Berkshire Theatre Group Stages THE CLUB, Opening Tonight

Berkshire Theatre Group presentsThe Club at The Garage, directed by Rocco Sisto, co-directed and choreographed by Barbara Allen, with musical direction by Deb Lapidus and featuring Deborah Grausman, Kathy Jo Grover, Annette Miller and Maureen O'Flynn at The Garage at BTG's Pittsfield Campus. Opening Night is tonight, July 31 at 8pm, and the production closes Sunday, August 9 at 8pm.

Tickets to The Club are $30. Tickets may be purchased in person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield; at the Fitzpatrick Main Stage Ticket Office at 83 East Main Street, Stockbridge; by calling (413) 997-4444 or online at www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org. All plays, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change.

Enter the bold, curious and provocative world of a private 20th century men's club-where gender roles are reversed and nothing is off limits. The Club is a musical excursion where men can be men and indulge in those pastimes that sets them apart from the rest of the human race. Where they can drink, play, smoke, and of course talk about what's always on their mind: women!

Rocco Sisto says, "Both Barbara Allen (co-director and choreographer) and I were living in New York City when the original production was playing down on Bleecker Street. We were drawn to the themes of sexual identity and cultural expectations of both men and women as expressed in the popular music of the time period of the play. In our research, we were delighted to discover that the production originated in the Berkshires at the Lenox Arts Center, and felt that it was only fitting that it return to the Berkshires."

Tony Simotes, Managing Director of Berkshire Theatre Group, says, "In classical theater it's not unusual for women to take on men's roles. We call them 'pant roles.' Having worked with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company, I've had the opportunity to stage fight sequences and work the text from a very different perspective when the entire cast is women. With The Club, its conceit is different-women playing men with the full bravado of the times and with all the misogynistic manners associated with a men's club of the era. With The Club you have a theater piece that showcases a broad spectrum of music of that time period and featuring women of today taking on these roles to reveal the humor, wit and seriousness of a play ahead of its time."

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