Barrington Stage Extends Childs' Funked Up Fairy Tales

Funked Up Fairy Tales, the new hip musical by Kirsten Childs at Barrington Stage Company's Musical Theatre Lab, has been extended through August 18, due to popular demand.  Featuring book, music and lyrics by Kirsten Childs and directed by Kevin Del Aguila, Funked Up Fairy Tales began performances July 31, at BSC's Stage II space, The Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield.
 
"Kids grow up fast these days, so why not their fairy tales too?  These twisted takes on classic tales will cast a spell on you!  Obie Award-winner and Drama Desk-nominee Kirsten Childs has created K-Pig (based on the Italian fairy tale "The Pig Prince"), Tammi-Lynn (based on the Scottish fable Tam Lin) and Mistah Skin (a re-imagination of "Rumpelstiltskin")," state press notes.
 
Funked Up Fairy Tales features Christy McIntosh, Rashidra Scott, Alysha Umphress, Edwina Findley, Heath Calvert and Demond Green. The scenic design is by Brian Prather, with costumes by Matthew Hemesath, lighting by Jeff Davis, and sound by Daniel A. Little.  Darren R. Cohen is musical director.
 
Kirsten Childs (Playwright/Composer-Lyricist) is the author of The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Playwrights Horizons), for which she received the Obie Award. Ghostlight Records recently release a CD of The Bubbly Black Girl. Kirsten Childs is an alumnus of NYU's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. Her show Miracle Brothers, which debuted at the Vineyard Theatre, won the Meet the Composer and Kitty Carlisle Hart Musical Theatre Awards. Her concert version of Rumpelstiltskin was seen at the American Songbook series at Lincoln Center, and her adaptation of the Harold Arlen/Truman Capote musical House of Flowers was seen at City Center Encores! She has written songs for Dianne Reeves, and is working on original musicals with playwright Charles Randolph-Wright as well as novelist Walter Mosley. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council, a professor at NYU's Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program at Tisch School of the Arts, a TDF Mentor in Wendy Wasserstein's Open Doors Program and a teaching artist at Lincoln Center Theatre Songwriting in the Schools Program. As a performer, Childs co-starred with Chita Rivera in Chicago and performed on Broadway in Dancin', Jerry's Girls and Sweet Charity.  
 
Following Funked Up Fairy Tales is The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (August 21 through September 1), a new musical by the creators (music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen) of last season's Musical Theatre Lab premiere, The Burnt Part Boys, inspired by Chris Van Allsburg's ("Jumanji" and "The Polar Express") children's book.

Last season BSC's Musical Theatre Lab premiered the original musical The Burnt Part Boys (book by Mariana Elder, music by Chris Miller and lyrics by Nathan Tysen) directed by Joe Calarco, the musical revue Travels With My Discontent (music by Deborah Abramson, with lyrics by Abramson and William Finn, Peter Mills, Rachel Sheinkin, and Amanda Yesnowitz), directed by William Finn, and Disorder: A Mother-Daughter Vaudeville (book by Katie Baldwin Eng, music by Gihieh Lee and lyrics by Julianne Wick Davis and Katie Baldwin Eng), directed by Jack Cummings III.

Please note the new performance schedule for Barrington Stage Company's Musical Theatre Lab: Tuesday through Friday evening at 7:30 pm, Saturday at 4 pm and 8pm, at The Berkshire Athenaeum, 1 Wendell Avenue in Pittsfield.  Tickets are $25-$30 and are on sale now.  NOTE: There are now special youth tickets (up to age 21) available for the Musical Theatre Lab for $15 for Saturday performances at 4 pm. For tickets and information on the Musical Theatre Lab, call 413-236-8888, from South County call 413-528-8888 or go online to www.barringtonstageco.org.

Photo by Brian Barnett - Rashidra Scott, Alysha Umphress and Christy McIntosh

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