Dan Lauria to Star in JUST ANOTHER DAY at Great Barrington Public Theater; Season Casting Announced

Great Barrington Public Theater will present three new plays this season, featuring some of the top-tier actors and directors living in and around the Berkshires. Performances are in the Daniel Arts Center, Bard College at Simon's Rock, five minutes from Great Barrington. In keeping with GBPT core mission, tickets are affordable to all.

The GB Public's ten-week schedule begins in the Liebowitz black box theater with the American premiere of The Stones, June 15 to July 2, starring Ryan Winkles as Nick.

An audience favorite at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Stones is an intense, modern gothic story by award-winning London-based playwright/director Kit Brookman. Standout, Berkshire-based actor Winkles takes on the solo role in the spellbinding, darkly comic tale.

When Nick quits his teaching job and becomes tutor to two children in the beautiful countryside, his new life seems too good to be true... until mysteriously ominous mounds of stones begin to randomly appear around him. A mind spinning mystery unfolds that questions humankind's collective history, shaky present and murky future. More can be learned on Kit Brookman's website. Ryan Winkles brings a captivating range and presence to the role, under the direction of consummate storyteller Michelle Joyner.

Next stop, Off Peak, on the McConnell Theater mainstage, July 6-July 23, starring Berkshire audience favorites Peggy Pharr Wilson and Kevin O'Rourke. It's a charming, timely comedy about a pair of ex-lovers reconnected by delay on a metro New York commuter train.

The new play by Brenda Withers premiered in 2022 at the Hudson Stage Company in Westchester County, followed by a brief run Off-Broadway where it gained glowing notice. Brenda Withers says it's about, "forgiving, forgetting, and the healing power of a good delay." The New Yorker calls it "sly, smart, often very funny." and The New York Times said it is "so close to life that you expect a conductor to come in at any second."

Off Peak brings together well-matched talents and comic timing of two Berkshire all-stars, directed by James Warwick, who says, "Their story is told with great humor, compassion and heartwarming insight."

Just Another Day premieres July 27-Aug 13 in the McConnell Theater, produced in partnership with Shadowland Stages, Ellenville, NY.

It's a heart-touching, thoughtful new drama by familiar and accomplished stage and screen actor-writer Dan Lauria, who's brought many memorable characters to life on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in films and on TV, including Vince Lombardi in the Broadway hit Lombardi; Jack Arnold on The Wonder Years and Jack Sullivan on Sulivan and Son. He pairs up with Emmy Award-winning Jodi Long, who's also created multiple, unforgettable roles on Broadway, in movies and on TV, most recently playing Mrs. Basil E in the Netflix hit Dash and Lily. Jodi Long is the first Asian-American actor to win an Emmy in any acting category.

An aging, longtime comedy writer and celebrated poet meet daily on a park bench to question the reasons, circumstance, how, why and whether they were ever actually married, and if so, what magic held them together besides a mutual love of old movies. Just Another Day is directed by Shadowlands Stages James Glossman who says, "Dan Lauria has written a joyous, powerful love story about the lasting gifts of comedy and laughter, even at the end of the world." The GBPT performances in the McConnell Theater will be restaged by GBPT Artistic Director Jim Frangione.

Sneak Peek Behind the Curtains, June 9th, St. James Place previews the summer lineup.

The company's ten-week season kicks off with a celebratory benefit, Friday, June 9, 6:30pm, St. James Place, 352 Main St., Great Barrington. The early evening event begins with small plates and cocktails. A star-studded show begins at 8pm, followed by dessert and champagne.

It will be a fun, casual event with live music, onstage performances and a few surprises. Theater lovers can mix and mingle with company members and friends, and preview the coming lineup, as well as other shows currently in development.

Ryan Winkles will give a sample of the mysterious season opener, The Stones. Peggy Pharr Wilson and a special guest will dip into comic scenes from Off Peak. Actor friends will read from Dan Lauria's Just Another Day. Treat Williams will give a preview of Grant: An Evening with the General, his riveting portrayal of Ulysses S. Grant now in development. Anne Undeland will unveil her newest play Mozart's Wife, spotlighting the personality of Constanze Mozart, the overlooked muse. Janelle Farias Sando will perform selections from Disney Girl, the secret musical life of a girl forbidden to watch Disney movies, written in collaboration with prized playwright Mark St. Germain.

Ticket sales support the GBPT's 2023 summer season, and are $250 for sponsor level, $100 for the full evening of festivities, food and entertainment, or $50 for the show only. Reservations can be made on the GBPT website, by phone, 413-372-1980, or by emailing GBPTboxoffice@gmail.com.

The Liebowitz and McConnell Theaters are in the Daniel Arts Center, five minutes from downtown Great Barrington, on the bucolic campus of Bard College at Simon's Rock, 84 Alford Road, Great Barrington, MA 01230. More information on the coming season is on the GBPT website. Tickets are affordable to all, between $25 and $50, and are available on the website and by phone, 413-372-1980, or by emailing GBPTboxoffice@gmail.com.

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