subject to availability).  To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org. The Box Office is located at 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.

Sunday, August 11 at 3pm
Conversations With…

Robert Bell, Wells Professor of English at Williams College and author of Shakespeare’s Great Stage of Fools, and Ilona Bell, Clarke Professor of English at Williams College and author of Elizabethan Women and the Poetry of Courtship and Elizabeth I: the Voice of a Monarch. Join Robert and Ilona Bell as they go head to head and heart to heart defending Benedick and Beatrice’s tumultuous courtship. While all “Conversations with…” events are free, reservations are highly recommended. All seating is general admission. Call the Box Office at 413-236-8888.

Please join the cast for a FREE talkback following the Tuesday, August 13 performance at 7pm.

Celebrate Italy Night at Much Ado
Purchase a ticket for the Wednesday, August 14 7pm performance and enjoy a complimentary post-show Italian dessert and wine reception with the cast of Much Ado About Nothing. Plus, all patrons who attend this special performance will be entered into a drawing for prizes including gift certificates to area Italian restaurants, specialty Italian cookies and more!

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. 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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