Rachel York, Graham Rowat Lead Barrington Stage Company's THE GAME, 8/11-28

Barrington Stage Company, the award-winning theatre in Downtown Pittsfield, MA, under the leadership Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director TriStan Wilson, is proud to present Broadway's Rachel York and Graham Rowat in a new production of the musical The Game. Production dates are August 11 through 28 with a press opening on Wednesday, August 17 at 7pm at BSC Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield.

Directed by Julianne Boyd, The Game features a musical score by Megan Cavallari, with book and lyrics by Amy Powers and David Topchik.

This sexy, heart-pounding musical, The Game, based on the 18th century scandalous novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses, returns to Barrington Stage where it received its world premiere in 2003 to critical raves and audience acclaim.

The production stars Drama Desk winner Rachel York and Graham Rowat in the delicious roles of Merteuil and Valmont. Returning to BSC in featured roles are Joy Franz (who originated the role Madame de Rosemonde in 2003), Analisa Leaming (Emilie), Chris Peluso (Le Chavelier Danceny), Amanda Salvatore (Opera Singer), Sarah Stevens (Cecile) and Christianne Tisdale (Madame de Volanges). Amy Decker (Madame de Tourvel) and Stephen Horst (Opera Singer) make their BSC debuts. Taylor Anderson, Michael Hewitt, Hannah Richter and Michael Wessells, BSC's Musical Theatre apprentices, are in the ensemble.

The Game will feature choreography by Daniel Pelzig, music direction by Darren R. Cohen, settings by Michael Anania, costumes by Jennifer Moeller, lighting by Jeff Croiter and Grant Yeager. Mike Morris is the orchestrator. Ryan Winkles is fight director. Renee Lutz is production stage manager.

Rachel York (Marquise de Merteuil) Broadway: City of Angels, Les Miserables, Victor/Victoria (Drama Desk Award), The Scarlet Pimpernel, Sly Fox, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; tours: The 101 Dalmatians Musical, Camelot (Carbonell Award), Kiss Me, Kate (Also London); Additional Theater: Putting It Together at MTC (Drama Desk nomination); Dessa Rose (Lincoln Center; Drama Desk nomination); Turn of the Century (Goodman); Anything Goes; Hello, Dolly! (IRNE Award); Into the Woods (IRNE Award); Spamalot; Ragtime; Television: Lucille Ball in the CBS movie, Lucy, Hannah Montana, Frasier, Reba, Numb3rs, Close to Home; Film: One Fine Day, Happy Feet, Billy Bathgate, Second Honeymoon, and Au Pair II. www.rachelyork.net.

Graham Rowat (Valmont) Broadway: Guys and Dolls (2009), LoveMusik, Dracula, Beauty and the Beast. Off Broadway: Hank in The Boys in the Band (Transport Group). National Tour: Les Miserables. Regional: Bob Wallace in Irving Berlin's White Christmas (San Francisco, Detroit, Toronto), Miles Gloriosus in A Funny Thing...Forum (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Pastor Mike in Saved (Kansas City Rep), Is He Dead? (Pioneer Theatre). Most Recent: A Minister's Wife (Lincoln Center Theater). Recordings: LoveMusik, Life Begins at 8:40 (PS Classics). TV: The Good Wife, Law & Order, As the World Turns. www.grahamrowat.com.

Amy Powers (Book and Lyrics) is an Emmy-nominated lyricist for film, TV, theater, pop, country and animation. Her credits include The Game, Doctor Zhivago The Musical (co-writers: Lucy Simon, Michael Weller and Michael Korie; director Des McAnuff), opening February 2011 in Sydney; selections from Sunset Blvd; dozens of works for TV and films, including Barbie, Disney, Nickelodeon, and the Jim Henson Company, and songs for a host of artists from Alabama and Diamond Rio to Katharine McPhee and Barbra Streisand. A Vassar College, Harvard Law School and Columbia Business School graduate. www.amypowers.com.

David Topchik (Book and Lyrics) is honored to be returning to BSC and working again with Julie Boyd on The Game. Currently the Director of Finance and Administration at Paper Mill Playhouse, David began writing for theater while tap dancing his way through the Wharton MBA program and The Wharton Follies. A career change landed him as "clerk" at Playwrights Horizons, then General Manager at Atlantic Theater Company and TheatreworksUSA. Other respites from numbers and budgets include his one acts VacationWorld and When I Grow Up: A Pragmatic Error by John Case, Natalie Wood is Dead and The Tasty Tart.

Megan Cavallari (Music) Megan is thrilled to be back working with Julie Boyd at BSC. She is a Chi marathon running, ice hockey playing, award winning, double platinum selling and critically acclaimed film, television, record and theatre composer. Currently she is composing for Disney's "Handy Manny," Mattel's "Big Rig Buddies" and the LA Kings. She has worked with Danny Elfman, Jerry Goldsmith, and Johnnie Mathis and has composed music for over 30 film, television and video productions. Megan dedicates tonight's music in memory of Randall Wreghitt who brought The Game to Julie Boyd, David Gurland, and Tom Cavallari.

Daniel Pelzig (Choreographer) At BSC: A Little Night Music. Recent credits: directing Carmen (Central City Opera); choreographing My Fair Lady (Shaw Festival), The Winter's Tale (Guthrie), Candide (Shakespeare Theatre). Broadway: 33 Variations; A Year with Frog and Toad. Off-Broadway: Valhalla (NYTW), The New Moon (Encores!), Regrets Only, newyorkers (Manhattan Theatre Club), Privates on Parade (Roundabout Theatre). Regional theatres: Ahmanson, Goodman, Alliance, Shakespeare Theatre DC, La Jolla Playhouse, ACT, Kennedy Center, Old Globe, McCarter, Hollywood Bowl, Long Wharf, Kansas City Rep, Huntington. Choreographer/director of opera and ballet, including the Met, Chicago Lyric, Santa Fe Opera, Boston Ballet. Mr. Pelzig earned his degree in cellular biology from Columbia University.

Julianne Boyd (Director) co-founded the Barrington Stage Company in January 1995. She has directed many productions at BSC, including the recent world premiere of Mark St. Germain's The Best of Enemies (2011), The Crucible (2010), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2010), A Streetcar Named Desire (2009), West Side Story (2007), Follies (2005), the world premiere musical The Game, based on Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Mack and Mabel, A Little Night Music, South Pacific, Cyrano de Bergerac and The Importance of Being Earnest.

FREE EVENT "Conversations with..." The Making of The Game with Amy Powers, David Topchik and Megan Cavallari on Tuesday, August 16 at 4pm. Join the creative team of The Game and learn about the evolution of this breathtakingly sexy musical - from its adaptation of the classic novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses to the Barrington Stage world premiere in Sheffield in 2003 to the current production in downtown Pittsfield. Moderated by The Game Director and BSC Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. While all "Conversations with..." events are free, reservations are highly recommended. All seating is general admission. BSC Mainstage, 30 Union Street, Pittsfield, MA 01201. For tickets, call the Box Office at 413-236-8888.

The Game will be presented at the BSC Mainstage, 30 Union St., Pittsfield from August 11 through 28. Opening Night: Wednesday, August 17 at 7pm. Performance times are Tuesday and Wednesday at 7pm, Thursday through Saturday at 8pm, Friday Matinees at 2pm, and Sunday at 5pm. Additional matinee on Wednesday, August 24 at 2pm. Tickets: $15-$60. Seniors: $35 all matinees. Youth 18 and under $15 all performances except Saturday evening.

About Barrington Stage Company
Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage's mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre-especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway's Circle-in-the-Square Theatre where it won two Tony Awards and played more than 1,000 performances. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain's Freud's Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway to the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater. Barrington Stage was voted "Best Live Theatre" by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and was named "Best Theatre Company" in Metroland's Best of the Capital Region 2009-2011.

For more information log on to www.barringtonstageco.org

Photo Credit: Kevin Sprague

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