Barrington Stage Company Announces 2021 Season Featuring Three World Premieres of Works by Joshua Bergasse & More

Barrington Stage Company will produce a 2021 season that will feature four productions staged indoors at the theatre's Boyd-Quinson Stage (30 Union Street) and three productions which will be staged outdoors under a tent at BSC's Production Center (34 Laurel Street). At this time, BSC is the only Berkshires-area arts organization producing an indoor season, which will follow all best safety practices for artists and audiences.

The 2021 season will include two world premiere plays and a world premiere musical.

Last year, BSC prepared its Boyd-Quinson Stage for safe, socially distanced productions and will use those practices for its new indoor season. The changes include reducing the theatre's seating to one-third of capacity, increasing the distance between rows and seats, improved HVAC and air circulation and deep cleaning after every performance. BSC's safety measures were previously approved and applauded by medical professionals, Actors' Equity Association and the City Board of Health. All audience members will be required to wear masks until further notice. BSC's safety policies are available on the company's website at www.barringtonstageco.org/safety.

"We were pleased to produce a limited outdoor season last year and will be offering our patrons another series of magical summer nights under a tent and with music and laughter in the air. At the same time, we are so ready to bring live indoor theatre back to the Berkshires," commented Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. "The Boyd-Quinson Stage is all prepared, with stringent protocols that have been in place since last year. We are looking forward to welcoming our audiences once again, to gather safely and responsibly and to enjoy shared experiences together."

OUTDOOR SEASON AT THE BSC PRODUCTION CENTER

Under a tent at the BSC Production Center, the company will launch the season with Who Can Ask for Anything More? The Songs of George Gershwin (June 10-July 3), a concert celebrating the work of one of the greatest songwriters of the 20th century. Conceived by Ms. Boyd and Darren R. Cohen (BSC: On the Town, Sweeney Todd, Follies), with musical direction by Cohen and choreography by Jeffrey L. Page (BSC: Company, Broadway Bounty Hunter), Ms. Boyd will direct a cast of Broadway performers through some of the most-beloved songs in the Gershwin songbook, including "I Got Rhythm," "Embraceable You" and "Summertime," among many others.

From July 30-August 22, the theatre will next present a BSC commission, the world premiere of Boca, an evening of short comedies about seniors living it up and going off the rails in the Sunshine State, by Jessica Provenz (BSC: 10x10 New Play Festival) and directed by Ms. Boyd.

A third production (July 9-24) will be announced soon.

INDOOR SEASON AT THE BOYD-QUINSON STAGE

The Boyd-Quinson Stage will open with Chester Bailey (June 18-July 3) by Emmy Award winner Joseph Dougherty ("thirtysomething," "Pretty Little Liars"), and starring the father-and-son duo of Tony Award winner Reed Birney (The Humans, "House of Cards") and Ephraim Birney ("Gotham," "The Americans") as doctor and patient in a potent World War II drama, directed by Ron Lagomarsino (Driving Miss Daisy, "Picket Fences," "Ally McBeal").

Next up will be a full staging of the new one-woman play Eleanor (July 16-August 1), about legendary first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, by BSC Associate Artist Mark St. Germain (BSC and Off-Broadway: Freud's Last Session) and starring Tony Award winner Harriet Harris (Thoroughly Modern Millie), following its popular streamed reading at BSC last fall.

The world premiere of Sister Sorry (August 12-29) follows, a new play by The New Yorker writer Alec Wilkinson, loosely based on a stunning true crime confession, and directed by Richard Hamburger(Japanoir, Curse of the Starving Class).

The Boyd-Quinson Stage season concludes with a BSC commission, the world premiere of A Crossing (September 23-October 17), a timely new dance musical co-conceived by BSC Associate Artist Joshua Bergasse (BSC: The Royal Family of Broadway, On the Town; Broadway: On the Town) and Mark St. Germain, with book by St. Germain, music and lyrics by award-winning songwriter Zoe Sarnak (Secret Soldiers, Empire Records), created in association with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company and directed and choreographed by Bergasse.

Additional details on the 2021 BSC season, including concerts and streamed and staged readings, follows.

THE BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY 2021 SEASON

Outdoors at the BSC Production Center,
34 Laurel Street, Pittsfield, MA.

Who Could Ask For Anything More?

The Songs of George Gershwin
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward
Additional lyrics by Ballard MacDonald, Buddy DeSylva & Gus Kahn
Conceived by Julianne Boyd and Darren R. Cohen
Musical Director Darren R. Cohen
Choreographed by Jeffrey L. Page
Directed by Julianne Boyd
June 10-July 3

Join them in celebrating one of the greatest composers of the 20th Century. From "I Got Rhythm" to "Embraceable You" to "Summertime," George Gershwin's soaring, glorious music will lift your spirits and warm your hearts. Featuring a cast of stellar Broadway singers, this delightful concert will have you asking yourself "Who Could Ask for Anything More?"

TBA

July 9 - July 24

World Premiere Play
Boca
Commissioned through the Sydelle Blatt New Works Commissioning Program
by Jessica Provenz
Directed by Julianne Boyd
July 30-August 22

Are you ready for some laughs? Come, soak up the good life in Boca Raton, a city that offers the fountain of youth. The sun always shines, the lawns are always manicured, and the weather holds steady at a perfect 75, just like Boca's well-maintained seniors. In the world premiere of Jessica Provenz's Boca, we'll travel to the Sunshine State for a night of short comedies that follow a group of retirees who, between rounds of golf, bridge and Botox, can be found bickering, gossiping and living it up like they're teenagers all over again.

Indoors at the Boyd/Quinson Stage,
30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA.

Chester Bailey

By Joseph Dougherty
Starring Reed Birney and Ephraim Birney
Directed by Ron Lagomarsino
June 18-July 3

In a stateside hospital at the close of World War II, a young man recovers from catastrophic injuries. Or so the doctors have told him. But Chester Bailey denies what's happened to him has actually happened, which is how he comes under the care of Dr. Philip Cotton. Older, wounded in his own ways, Cotton is charged with leading Chester back to reality. The journey is not what either man expected. Chester Bailey stars real-life father and son, Tony Award winner Reed Birney (The Humans, "House of Cards") and Ephraim Birney ("Gotham," "The Americans"), as doctor and patient.

Eleanor

New Play
By Mark St. Germain
Starring Harriet Harris
Directed by Henry Stram
July 16-August 1

In Eleanor, BSC Associate Artist and playwright Mark St. Germain brings to life Eleanor Roosevelt, the most influential First Lady the world has ever seen. From her "Ugly Duckling" upbringing to her unorthodox marriage to Franklin, Eleanor puts her controversial life, loves and passions on the stage. Tony Award-winning actress Harriet Harris returns to the role after her stellar virtual reading with BSC last fall.

Sister Sorry

World Premiere Play
By Alec Wilkinson
Directed by Richard Hamburger
August 12-August 29

Sister Sorry was inspired by Alec Wilkinson's piece "The Confession," which was published in The New Yorker in 1993. In that piece, Wilkinson described his encounters with a conceptual artist in New York who maintained an answering machine on which the artist encouraged callers to confess their crimes. Sister Sorry is loosely based on a stunning confession by a mysterious, enigmatic caller.

A Crossing

World Premiere Musical

Commissioned through the Sydelle Blatt New Works Commissioning Program
September 23-October 17
Co-conceived by Joshua Bergasse and Mark St. Germain
Music & Lyrics by Zoe Sarnak
Directed & Choreographed by Joshua Bergasse
Created in association with Calpulli Mexican Dance Company

Pulsing with energy and emotional intensity, this story about a group of migrants crossing the southern border is raw, visceral and electrifying - demonstrating the personal impact of crossing an "invisible line." The group faces many dangers, including the coyote - a human smuggler. This new dance musical ingeniously combines compelling lyrics, athletic choreography and elements of Mexican folk music to tell a remarkable tale of courage, fear and struggle.

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Get Your Pink Hands Off Me Sucka and Give Me Back

Streamed Virtual Reading
2020 Burman New Play Award Winner
June 4-6
by Daniella De Jesús

Get Your Pink Hands Off Me Sucka and Give Me Back is a dark comedic exploration of the insidiousness of colonization. While studying abroad in Spain, Solandra, a young Dominican-American woman, finds herself alone in the throne room of Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand, whose portraits come alive, transporting her to 1492. Meanwhile, on the island of what we now refer to as "Hispaniola," Anacaona awakens, terrorized by a violent nightmare, which she soon learns is prophetic. As Anacaona struggles to save her community from invasion, Solandra contends with her racial identity, attraction to white men and their attraction to her.

Elizabeth Stanley in Concert

Concert
Outdoors under the tent at the BSC Production Center
June 28

Come hear the glorious sounds of Grammy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Elizabeth Stanley (BSC: On the Town, Kiss Me, Kate; Broadway: Jagged Little Pill, On the Town) in a special one-night-only concert.

Andy Warhol in Iran

Staged reading
Boyd-Quinson Stage
Commissioned through the Sydelle Blatt New Works Commissioning Program
Date TBD
by Brent Askari

In 1976, the artist Andy Warhol, having re-invented himself as the portrait painter of the rich and famous, travels to Tehran to meet the Shah of Iran's wife, the Empress Farah Pahlavi. In Andy Warhol In Iran, the iconic American painter visits the country to take Polaroids of the Empress, see the crown jewels, and eat cheap caviar - only to encounter a young revolutionary who throws his plans into turmoil.

Outdoors under the tent at the corner of Linden and Center Streets, Pittsfield, MA.
Celebrating Black Voices
August 3-8

Come and join the festivities in our week-long celebration of local Black artists, featuring a poetry jam, a storytelling event, an evening of jazz, a presentation of Sojourner Truth's Ain't I A Woman, and two talent shows with cash prizes. All events are free. Reservations are strongly recommended.

TICKET INFORMATION

Pricing for the 2021 summer season is $35-$95 for the Boyd-Quinson Stage and outdoor venue productions. Preview performance tickets for all shows are $35. Bundles of tickets (three or more) can be purchased at a 25-30% discount. Please call the box office for more information. Single tickets can be purchased by calling 413-236-8888 or emailing boxoffice@barringtonstageco.org. The box office will open on Monday, April 12.