Year-Round Education Program BTG PLAYS! Announces Upcoming Events

Berkshire Theatre Group's year-round education program, BTG PLAYS!, announces three events: the student-run, student-acted production Mirror, Mirror directed by high school student Caroline Sprague; BTG's 3rd Annual Encore! An Evening to Celebrate High School Musicals directed by Travis G. Daly; and BTG's 11th Annual Community Theatre Production Beauty and The Beast, directed by Travis G. Daly with music direction by Mark Gionfriddo and choreography by Kathy Jo Grover.

Mirror, Mirror will be at The Unicorn Theatre on Thursday, April 14 at 7pm and Friday, April 15 at 7pm.

BTG's 3rd Annual Encore! An Evening to Celebrate High School Musicals will be at The Colonial Theatre on Friday, May 13 at 7pm.

BTG's 11th Annual Community Theatre Production Beauty and the Beast will be at The Colonial Theatre, August 11 through August 19.

Tickets to Mirror, Mirror are $10. Tickets to Encore! An Evening to Celebrate High School Musicals are $10 for students and $15 for adults. Tickets to Beauty and the Beast range from $20 to $50. Contact the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield by calling 413-997-4444, or online at www.berkshiretheatregroup.org. The Ticket Office is open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain.

At the heart of BTG PLAYS!, is a passionate commitment to bring live theatre, and all its inherent excitement and creativity, to children throughout our region. In addition, for many of these students, this is the first theatrical experience on a professional stage. BTG hopes this experience will stimulate a life-long love of theatre and help produce the next generation of playgoers, actors or other theatre professionals.

Mirror, Mirror
by Sarah Treem
directed by Caroline Sprague
at The Unicorn Theatre
Thursday, April 14 at 7pm
Friday, April 15 at 7pm
Tickets: $10

Mirror, Mirror centers on a private high school in Durham County, North Carolina. In a blend of magical imagery, fairy-tale allusions, contemporary dramatic dialogue, and philosophical monologues, this production deals with issues of body image, sexual orientation, racism, and the struggle of the high school experience.

Director Caroline Sprague says, "Mirror, Mirror is the culmination of my internship with Berkshire Theatre Group, as well as my first shot at directing a show independently. After several years of exploration in stage management, directing, marketing, and acting, I get to put my training to the test with a project I really care about: a student-run, student-acted show about students. My hope is that Mirror, Mirror can serve as a model for future student-run productions, and can show the community the full power of collaboration between self-motivated and artistically ambitious high school students."

This production will have mature language and subject matter.

Encore! An Evening to Celebrate High School Musicals
directed by Travis G. Daly
at The Colonial Theatre
Friday, May 13 at 7pm
Tickets: Students: $10 Adult: $15

The third annual Encore! An Evening to Celebrate High School Musicals features ten-minute encore performances from this year's Berkshire County high school musicals.

Join over 100 students from: Hoosac Valley High School, Lee High School, Monument Mountain Regional High School, Mt. Everett Regional High School, Taconic High School, Mt. Greylock Regional High School, Pittsfield High School, Lenox Memorial High School, Drury High School, Wahconah Regional High School and Miss Hall's School. These talented young actors will perform musical numbers from: Legally Blonde, Gypsy, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Guys and Dolls and many more!

Beauty and The Beast
music by Alan Menken
lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice
book by Linda Woolverton
originally directed by Robert Jess Roth
originally produced by Disney Theatrical Productions

directed by Travis G. Daly
music direction by Mark Gionfriddo
choreography by Kathy Jo Grover

at The Colonial Theatre
BTG's Pittsfield Campus, 111 South Street

Preview: Thursday, August 11
Opening Night: Friday, August 12 at 7pm
Closing: Friday, August 19 at 7pm
Tickets: Adult A: $40; Adult B: $30 • Child A: $25; Child B: $20
Sponsored by: Greylock Federal Credit Union and Greylock Insurance Agency

Beauty and the Beast will share its "tale as old as time" at The Colonial Theatre for Berkshire Theatre Group's 11th Annual Community Theatre Production. This beloved Tony Award and Drama Desk Award-nominated musical will feature over 100 talented Berkshire County natives. Be our guest as BTG flies actors through The Colonial for the fourth time in a BTG community production.

A spell is cast on a conceited, immature prince and his castle, turning the strikingly handsome young man into a hideous, cruel creature: The Beast. To break the curse, The Beast must discover how to love someone for the kindness of their heart, and be loved in return in his grisly form. Meanwhile, in a small, mundane French town, Belle, a bright and beautiful bookworm, has always felt out of place. Picked on by her peers, and constantly sought after by the superficial town hunk, Gaston, Belle aches for adventure. The only person that truly believes in Belle is her father, Maurice, an affectionate, eccentric inventor. After losing his way in the woods, Maurice is captured by The Beast. Belle agrees to become prisoner in exchange for her father's freedom. With the aid of The Beast's enchanted, charming servants-Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts and Chip-Belle finds that there is more to The Beast than meets the eye. Beauty and The Beast is bursting with stunning dance numbers and memorable songs, such as: "Be Our Guest," "Beauty and The Beast," "Gaston," and more!

For more information about Berkshire Theatre Group and our upcoming season, please visit www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org.

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