Will Swenson and More to Celebrate Joe Iconis at Barrington Stage Company's BSC/NYC Benefit

Barrington Stage Company (BSC), the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership of Artistic Director Julianne Boyd, will host its annual New York City Benefit, BSC/NYC, on Monday, November 13, 2017, to celebrate their New Works Initiative and honor composer Joe Iconis with the William Finn Award for Innovation and Excellence in Musical Theatre. This one-night only cabaret will take place at the Friars Club (57 East 55th Street).

President of Rodgers & Hammerstein musical theatre organization Ted Chapin, Tony Award-nominee Marin Mazzie, Jason Danieley, and President of Sh-K-Boom Records Kurt Deutsch will serve as Honorary Chairs of the event, and Eda Sorokoff is Benefit Committee Chair.

The evening will begin at 6:00pm with a cocktail reception followed by an 7:30pm cabaret performance by some of Broadway and Barrington's most beloved stars, including Jeannette Bayardelle (Broadway's The Color Purple, BSC's Company), Allison Blackwell (The Gershwins' Porgy & Bess National Tour, BSC's Ragtime), Ellen Harvey (Broadway's Present Laughter, BSC's Company), Lauren Marcus (BSC's Company), Kyle Dean Massey (Broadway's Pippin, BSC's The Pirates of Penzance), Jeff McCarthy (Broadway's Urinetown, BSC's Kunstler), Anastacia McCleskey (Broadway's Waitress, BSC's Broadway Bounty Hunter), Anne L. Nathan (Broadway's Once, BSC's Ragtime), Will Roland (Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen, BSC's The Black Suits), Scarlett Strallen (Broadway's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, BSC's The Pirates of Penzance), Will Swenson (Broadway's Waitress, BSC's The Pirates of Penzance), Stephanie Umoh (Broadway's Falsettos, BSC's Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should...) and more.

BSC believes that if theatre is to thrive and create meaningful and new experiences for audiences, then it is vital to support playwrights and their visions of the world we live in. Through the New Works Initiative, BSC has enjoyed great success with several new works, including: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Freud's Last Session, Dr. Ruth-All the Way, Dancing Lessons, American Son and Joe Iconis' Broadway Bounty Hunter.

"New Works are the heart and soul of Barrington Stage. There's nothing more important we do than work with writers to develop, and then to produce their plays and musicals in a totally supportive environment," said Artistic Director Julianne Boyd.

Joe Iconis is a musical theater writer and a fixture in the New York/Pittsfield cabaret scene. His musicals Broadway Bounty Hunter (5 Berkshire Theater Awards including Best Musical) and The Black Suits have played Barrington Stage Company. Other musicals include Be More Chill, Bloodsong of Love, and the upcoming Hunter S. Thompson musical for La Jolla Playhouse.

"I am humbled and ecstatic to receive this gorgeous honor from Barrington, a theatrical home that has provided me and my family of collaborators support, inspiration, and transportation reimbursement stipends for many years," said Mr. Iconis. "I am particularly honored to receive the award in the name of William Finn, one of my all-time favorite writers, musical theater or otherwise. Knowing that I've got the seal of approval from Julianne Boyd, Mr. Finn, and the genius community of human beings who make up Barrington Stage Company makes me feel like I must be doing something right. In this impossibly difficult world of American Musical Theater Writing, one needs all the encouragement possible to forge ahead and something like this is enough to make a fella keep at it for another lifetime or two."

Tickets for BSC/NYC begin at $375. All proceeds benefit BSC's New Works Initiative. For tickets and more information contact Collette Simkins at 413-499-5446 x125 or csimkins@barringtonstageco.org.

Barrington Stage Company recently announced 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 (122 North Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201). Single tickets for The Royal Family of Broadway and West Side Story will be available in March 2018.

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.