Tony Yazbeck & Chita Rivera to Perform at Berkshire Theatre Group's 2022 Colonial Concert Series Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day Weekend, the legendary Tony Award winner Chita Rivera (The Rink, Kiss of the Spider Woman) and the Tony Award nominated song-and-dance man Tony Yazbeck (On the Town) bring Broadway to the Berkshires.

Tickets for BTG's Colonial Concert Series: Featuring Broadway Luminaries are on sale now. All plays, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change. To purchase tickets, visit www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org or contact the Colonial Ticket Office by calling 413-997-4444.

The ticket office is open Tuesday through Sunday 12pm-5pm or on any performance day from 12pm until curtain. All concerts, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change.

BTG's Pittsfield Campus is located at 111 South Street, (The Colonial Theatre) Pittsfield, MA.

Colonial Concert Series: Featuring Broadway Luminaries

At The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield

Tony Yazbeck

at The Colonial Theatre

Saturday, May 28 at 7pm

Tickets: $50

Since his Broadway debut as a newsboy in the 1989 revival of Gypsy, quintessential song-and-dance man Tony Yazbeck has continued to land coveted roles and garner critical acclaim, including a Tony Award nomination for the leading role in On the Town (2014). Tony recently debuted his solo show with Lincoln Center's American Songbook series inviting audiences to join him on an honest, emotional journey along life's ups and downs as told through the lyrics of classic show tunes, new standards and dazzling tap dancing.

In 2021, Tony starred as Cary Grant in the new musical Flying Over Sunset on Broadway at Lincoln Center Theatre. He also recently starred as the title role in The Scarlet Pimpernel in concert at Lincoln Center. Other recent credits include The Cradle Will Rock at Classic Stage Company, the Encores! production of A Chorus Line and the PBS Great Performances special: The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood. Prior to that, he starred in the Japan and Broadway productions of Prince of Broadway for which he received the Chita Rivera Award as well as Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Award nominations.

For the 2014 Broadway revival of On the Town, he won the Astaire Award and was nominated for Tony, Drama League and Outer Critics Circle awards for his virtuosic performance. His other Broadway credits include Finding Neverland (J.M. Barrie), Chicago (Billy Flynn), Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Phil Davis), Gypsy opposite Patti LuPone (Tulsa; Outer Critics Circle nomination), A Chorus Line (Al), Oklahoma!, Never Gonna Dance and Gypsy with Tyne Daly at the age of 11. Off-Broadway credits include Beast in the Jungle (Vineyard Theatre) and Crazy For You (MCP), Fanny Hill (York Theatre) and for New York City Center Encores! he has appeared in Little Me, On the Town, Gypsy, The Apple Tree, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and Pardon My English. Regional theatre credits include Alliance Theater, Barrington Stage Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hartford Stage, Goodman Theatre, The Muny (St. Louis), Goodspeed Opera House (Connecticut Critics Circle Award), Signature Theatre (Helen Hayes Award), Trinity Repertory Company, Paper Mill Playhouse and The Old Globe. Mr. Yazbeck was seen internationally in Kiss Me, Kate at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

His television and film credits include The Good Fight, Billions, Smash, and the feature documentary Every Little Step. In concert he has appeared with the San Francisco Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas; Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops under the baton of Steven Reineke; with National Symphony Orchestra at Wolf Trap with Michael Barrett; he was featured on the PBS Great Performances special The Bernstein Centennial Celebration at Tanglewood with the Boston Symphony Orchestra; and he was most recently featured on PBS with The Kennedy Center at 50.

Tony's debut album, The Floor Above Me, has been released digitally and on CD by PS Classics. He will also make his New York directorial debut with Jekyll and Hyde at David Geffen Hall in 2023.

Chita: The Rhythm of My Life

at The Colonial Theatre

Sunday, May 29 at 2pm

Tickets: $75; Premium Seats $125

Come celebrate the one and only Chita Rivera in a unique concert event! The incomparable two-time Tony Award winner will recreate signature moments from her legendary career from West Side Story, Sweet Charity and Bye Bye Birdie to Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, The Visit and more. Her special guest for the evening will be George Dvorsky. In addition to a tribute to her dear friends John Kander and Fred Ebb, the timeless music of Leonard Bernstein, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, Jerry Herman and Stephen Sondheim will also be featured, accompanied by her long-time trio.

A theatrical icon and one of Broadway's greatest triple-threat talents, Chita Rivera is one of the most nominated performers in Tony Award history having earned ten nominations, won twice and received the 2018 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. A versatile actress/singer/dancer, she recently starred in The Visit, the final John Kander/Fred Ebb/Terrence McNally musical directed by John Doyle and choreographed by Graciela Daniele on Broadway; the Broadway revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood; the Broadway and touring productions of The Dancer's Life, a dazzling new musical celebrating her spectacular career, written by Terrence McNally and directed by Graciela Daniele and the revival of the Broadway musical Nine with Antonio Banderas. She trained as a ballerina from the age of nine before receiving a scholarship to the School of American Ballet from the legendary choreographer George Balanchine. Chita's first appearance at age 19 was as a principal dancer in Call Me Madam.

Her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story brought her stardom, which she repeated in London. Her career is highlighted by starring roles in Bye Bye Birdie, The Rink (Tony Award), Chicago, Jerry's Girls, Kiss of the Spider Woman (Tony Award), and the original Broadway casts of Guys and Dolls, Can-Can, Seventh Heaven and Mr. Wonderful. On tour: Born Yesterday, The Rose Tattoo, Call Me Madam, Threepenny Opera, Sweet Charity, Kiss Me Kate, Zorba, Can-Can with The Rockettes. Chita was awarded The Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009 and received the coveted Kennedy Center Honor in 2002. In 2019, Chita performed her solo concert at London's Cadogan Hall; in 2018 she was honored as a Living Landmark by the New York Landmarks Conservancy; in 2016 she headlined at Carnegie Hall and in 2015, Great Performances aired their special Chita Rivera: A Lot of Livin' To Do, a retrospective of her extraordinary life and career nationally on PBS.

Safety Protocols

For safety protocols please visit BTG's COVID-19 information page:

www.berkshiretheatregroup.org/covid-19-information/

About Berkshire Theatre Group

The Colonial Theatre, founded in 1903, and Berkshire Theatre Festival, founded in 1928, are two of the oldest cultural organizations in the Berkshires. In 2010, under the leadership of Artistic Director and CEO Kate Maguire, the two organizations merged to form Berkshire Theatre Group (BTG). Berkshire Theatre Group's mission is to support wide ranging artistic exploration and acclaimed performances in theatre, dance, music and entertainment. Every year, BTG produces and presents performances to over 68,000 attendees and, through our Educational Program, serves over 11,000 Berkshire County school children annually. In July 2020, Berkshire Theatre was the first company in the United States to earn approval from Actors' Equity Association to produce a musical (Godspell) in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.