Sara Bareilles To Give Special Concert To Benefit Williamstown Theatre Festival

Two-time Grammy Award winner, Tony and Emmy Award nominee Sara Bareilles will play a special concert to benefit WTF.

The beloved and acclaimed singer/songwriter comes to the WTF MainStage on Sunday July 28th at 3 PM for a very special afternoon concert. Sharing her own songs and more at the piano, this is a rare opportunity to experience Sara's beautiful singing and inimitable charms in an intimate setting.

The concert featuring Bareilles replaces the previously announced benefit concert with Gavin Creel, which has been cancelled due to scheduling conflicts. Ticket holders will be notified shortly to exchange their tickets. Tickets for Bareilles will go on sale to the general public Wednesday at 12:00 PM ET. Tickets are $125 Prime Orchestra and $90 Rear & Side Orchestra. $125 tickets also include a private reception with Sara Bareilles. There will also be a limited number of $30 AccessTix, as well as $20 tickets for patrons who have a Massachusetts-issued EBT card or ConnectorCare health insurance card. To learn more about WTF's comprehensive Ticket Accessibility Program, visit https://wtfestival.org/shows-events/.

As previously announced, this summer, the Festival welcomes the return of the WTF Cabaret. Intimate, casual, and always surprising, these exhilarating evenings feature performances by Festival artists you know and love! No two weekends are the same, and all shows take place on the FestivalStage, featuring a mix of premium cabaret-style tables and traditional seating, and offers a full bar. 

The WTF Cabaret–a series curated in partnership with music director Joel Waggoner and creative advisors Christopher Fitzgerald and Asmeret Ghebremichael–will feature a Cabaret All-Stars company of Ari Notartomaso (“Rise of the Pink Ladies” on Paramount+), Ashley Pérez Flanagan (Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812), and Eddie Cooper (Parade) with additional performances by artists including Nick Adams (Fire Island), Tony Award nominee Eden Espinosa (Lempicka at WTF and on Broadway), Adam Kantor (The Band's Visit), Tony Award winner James Naughton (Chicago), and Alysha Umphress (On The Town). The hosts for the WTF Cabaret will feature comedians Jaye McBride, Ashley Austin Morris, and Jordan Carlos.

The WTF Cabaret will take place over three successive weekends starting later this month. Cabaret All-Stars will be a part of all three weeks with guest artists and hosts rotating each week. Below is the schedule and performers (subject to change).

• Thursday, July 25 – Saturday, July 27: Hosted by Jaye McBride, featuring guest performances by Nick Adams, Adam Kantor, and Eden Espinosa.
• Thursday, August 1 – Saturday, August 3: Hosted by Ashley Austin Morris and featuring guest performances by James Naughton with additional guest artists to be announced soon.
• Thursday, August 8 – Saturday, August 10: Hosted by Jordan Carlos and featuring guest performances by Alysha Umphress with additional guest artists to be announced in the coming weeks.

The season's fully staged shows are produced in a new space for the Festival: the intimate 150-seat CenterStage, a state-of-the-art versatile performance space in Williams College's ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance (1000 Main St, Williamstown, MA 01267) that includes orchestra and balcony seating on three sides. The second show of the CenterStage season will feature the world premiere of David Ives' Pamela Palmer directed by Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Venus in Fur) playing Tuesday, July 23 through Saturday, August 10.

Tony Award winner Alex Edelman returns to WTF with a new comedy offering for three performances only Saturday, July 20 at 5 & 8 PM and Sunday, July 21 at 2 PM. On Sunday, July 28 at 3 PM, Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles will host an afternoon of music to benefit Williamstown Theatre Festival.

WTF IS NEXT is an expansive glimpse into a new vision for the Tony Award-recognized Festival, taking place Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4 throughout the community of Williamstown. This ambitious new model will surround WTF's regular summer programming with a robust schedule of not-to-be-missed experiences. From the moment they arrive and throughout this special weekend, guests will be immersed in activities and events that combine the transformative power of theater with the stunning natural beauty of the Berkshires: memorable morning and midday activities, curated experiences, vibrant late-night programming, and more. Central to “WTF IS NEXT” is the Festival's commitment to fostering community and deepening connections through a broadened concept of theater. For ticketing information, a complete itinerary, and updates on the “WTF IS NEXT” weekend, please visit: www.wtfestival.org/main-events/wtf-is-next2024/ 

 

The Plastic Bag Store, created, written, designed, and directed by Robin Frohardt, with music by Freddi Price, produced by Pomegranate Arts, and presented with MASS MoCA (housed in Building 1: 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247) runs through Sunday, November 3.

WTF's Fridays@3 reading series, curated by the Festival's Artistic Programs Manager, Lianna Rada-Hung will take place at 3 PM in the Auditorium at the Clark Art Institute (225 South Street, Williamstown, MA 01267). This year's lineup includes SYLVIA SYLVIA SYLVIA by Beth Hyland, directed by Caitlin Sullivan on Friday, July 19; Indigo Dreams by Melis Aker, directed by Kate Whoriskey on Friday, July 26; and KILL CORP by Sofia Alvarez, directed by Portia-Krieger/">Portia Krieger on Friday, August 2 and Saturday, August 3.

Starting Thursday, July 25, WTF's beloved cabaret series will return to the Festival Stage in the MainStage Theater, curated in partnership with music director Joel Waggoner and creative advisors Christopher Fitzgerald and Asmeret Ghebremichael.

“WTF IS NEXT,” the expansive glimpse into a new vision for the Tony Award-recognized Festival taking place Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4 throughout the community of Williamstown. This ambitious new model will surround WTF's regular summer programming with a robust schedule of not-to-be-missed experiences. From the moment they arrive and throughout this special weekend, guests will be immersed in activities and events that combine the transformative power of theater with the stunning natural beauty of the Berkshires: memorable morning and midday activities, curated experiences, vibrant late-night programming, and more. Central to “WTF IS NEXT” is the Festival's commitment to fostering community and deepening connections through a broadened concept of theater. For ticketing information, a complete itinerary, and updates on the “WTF IS NEXT” weekend, please visit: www.wtfestival.org/main-events/wtf-is-next2024/ 

 

This year's developmental workshops include Alone & Alive written and performed by Joel Waggoner, directed by Brandon Ivie taking place July 18-20; and Marcel On The Train by Marshall Pailet and Ethan Slater, directed by Marshall Pailet, produced by Mix and Match Productions (Maxwell Beer and Mitch Marois) taking place July 30-31.

As part of the WTF Playwright-In-Residence program, a special reading of WHITE BITCHES IN DELHI, written by Ellis Stump & Neeta Thadani, created by Stump, and directed by Thadani will take place Saturday, August 10 at 5 PM.

ABOUT WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL

For seven decades, the Tony Award-recognized Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought emerging and professional theater artists together in the Berkshires to create a thrilling summer festival of diverse, world premiere plays and musicals, bold new revivals, and a rich array of accompanying cultural events.

Artists are drawn to Williamstown Theatre Festival to make great theater in an environment conducive to artistic risk-taking. Matthew Broderick, Audra McDonald, Dominique Morisseau, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Stroman, Uma Thurman, and Blair Underwood are just a few of the luminous theater artists who have worked at the Festival. Many others, including Sterling K. Brown, Ty Burrell, Charlie Day, Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Brie Larson, Chris Pine, and George C. Wolfe, began their careers at the Festival.

Productions and artists shaped at the Festival fill theaters in New York City and around the world. Recently, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside, Grand Horizons, The Rose Tattoo, The Visit, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Soldier, the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning Cost of Living, and Lempicka.

Learn more about Williamstown Theatre Festival at www.wtfestival.org.