Barrington Stage Co. Announces New Season

Under the mentorship of Tony Award-winning composer/lyricist William Finn, Barrington Stage Company is proud to announce the third exciting season of its acclaimed Musical Theater Lab.  Developed by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd in conjunction with Finn in 2006, the Lab is designed to nurture and assist musical theater writers, composers, and lyricists as they create new works.  These musicals, when fully developed, will result in workshops and/or full presentations.  Since its founding, the Musical Theatre Lab has already presented six original/new musicals/revues, in addition to numerous readings and workshops.
 
Audiences should note that there is a new performance venue for Barrington Stage Company's Musical Theatre Lab and Stage II: The VFW Hall, 36 Linden Street (one block west of North Street) in Pittsfield.  Built in 1970 the VFW hosts a fully-accessible 99-seat performance space on street level with free parking.
 
This year's Musical Theatre Lab lineup opens June 18 through July 5 with the musical The Mysteries of Harris Burdick, followed by a Korean rock musical My Scary Girl from July 9 through 26, and from August 7 through 24 See Rock City and Other Destinations, winner of this year's Richard Rodgers Musical Theatre Award.  Special events include Mary Testa and Michael Starobin's Sleepless Variations, a staged reading of Watt!?!, a new musical in the early stages of development and two evenings in concert, featuring songs of Michael R. Jackson and Niko Tsakalakos.  
 
The performance schedule is Wednesday through Friday evening at 7:30pm, Saturday at 4 and 8pm, Sunday at 7:30pm.  Tickets are $15 for the first two previews, while other performances are $25-$30 and are on sale now. Student tickets for the Sat. at 4pm matinees are $15.  For information on a Musical Theater Lab pass, call 413-236-8888 or online at www.barringtonstageco.org.
 
Details on the 2008 Musical Theatre Lab schedule are as follows:
 
June 18 through July 5
The Mysteries of Harris Burdick
Book by Joe Calarco, Music by Chris Miller; Lyrics by Nathan Tysen
Inspired by the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg
Directed by Joe Calarco
•Performances at VFW Hall, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield.
 
July 9 through August 26
My Scary Girl
Book by Kyoung-ae Kang and Mark St. Germain
Lyrics by Kyoung-ae Kang
Music by Will Aronson
Based on the Korean film My Scary Girl
•Performances at VFW Hall, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield.
 
August 7 through August 23
See Rock City and Other Destinations
Book and lyrics by Adam Mathias
Music by Brad Alexander
Directed by Kevin Del Aguila (Funked Up Fairy Tales)
•Performances at VFW Hall, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield.
 
Special Events:
Watt!?! 
staged reading
Book and Lyrics by David Javerbaum
Music by Brendan Milburn
Directed by Jonathan Bernstein
Saturday, May 24 at 4pm; Sunday, May 25 at 7pm
From David Javerbaum, the former head writer of The Daily Show and lyricist of Cry Baby and Brendan Milburn, keyboards/vocalist for GrooveLily.
•Performances at VFW Hall, 36 Linden St, Pittsfield.
 
Special Event: Why Don't I Sleep Around?
Michael R. Jackson in Concert
Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 at 8pm
•Performances at Dottie's Coffee House, 444 North Street, Pittsfield. Food and beverages available.
 
Special event: Sings of a Night Owl
Nikos Tsakalakos in Concert
Thursday, July 24, Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26 at 8pm
•Performances at Dottie's Coffee House, 444 North Street, Pittsfield. Food and beverages available.
 
Sleepless Variations
with Mary Testa and Michael Starobin
Thursday, July 31 through Sunday, August 3 at 8pm
Tickets $15 (first preview); Friday and Sunday night $25 and Saturday $30.
•Performances at VFW Hall, 36 Linden St., Pittsfield.
 
Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity theatre, located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by artistic director Julianne Boyd.  BSC'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.  BSC garnered national attention with William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's Tony Award-winning musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which began as a workshop at BSC in February, 2004, was produced in its world premiere to critical acclaim that summer season, prior to taking New York by storm at Second Stage Theatre and later transferring to Broadway's Circle-in-the-Square Theatre where it ran over 1,000 performances.  For more information, log on to www.barringtonstageco.org.

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