William Finn & Rachel Sheinkin's THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BROADWAY Will Premiere at Barrington Stage Company; WEST SIDE STORY Added to Season!

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA under the leadership of Artistic Director JuliAnne Boyd, announced today two productions for their 2018 season - the world premiere of The Royal Family of Broadway, a new musical comedy based on The Royal Family by George S. Kaufman & Edna Ferber, by the Tony Award winning creators of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; and West Side Story, in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbin's 100th birthdays.

From the creators of the Tony-Award winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and creative team behind the Tony-nominated 2014 Broadway revival of On The Town comes the World Premiere of The Royal Family of Broadway, a masterful musical comedy love letter to the Great White Way. For the Cavendishes the show must go on! Set in the 1920's and loosely based on the legendary Barrymore family, it centers on three generations of actors: an aging imperious grande dame, a Broadway star looking for love, a self-centered boozing leading man who has fled to Hollywood, and a promising ingénue - each having to make pivotal choices in their lives.

With a book by Tony Award winner Rachel Sheinkin (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee), music and lyrics by Tony Award winner William Finn (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Falsettos, Artistic Producer of BSC's Musical Theatre Lab), choreography by Tony Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse (On The Town, "So You Think You Can Dance") and direction by Tony Award winner John Rando (On The Town, Urinetown), The Royal Family of Broadway will begin previews on June 7, 2018 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage. Opening is set for June 13, 2018 and will run through June 30, 2018.

In celebration of the 100th birthdays of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins, BSC will present West Side Story, based on conception by Jerome Robbins, with a book by Arthur Laurents, music by Leonard Bernstein, and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. The world's greatest love story takes to the streets in this landmark Broadway musical. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is transported to modern day New York City, as two young lovers find themselves caught between warring street gangs. Their struggle to survive in a world of hate, violence and prejudice is one of the most innovative, relevant and heart aching musicals of our time. Directed by JuliAnne Boyd, West Side Story will feature choreography by world-renowned dancer, choreographer, and Tony nominee,Robert La Fosse. West Side Story was originally produced on Broadway by Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince by Arrangement with Roger L. Stevens

Previews begin July 27, 2018 on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage. Opening is set for August 1, 2018 and will run through August 26, 2018.

2018 Season Passes are now on sale and available at www.barringtonstageco.org or by calling 413-236-8888 or visiting the Mainstage box office (30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201). Single tickets for The Royal Family of Broadway and West Side Story will be available in March 2018.

Currently in performances on the Boyd-Quinson Mainstage is Gaslight (Angel Street), by PatRick Hamilton, and directed by Louisa Proske.

Gaslight, also called Angel Street, and made into a movie starring Ingrid Bergman, is one of the greatest psychological thrillers of all times. It tells the story of Mr. Manningham, a suavely handsome man, who is slowly driving his gentle, devoted wife Bella to the brink of insanity with seemingly overwhelming kindness while sowing seeds of doubt, memory loss and misperceptions. The playwright has built and sustained some of the most brilliant, suspenseful sequences in modern theatre. A surprisingly timely play for 2017.

The cast of Gaslight features Kim Stauffer (BSC's The Crucible) as Mrs. Mannigham, Mark H. Dold (BSC's Breaking The Code) as Mr. Manningham, Kevin O'Rourke (BSC's Camping With Henry and Tom) as Rough, Peggy Pharr Wilson (BSC's Guys and Dolls) as Elizabeth, and Ali Rose Dachis (Broadway's Fish in the Dark) as Nancy. Gaslight (Angel Street) officially opens on October 8, and runs through October 22.

Tickets are on sale and available at www.barringtonstageco.org or by calling 413-236-8888 or visiting the Mainstage box office (30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201).

ABOUT Barrington Stage Company

Barrington Stage Company is a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA. It was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director JuliAnne Boyd and has a three-fold mission: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways of bringing new audiences into the theatre-especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it 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, Mark St. Germain's Freud's Last Session ran more than ten weeks on Stage 2 and later moved Off-Broadway and played for two years. St. Germain's Becoming Dr. Ruth (which premiered at BSC as Dr. Ruth, All the Way in 2012) played Off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in fall 2013. BSC's all-time record-breaking musical, On the Town was originally produced at BSC in 2013. In 2014, it opened on Broadway with BSC as a co-producer, where it was nominated for four Tony Awards including Best Musical Revival. In 2016, Barrington Stage swept the? first Annual Berkshire Theatre Awards by winning 20 out of the 25 awards. In 2016, BSC produced three World Premieres; Presto Change-O, Broadway BounTy Hunter, and American Son, which won the Laurents/Hatcher Award for Best New Play. In 2017, BSC won the Best of the Berkshires Reader's Choice for Best Live Theatre.