Richard Schiff to Star in Barrington Stage's THE CHOSEN; Gretchen Egolf Set for MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING

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, has announced casting for Chaim Potok's The Chosen, adapted and directed by Aaron Posner, and Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Julianne Boyd at the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.

The Chosen will begin performances July 18 with an official opening scheduled for July 21 at 5pm and will run through August 3. William Shakespeare's romantic comedy Much Ado About Nothing will begin performances August 8 with an official opening scheduled for August 11 at 5pm and will run through August 25.

The Chosen tells the much-beloved story of two boys, two fathers, and two very different Jewish communities in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Emmy-winning television and film star Richard Schiff, known to audiences as Toby Ziegler on "The West Wing", stars as Reb Saunders. Schiff recently starred at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in O'Neill's Hughie. Joining him onstage will be Adam Heller (Elf; Caroline, Or Change) as David Malter, Jeff Cutler as Young Reuven Malter, Richard Topol (The Normal Heart; The Merchant of Venice) as Reuven Malter, and Ben Rosenbach (NYU Tisch CAP 21) as Danny Saunders.

Aaron Posner is currently represented Off-Broadway with the Outer Critics Circle Award-winning play My Name Is Asher Lev, and also the winner of this year's John Gassner Playwriting Award. Posner's BSC credits include directing last season's Lungs and the SRO production of My Name Is Asher Lev. Directed by Aaron Posner, who directed and adapted My Name Is Asher Lev for BSC in 2011, William Shakespeare makes his BSC debut!

Director Julianne Boyd sets 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 brilliant comedic repartee ever written. See why many call Much Ado the precursor to the screwball comedy.

As previously announced BSC Associate Artists Christopher Innvar as Benedick, Gretchen Egolf as Beatrice, and Mark H. Dold as 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), Phillip Kerr (Leonato), John asha (Borachio), Gordon Stanley (Antonio/Friar/Sexton), Scott Aiello (Conrade), David Ryan Smith (Verges/Friar Francis), Emily Taplin Boyd (Margaret), Kim Wong as Ursula, and BSC's Musical Theatre Apprentices Jane Bernhard, Jenifer Dillow, Michael Kushner, Kyle Scanlon, and Chloe Tiso.

Performances of The Chosen are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 5pm, Wednesday and Friday matinees at 2pm (excluding July 19). Additional matinees Saturday, August 3 at 2pm. Press Opening: Sunday, July 21 at 5:00pm. Tickets start at $20. Seniors: $39 and $34 all matinees. Low priced previews July 18-20 are $15/$20. Youth ages 6-18, tickets $15 all performances (subject to availability).

Performances of Much Ado About Nothing 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. Performances 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.

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.