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Rick Miramontez / Molly Barnett
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

Williamstown, MA (2/10/11) – Artistic Director Jenny Gersten announced today the Main Stage line-up for the 2011 Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF), the company’s 57th season and the first under Ms. Gersten’s leadership. The Main Stage Season will kick-off on Friday, July 1, 2011 and run through Sunday, August 28, 2011 and will include a Broadway-bound revival of You Can’t Take It With You, the riotous Restoration comedy She Stoops to Conquer, and the American Premiere of the dazzling new musical Ten Cents a Dance.

“The 2011 Main Stage Season consists of the kinds of shows I've loved doing and seeing at WTF – a big screwball comedy, a Restoration gem, and a new romantic musical with some of my favorite songs,” Ms. Gersten commented. “Each is challenging in its own way, and I believe they'll show the best of what Williamstown can do on our Main Stage. To that end, we have added additional performances for the first and final shows to allow them to be seen by as many folks as possible in the Berkshires and beyond.”

The Main Stage season includes:

You Can’t Take It With You

The Main Stage Season begins with a bang on July 1, 2011, with a Broadway-bound revival of Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman’s timeless Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, You Can’t Take It With You (July 1 through July 23), directed by Tony Award-nominee Christopher Ashley (Memphis; Light up The Sky at WTF).

Last presented at WTF in 1966, You Can’t Take It With You is Hart and Kaufman’s masterwork which portrays the colorful, freethinking Sycamore family and the mayhem that ensues when their daughter's fiancé brings his conservative, straight-laced parents to the Sycamore residence for dinner on the wrong night. Literal and figurative fireworks erupt over the course of the evening in a household that appears to be a madhouse but proves, in fact, to be the opposite: a sanctuary from the lunacies of the outside world.

She Stoops to Conquer

Nicholas Martin, former WTF Artistic Director (Our Town at WTF; Present Laughter; Hedda Gabler), will direct Oliver Goldsmith’s rowdy comedy of mistaken identities, She Stoops to Conquer (July 27 through August 7). The cast features Jonathan Patrick Walker (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at WTF; High Fidelity) as Charles Marlow, Tony Award-nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Promises, Promises; The Producers; She Loves Me at WTF) as Tony Lumpkin, Tony Award-nominee Paxton Whitehead (The Importance of Being Earnest; Home at WTF) as Mr. Hardcastle, and Drama Desk Award-nominee Kristine Nielsen (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson; Les Liaisons Dangereuses) as Mrs. Hardcastle.

Pranks and hijinks abound in She Stoops to Conquer, a raucous 18th-century comedy of big costumes, big sets, big hair, and even bigger laughs. Two well-bred young men arrive at the country estate of Mr. Hardcastle, intending to woo his daughter Kate and her cousin Constance, but when local mischief-maker Tony Lumpkin plays a practical joke on the city-slickers, the Hardcastle household is launched into a dizzying, deliciously preposterous romp of mistaken identity. True to fashion, director Nicholas Martin assembles a fearless ensemble of comic all-stars and WTF favorites sure to thrill and delight.

Ten Cents A Dance

Tony Award-winner John Doyle’s (Sweeney Todd; Company) latest project, a celebration of the songs of Rodgers and Hart, Ten Cents a Dance (August 11 through August 28) will close Williamstown’s Main Stage Season. Tony Award-nominee Malcolm Gets (Amour; Anything Goes at WTF; “Caroline in the City”) plays Johnny and Lauren Molina (Rock of Ages; Sweeney Todd) and Jane Pfitsch (Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Company) will also be featured in this American Premiere production.

Prepare to be bewitched and beguiled by Ten Cents a Dance, a new musical conceived by Doyle, who applies his signature style of engaging a company of actor-musicians to bring to life the extraordinary music of Rodgers and Hart. Crooner Johnny wistfully recalls his lifelong love affair of chorus girl Miss Jones, who is embodied by five women, each portraying a different stage of her life. As Johnny and Miss Jones take “Manhattan” under a “Blue Moon” while “Falling in Love with Love,” you can’t help but think “Isn’t it Romantic?” – even if sometimes “The Lady is a Tramp.” These and so many other unforgettable songs – filled with infatuation, longing, and enchantment – will sparkle like a glass of champagne on a sexy summer evening. “All you need is a ticket, come on big boy, ten cents a dance.”

Information about the Nikos Stage Season, as well as additional details about the Main Stage Season, will be announced at a later date.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE

A special Main Stage Season Package is available for purchase until March 11, 2011 at www.wtfestival.org. Single tickets for the 2011 Williamstown Theatre Festival season will go on sale June 1, 2011 and can be purchased online at www.wtfestival.org, by phone at (413) 597-3400 or in person at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance, 1000 Main St. (Route 2), Williamstown, MA 02167. New curtain times for all Main Stage shows are as follows: Tuesday – Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For more schedule details, visit www.wtfestival.org.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL

The Williamstown Theatre Festival brings award-winning actors, directors, and playwrights to the Berkshires, engaging a loyal audience of both residents and summer visitors. A WTF season covers a broad range of theatrical endeavors, revisiting classic plays with exciting new productions on its Main Stage, developing and nurturing bold new works on the Nikos Stage, and offering audiences a rich array of cultural events including Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabarets, readings, workshops, and educational programs like the Greylock Theatre Project–a program for children in neighboring North Adams. While best known for its acclaimed productions, WTF is also home to unparalleled training and professional development programs serving new generations of aspiring theatre artists and managers. WTF was honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2002 and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement in 2011. The Festival welcomes Jenny Gersten as its new Artistic Director for the 2011 season.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
2011 MAIN STAGE SEASON SUMMARY

You Can’t Take It With You
By Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman
Directed by Christopher Ashley
July 1 – July 23, 2011

She Stoops to Conquer
By Oliver Goldsmith
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Cast includes: Brooks Ashmanskas, Kristine Nielsen, Jonathan Patrick Walker, Paxton Whitehead
July 27 – August 7, 2011

Ten Cents A Dance
Conceived and Directed by John Doyle
Music by Richard Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
Cast includes: Malcolm Gets, Lauren Molina, Jane Pfitsch
August 11 – August 28, 2011

www.wtfestival.org
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