Shakespeare & Co Holds Benefit Performance of BROADWAY IN THE BERKSHIRES Tonight

Shakespeare & Company Artistic Director Tony Simotes announces a special one-night-only Benefit Performance of BROADWAY IN THE BERKSHIRES tonight, July 8th at The Tina Packer Playhouse, 70 Kemble Street, Lenox, MA. Proceeds from the event will benefit Shakespeare & Company's internationally-acclaimed Education and Training Programs. For tickets and information call Ariel Bock, Event Coordinator, at (413) 637-1199 ext. 117 or visit: www.shakespeare.org.

Hosting the event is long time Company artist and Lucille Lortel and OBIE Award Winner John Douglas Thompson, whose Broadway credits include Cyrano de Bergerac andJulius Caesar. Producer of the event and Company member, Deborah Grausman(Master Class), has assembled an all-star cast and first-rate creative team for this spectacular (not to be missed) Fundraiser! All of the artists are generously donating their time and talent.

The distinguished line-up of Broadway performers includes: Tony Award Winner Tonya Pinkins (Jelly's Last Jam, Caroline, or Change, The Wild Party), Tony Award Nominee Forrest McClendon (Scottsboro Boys), Charlotte Cohn (La Bohème, Coram Boy), Leah Edwards (Master Class), Peter Mazurowski (Billy Elliot), Jonathan Rayson (Little Shop of Horrors, A Year With Frog and Toad) and Brian Charles Rooney (The Threepenny Opera). The cast also features Metropolitan Opera star,Dimitri Pittas (La Bohème, Macbeth; Rigoletto with the Canadian Opera Company) andDeborah Grausman (Fiddler on the Roof--one of Broadway Across America's most popular National Tours). Other performers include Company members, Eleni Delopoulos, Alec Donaldson (Master Class), David Joseph (Love's Labour's Lost)and Nora Menken (Master Class) along with New York Philharmonic and City Opera performers, Adam Alexander and Michael Marcotte. Rounding out the star-studded cast are Sarah Corey, Dana Mazurowski and, Lauren Jelencovich (Yanni's Featured Vocalist).

The creative team includes Director Sam Scalamoni (Disney's Beauty and the Beast,Lestat), Music Director Jason Yarcho (Wicked), Arranger/Composer Tod Rainey(Cirque du Soleil, Rainey Day Music), Writer John Matthew Riopelle (The Good Mother on Lifetime, Streets of America), Music Consultant Michael Lavine (Broadway Vocal Coach and Sheet Music Guru), Production Stage Manager Kat West (Altar Boyz,New York City Opera, Prospect Theatre Company), and Assistant Director Amy Hume. The talented musicians joining Mr. Yarcho are Owen Young, Cellist for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and local Percussionist, Chris Mattoon, both of whom played forBroadway in the Berkshires in 2011.

BROADWAY IN THE BERKSHIRES
5:00PM: The evening kicks off with a festive cocktail hour in Josie's Place and under the tent at the Tina Packer Playhouse.
6:00PM: Guests will be invited into The Playhouse for a dynamic performance of music, song, and dance presented by some of the hottest and up-and-coming Broadway stars and Company actors
7:30PM: guests will enjoy a sumptuous walk-around dinner reception catered by Michael Roller of Savory Harvest Catering.
VIP After-Party:
Angel, Producer and Underwriter ticket holders will enjoy our intimate VIP After-Party with the artists at the Hampton Terrace in Lenox, hosted by Susan and Stan Rosen.

TICKETS:
SPACE IS LIMITED and this event is expected to sell out; patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets early.
Angel $2,500-Includes six VIP tickets for the performance and premium seating, post-show dinner reception, the VIP after party with the artists, listing in the program (business logo or name) and a signed cast poster.
Producer $1,000-Includes One VIP ticket for the performance (premium seating), dinner reception, VIP after-party with the cast, listing in the program and a signed cast poster;
Underwriter $500-Includes One VIP ticket for the performance (preferred seating), dinner reception, VIP after-party with the cast and listing in the program.
Patron $250- One ticket for the performance, and dinner reception and listing in the program.

For tickets and information call Ariel Bock, Event Coordinator, at (413) 637-1199 ext. 117 or visit: www.shakespeare.org .

Tony Simotes and Deborah Grausman gratefully acknowledge Broadway in the Berkshires' Corporate Angel Sponsor, Canyon Ranch, the official housing sponsors:Blantyre, Hampton Terrace Inn and Seven Hills Inn, and our beverage sponsors,Francis Ford Coppola Wines and Chopin Vodka. Business sponsorships are available at the Angel level--$2,500 and the Lead Producer level--$1,500. For information regarding sponsorships please call Development Director, Ute DeFarlo, at(413) 637-1199 ext. 146.

Host John Douglas Thompson, can be seen as The Cook in Mother Courage and her Children with Academy Award winner Olympia Dukakis this summer at Shakespeare & Company, is no stranger to the New York theater scene and stages across the country. His Broadway credits include: LeBret in Cyrano de Bergerac with Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner and Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington. He recently played Herald Loomis in Joe Turner's Come And Gone (Mark Taper Forum), Louis Armstrong inSatchmo at The Waldorf (S&Co., Long Wharf and Wilma Theater), Joe Mott in The Iceman Cometh with Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Kent in King Lear at The Public Theater with Sam Waterston, Macbeth at TFANA, Marc Antony in Antony and Cleopatra at Hartford Stage with Kate Mulgrew, Gennady in The Forest at CSC with Dianne Wiest, Brutus Jones in The Emperor Jonesat The Irish Rep (Lucille Lortel, Drama League and Drama Desk nominations), Othello at TFANA (OBIE, Lucille Lortel Award, Drama League nomination, AUDELCO nomination). International credits: Hotspur in Henry IV (Royal Shakespeare Company). Now entering his eighth season at Shakespeare & Company, additional S&Co. credits includeRichard III title role; Othello title role; The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, All's Well That Ends Well, King Lear. TV/FILM: "Law and Order", "Conviction", Michael Clayton,Midway, Malcolm X.

Shakespeare & Company's Education Program reaches more than 40,000 students and teachers each year with innovative, socially responsive, and educationally challenging performances, workshops and residencies. Actors, directors, writers, and teachers from all over the world come to work with the company's faculty in the Training Program to develop not only their voices and train their bodies with a daily regimen of demanding classes, but also to delve deeply into their own imaginations, intellects, and emotional lives. Broadway in the Berkshires performers who are also past participants of the Training Program are: Sarah Corey, Eleni Delopoulos, Deborah Grausman, David Joseph and Nora Menken.