Rebecca Naomi Jones, Jeremy Morse and Alysha Umphress Join William Finn for BSC SONGS, 8/31 & 9/1

Barrington Stage Company's Musical Theatre Lab (under the direction of Artistic Producer of the MTL William Finn, Artistic Director Julianne Boyd and Managing Director TriStan Wilson) presents the seventh edition of Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should... will play Friday, August 31 and Saturday, September 1 at 8pm at Barrington Stage's Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street.

Tony Award-winning composer/lyricist William Finn (Falsettos, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) narrates this fresh, fun introduction to new voices in musical theatre. Direction is by Associate Producer Shakina Nayfack, music direction by Jeremy Robin Lyons, lighting design by Robert Brown. Zac Chandler is stage manager.

A Labor Day weekend celebration of extraordinary new songs, Finn shares with the audience what makes a good lyric, why some work and others don't - you'll feel as if you're in a master class in songwriting taught by the master himself.

Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should... features the talents of Rebecca Naomi Jones (BSC debut/Broadway: American Idiot/Passing Strange); Joelle Lurie (BSC debut); Jeremy Morse (BSC's Hell Raisers and Joe Iconis & Family), Amanda Savan (NYMF Cruel Shoes), and Alysha Umphress (BSC's Funked Up Fairy Tales/Carmel's Candy Store; Broadway: American Idiot/Priscilla, Queen of the Desert). Songs will also feature special appearances by songwriters Nikko Benson, Noel Carey, Josh Freilich, Joe Iconis, Salomon Lerner, Jahn Sood, and Christopher Staskel.

Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should... is a production of the Musical Theatre Lab which is sponsored in part by Elayne Bernstein and Sol Schwartz.

The composers and lyricists represented are Danny Abosch, Will Aronson, Nikko Benson, Julian Blackmore, Will Buck, Noel Carey,Joey Contreras, Sara Cooper, Carmel Dean, Josh Freilich, Sarah Hirsch, Joe Iconis, Micah Joel, Sukari Jones, Laura Kleinbaum,Hannah Kohl, Gi-hieh Lee, Salomon Lerner, Scott Murphy, Yea Bin Diana Oh, Sean Patterson, Jason Purdy, Rona Siddiqui, Jahn Sood, Jenny Stafford, Christopher Staskel, Elizabeth Suggs, and Nikos Tsakalakos.

Songs by Ridiculously Talented Composers and Lyricists You Probably Don't Know But Should... plays Friday, August 31 and Saturday, September 1 at 8pm at Barrington Stage's Boyd-Quinson Mainstage, 30 Union Street, downtown Pittsfield. Tickets are $25-$35 and may be purchased at the Box Office at 30 Union Street, by calling 413-236-8888 or online at www.barringtonstageco.org.