Work by Rachel Bloom, Sara Porkalob & More Set for 2024 Williamstown Theatre Festival Summer Season

The 2024 Williamstown Theatre Festival summer season has revealed its lineup. The season will include “WTF IS NEXT”, an expansive four-day prototype of a new vision for the Tony Award-recognized Festival, the return to fully staged productions with Sara Porkalob’s Dragon Mama, Part II of The Dragon Cycle, and the world premiere of David Ives’ new play Pamela Palmer in the CenterStage at Williams College’s ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance, Rachel Bloom’s musical comedy Death, Let Me Do My Show in the MainStage, the WTF Cabaret’s return to the Festival Stage, and The Plastic Bag Store, an immersive art experience by Robin Frohardt being presented with MASS MoCA.

“WTF IS NEXT,” a preview of the future of the Festival, will be held Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4 throughout the community of Williamstown. This ambitious new model for the future will surround WTF’s regular summer programming with a robust schedule of not-to-be-missed theatrical 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 dining 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. Details about specific artists, events, and tickets will be forthcoming.

Raphael Picciarelli, WTF’s Managing Director, Strategy & Transformation, who is conceiving “WTF IS NEXT” in collaboration with Gersten and the WTF team, said, “‘WTF IS NEXT’ will be a big leap toward the future, offering the kind of experience that audiences can come to expect from us in our coming seasons. We're so thrilled to bring our community into what we've been imagining for our future, sharing and prototyping a new way of making and being. This will mark the beginning of a new journey for us.”

Gersten said, "The fruits of these past few years’ labors have yielded a vision of a vibrant new future that we're beginning to unfold. In my final season as WTF's Interim Artistic Director, I'm overjoyed for our return to full productions along with a preview of our future, including a collaboration with MASS MoCA. This summer will be one of celebration – of our extraordinary past and the thrilling potential of where we are going.

The season’s fully staged shows will be produced in a new space for the Festival: the intimate 188-seat CenterStage, a state-of-the-art versatile performance space in Williams College’s ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance that includes orchestra and balcony seating on three sides.

Porkalob’s Dragon Mama, Part II of The Dragon Cycle, directed by Andrew Russell  will play the CenterStage from Tuesday, July 2 through Sunday, July 14, and the world premiere of Ives’ Pamela Palmer directed by Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Venus in Fur) his longtime collaborator, will play the CenterStage from Tuesday, July 23 through Saturday, August 10.

Porkalob, who is called an “incandescent force and phenomenon” (The Boston Globe), transforms the Festival’s CenterStage into a vast canvas of emotion, humor, and resilience. With her powerful voice and an evocative collection of ‘90s R&B hits, Porkalob vividly brings to life the complex tapestry of her mother Maria’s early years and queer identity, affirming the power of family, the importance of self-discovery, and the indomitable spirit of those who dare to dream beyond their circumstances.

The author of “innumerable clever comedies” (The New York Times), Ives puts a noir spin on an existential romance in this world premiere play. Pamela Palmer lives a seemingly perfect life with her husband at Wishwood but has a bizarre suspicion something's wrong, only for them both to become entangled with the detective she hires to investigate. Pamela Palmer goes undercover as a plainclothes philosophical look at the human condition.

Gersten said, “We are happily able to bring back full productions this summer, which is a major component in celebrating our 70th Anniversary. Two of our productions will be in the CenterStage for the first time ever, thanks to the generosity of Williams College. What I love about the CenterStage is it takes us into a flexible space – with the beautiful warm brick from the original Adams Memorial Theatre – where we can focus on performers and director/designer vision, and less on physical production. This is necessary as we continue our evolution.”

In the MainStage, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Bloom will bring her critically acclaimed musical comedy Death, Let Me Do My Show, directed by Seth Barrish, from Friday, July 5 through Sunday, July 14.

From the co-creator and star of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” comes a one-woman musical comedy that is definitely NOT about the ever-present specter of death. Bloom’s new show is filled with raunchy and escapist material that will in NO way explore the pandemic and all the tumultuous events that ensued in her personal life. NOTHING will stop Rachel from partying like it's 2019!

WTF’s beloved cabaret series will return to the specially created Festival Stage in the MainStage Theater, curated by Asmeret Ghebremichael, with Tony Award® nomineeChristopher Fitzgerald advising, and music direction by Joel Waggoner.

2023 WTF Cabaret All-Star Ghebremichael returns to curate these intimate, casual, and always surprising evenings featuring performances by Festival artists you know and love! No two weekends are the same, and all shows take place on our specially created Festival Stage, featuring a mix of premium cabaret-style tables and traditional seating. So grab a drink and pull up a chair for the must-see event of the summer!

The Plastic Bag Store will be housed in MASS MoCA’s Building 1 and will be open from May 9 through September 2, 2024. Subtitled “a tragicomic ode to the foreverness of plastic,” the installation creatively addresses global climate concerns through art, humor, and a critical lens. Frohardt has meticulously hand-sculpted thousands of items, including produce, meat, dry goods, toiletries, cakes, and sushi rolls, using discarded plastic bags that have been ingeniously upcycled. Frohardt repurposes two-liter bottles as “Plastic Dew,” orange tarp becomes carrots, plastic caps are “capperonnis” on faux frozen pizzas, and “free-range” plastic bags transform into a dozen eggs. Visitors will step into a vibrantly heightened, tongue-in-cheek supermarket setting, which is then transformed into an immersive cinema, using inventive puppetry, shadow play, and intricate handmade sets to present a darkly comedic, and sometimes tender, story about the enduring effects of single-use plastics. Tickets are required and can be purchased directly through MASS MoCA at www.massmoca.org/plasticbagstore.

“The Plastic Bag Store is an ingenious production that weaves together theater, film and an interactive visual world to create an unforgettably fresh take on the age-old tale of how human folly under the rubric of 'progress' can be unwittingly disastrous,” said MASS MoCA Director, Kristy Edmunds. “The project is incredibly suited to collaboration, and we're thrilled that in bringing MASS MoCA and WTF's audiences, supporters and stakeholders together we are elevating the power of art and storytelling to generate positive environmental impact and community empowerment. As two important cultural anchors in the Northern Berkshires, we're doing exactly what the world could use far more of – linking arms and working together to address the pressing issues of our time through our unique artistic missions."

Details regarding WTF’s Fridays@3 new play reading series at the Clark Art Institute, Artists-in-Residence, and Workshop performances will be announced in the coming weeks.

Additional programming and events, as well as complete casting and creative team information, will be announced at a later date. Tickets for the 2024 Summer Season will go on sale in late spring at www.wtfestival.org.

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, which will make its Broadway debut this month.

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

BIOGRAPHIES

Sara Porkalob

(she/they) is a theater maker, cultural worker, and creator of The Dragon Cycle, a trilogy of matrilineal musicals about her Filipino-American, badass family. Awards and nominations include: 2021 Princess Grace Award Winner for Theater, 2020 nominee Seattle Mayor’s Arts Award, Seattle Times 11 Movers and Shakers to Watch this Decade, 2019 nominee for Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellowship for Artists Transforming Communities, and Seattle Magazine’s 2018's Most Influential People. She recently made her Broadway debut playing Edward Rutledge in the official revival of 1776. She’s a consultant with the City of Seattle and their Creative Strategies Initiative (CSI), a new city effort that uses arts and culture-based approaches to build racial equity in non-arts policy areas like the environment, housing, workforce and community development. @sporkalob. www.saraporkalob.com.

Andrew Russell

(he/him) is a theater maker whose work is often inspired by real-life events, including Stu For Silverton (Intiman Theatre), John Baxter is a Switch Hitter (Intiman Theatre), Full Gallop (The Old Globe), and Sara Porkalob’s The Dragon Cycle, featuring Dragon Lady (Intiman Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Dragon Mama (American Repertory Theatre, Diversionary Theatre), and Dragon Baby. As Producing Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Intiman Theatre in Seattle from 2011-2017, Russell played a critical role in reorganizing and reopening the theater after its closure in 2011. He is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. @heyheyandyk, andrew-russell.com

David Ives

is the author of All In The Timing; Venus in Fur (also the film by Roman Polanski); New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza; Lives of the Saints; Ancient History; Mere Mortals; Polish Joke; The Red Address; The School For Lies (adapted from Molière); The Liar (adapted from Corneille); The Heir Apparent (adapted from Regnard); The Metromaniacs (adapted from Piron); and Locked and Loaded, Can I Help You?, a radio play available online at Playing On Air along with other radio plays of his. He adapted 33 shows for Encores! as well as South Pacific for Carnegie Hall and My Fair Lady for the New York Philharmonic. He is a graduate of Northwestern University and Yale School of Drama.

Walter Bobbie

won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards as Best Director for Chicago, which has become the longest-running American musical in Broadway history. He directed the Steve Martin / Edie Brickell musical Bright Star, which was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Other Broadway credits include Venus in Fur, White Christmas, Sweet Charity, Twentieth Century, High Fidelity, Footloose, and A Grand Night for Singing. Off-Broadway credits include Terrence McNally’s Golden Age; Paul Rudnick’s Big Night (LA); David Ives’ New Jerusalem and School for Lies (CSC); Jeff Talbott’s The Submission (MCC); Evan Smith’s The Savannah Disputation (PH); Ives’ The Other Woman and Christopher Durang’s The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Roundabout). As an actor, Bobbie’s New York appearances include plays and musicals as varied as the original cast of Grease, Shaw’s Getting Married, Assassins, I Love My Wife, A History of the American Film, Driving Miss Daisy, Café Crown, Lincoln Center’s Anything Goes, the 1992 revival of Guys and Dolls, Polish Joke at MTC, and the Broadway revival of Shaw’s St Joan. Mr Bobbie was artistic director of City Center’s acclaimed Encores! and he served on the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Rachel Bloom

is an Emmy and Golden Globe winning actress, writer, songwriter and comedian best known for starring and co-creating the CW musical dramedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, which she also developed into a live show, selling out Radio City Music Hall. Bloom recently completed two Off-Broadway runs of her one-woman musical comedy Death, Let Me Do My Show, which first toured as a comedy special to sold out audiences in London, Chicago, and Boston, among other cities. Most recently, Bloom can be seen guest-starring as ‘Elaine Levitch’ in the recently released second season of Max’s original series “Julia”. She also recently co-starred in Hulu’s critically acclaimed comedy series “Reboot”.

Seth Barrish

is the Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Barrow Group. Directing Credits include (Broadway) Mike Birbiglia’s The Old Man and The Pool; The New One; (West End) Mike Birbiglia’s The Old Man and The Pool (Off-Broadway) Death, Let Me Do My Show by Rachel Bloom, 17 Minutes by Scott Organ, The New One (Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Awards Outstanding Solo Performance); The Tricky Part (Obie Award, Drama Desk nominations for Best Play and Best Solo Show), All The Rage (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show), My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Solo Show, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Best Solo Show – Final performance at Carnegie Hall), Sleepwalk With Me, Pentecost (Drama Desk nomination for Best Play), Old Wicked Songs (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award & Garland Award for Best Direction), and Good (Straw Hat Award for Best Direction), among dozens of productions spanning a 40-year career on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, in regional theater and internationally. Barrish co-directed Mike Birbiglia’s feature film Sleepwalk With Me. Seth is a professional acting and directing teacher and author of the book An Actor’s Companion – Tools for the Working Actor. (Netflix comedy specials) “The Old Man and The Pool,” “The New One,” and “Mike Birbiglia: My Girlfriend's Boyfriend.” He co-directed “Mike Birbiglia: Thank God for Jokes” for Netflix. He was a consulting producer for the film Don’t Think Twice and a producer of Mike Birbiglia’s CD Sleepwalk With Me Live. As an actor, Seth appears regularly in film and on television. Seth is also a composer and most proud of his affiliation with his family, Lee Brock, Phillip & Rachel Barrish.

Robin Frohardt

is an award-winning theater and film director known for her rich aesthetic and highly detailed constructions. Her narrative-based film, puppetry, and sculpture, use recognizable materials, often trash, to create richly detailed worlds that make magic of the mundane and highlight the trivialities of daily life. Her theatrical work has earned her a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, and multiple Jim Henson Foundation Grants. Her play The Pigeoning hailed by the New York Times as “a tender, fantastical symphony of the imagination,” debuted in 2013 and continues to tour at home and abroad. Her follow-up project The Plastic Bag Store premiered in Times Square in 2020 and has since toured to Los Angeles, Chicago, Adelaide, and Austin. Her films have been official selections at the Telluride Film Festival, Aspen Shortsfest, the One Earth Film Festival, and BAM.

Asmeret Ghebremichael is an actress, singer, and director and is currently the Associate Director of The Notebook on Broadway. Other directing credits include The Notebook at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and the Broadway bound ALI. She also served as Artistic Director of the Big Sky Summer Theatre Festival and as an artistic consultant on the “South Park: Pandemic Special” (Comedy Central). On stage, her resume includes the original Broadway casts of The Book of Mormon and Elf, as well as Legally Blonde, Spamalot,Wicked, and Footloose. Off Broadway includes In The Heights (Drama Desk Award), and The New Group’s Sweet Charity (Lucille Lortel, Chita Rivera, and Audelco nominations), as well as the West End casts of Dreamgirls and The Book of Mormon. On camera, she recurred on “WeCrashed” (Apple) and “Get Even” (Netflix) and appears in “And Just Like That” (HBO), “The Blacklist” (NBC), “The Other Two” (Comedy Central), “Bonding” (Netflix), and “Trevor Moore: High in Church” (Comedy Central).

Christopher Fitzgerald

has spent 14 seasons with the Williamstown Theatre Festival (MA), beginning as an apprentice in 1993. In 2010, he starred in an all-male version of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, directed by his wife, Jessica Stone. in the summer of 2023, he curated the Cabaret series. Favorite productions include June Moon, Where’s Charley, and Dead End among many others. Most recently he starred in the Broadway revivals of Spamalot and Company. He earned a Tony nomination and won the Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for his previous Broadway role as ‘Ogie’ in Waitress. He was Tony-nominated for prior roles in Young Frankenstein and Finian’s Rainbow, for which he received a Drama Desk Award. His other Broadway credits include originating the role of Boq in Wicked; An Act of God; The Merchant of Venice opposite Al Pacino; Amour (Drama Desk nomination); and Chicago. Off-Broadway and regional credits include the US premiere of Stephen Sondheim’s Saturday Night at Second Stage (Drama Desk nomination); the American premiere of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan at the Public; the renowned Steppenwolf production of McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane; the US debut of Frank McGuinness' Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme at Lincoln Center; and the title role in Barnum at the Chichester Festival Theatre (UK). His film credits include Girl Most Likely opposite Kristen Wiig and Annette Bening. He was a series regular on SyFy’s “Happy!,” DirecTV’s “Almost There,” and WB's “Twins.” He most recently recurred on “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and on Netflix in “Godless.”

Joel Waggoner

is a Broadway performer, singer/songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Iowa and NYC. Broadway credits: School of Rock, Be More Chill. Off-Broadway: A Man of No Importance (CSC), Southern Comfort (Public Theater), The Joel Waggoner Experience (Joe’s Pub). Television: “Only Murders in the Building” S3. Joel Piano, Violin, Guitar, Accordion, Vocals. He is queer and writes about it. Debut Single: “Unlikely Warrior” with band Miss Natalie, “Gorgine” and “Get Into It…Queen”. “Stable Girl” with Julia Mattison. All available on music platforms. Vocal arranging: Randy Rainbow, Joe Iconis’ album, Broadway Bounty Hunter Cast Album. Breakout Instagram series ADVENT CAROLNDAR with Julia Mattison featured on NPR and Jimmy Kimmel Live! Insta: @joelwaggoner. @adventcarolndar. @joelcappella. TikTok: @unlikelywarrior. www.joelwaggoner.com.