Williamstown Theatre Festival Announces Additional Programming & Events for 2015 Season
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Rick Miramontez / Molly Barnett / Mathew Troillett
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE
WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
ANNOUNCES
ADDITIONAL PROGRAMMING AND EVENTS
FOR 2015 SEASON
ADDITIONS INCLUDE:
FRIDAYS @ 3 SERIES
LATE-NIGHT CABARET SERIES
DEVELOPMENTAL WORKSHOPS
AND THIS YEAR’S
BORIS SAGAL & BILL FOELLER DIRECTING FELLOWSHIPS
Williamstown, MA (May 21, 2015) – Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) has announced further programming and special events to join the 2015 summer season including: the legendary Late-Night Cabaret, the ever popular Fridays@3 Reading Series, and this summer’s Developmental Workshop Series. Also announced are this year’s Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller Directing Fellows: Dustin Wills and Adrienne Campbell-Holt.
Joining the previously announced Main Stage and Nikos Stage productions, the 61st summer Festival schedule includes numerous additional activities and events. WTF’s legendary Late-Night Cabaret Series showcases the talents of the Festival artists—both established and emerging (July 16 – 18; July 30 – August 1; August 13 – 15). The ever popular Fridays@3 Reading Series includes this year’s Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl and featuring Jessica Hecht (July 17), Panopticon, or The Source by Gabe McKinley directed by Jason McDowell-Green (July 24), Mrs. Whitney by John Kolvenbach directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel featuring Blythe Danner and David Rasche (July 31), the Winner of the 2014 L. Arnold Weissberger Award Kill Floor by Abe Koogler directed by Lila Neugebauer (August 7), Talk to Me of Love by Meghan Kennedy with Marisa Tomei (August 14), and The Tulip Craze by Jay Reiss (August 21). 2015 welcomes WTF’s inaugural Developmental Workshop Series which features The Country Girls, by Edna O’Brien, directed by Tony Award-winner Garry Hynes and Poster Boy by fast-rising playwright Joe Tracz with Music & Lyrics by Tony and Drama Desk Award-nominee Craig Carnelia; directed by Stafford Arima.
Additionally, each year Williamstown Theatre Festival awards the prestigious Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller Directing Fellowships to two up-and-coming directors, challenging them to create ambitious new work in collaboration with writers, composers, designers, and members of the Non-Equity Company. This year’s Bill Foeller Fellow is Adrienne Campbell-Holt, the founding Artistic Director of NYC-based Colt Coeur, who will be directing Laura Jacqmin’s Dental Society Midwinter Meeting (July 19 – 20). This year’s Boris Sagal Fellow is Dustin Wills, a two-time recipient of a Princess Grace Foundation Award for Theatre, who will be collaborating with composer Daniel Schlosberg on an adaptation of Federica Garcia Lorca’s As Five Years Pass (August 16 – 17).
WTF's Main Stage Season begins with William Inge’s Off the Main Road (June 30 – July 19), continues with the World Premiere of the 2012 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award-winner Paradise Blue by Dominique Morisseau (July 22 – August 2), and concludes with Nobel laureate Eugene O’Neill’s final masterpiece, A Moon for the Misbegotten (August 5 – August 23).
On the Nikos Stage: the world premiere of Legacy by Daniel Goldfarb (July 1 – July 12); the American premiere of Kinship by Carey Perloff (July 15 – July 25); the world premiere of the new musical Unknown Soldier with Book & Lyrics by Daniel Goldstein, Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman (July 30 – August 9); the double header of two American premieres of British playwrights Chewing Gum Dreams, written and Performed by Michaela Coel and An Intervention by Mike Bartlett (August 12 – 23).
ADDITIONAL SPECIAL SERIES
FRIDAYS@3 | Every Friday from July 17 – August 21 at 3:00 PM
Nikos Stage or Main Stage; $5 suggested donation, reservations recommended
Get a glimpse of bold new work from leading playwrights read by members of the WTF Company. The 2015 Friday afternoon reading series will include:
Dear Elizabeth | July 17
By Sarah Ruhl
Featuring Jessica Hecht
Panopticon, or The Source | July 24
By Gabe McKinley; Directed by Jason McDowell-Green
Mrs. Whitney | July 31
By John Kolvenbach; Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel
Featuring Blythe Danner and David Rasche
Kill Floor | August 7
By Abe Koogler; Directed by Lila Neugebauer
Winner of the 2014 L. Arnold Weissberger Award
Talk to Me of Love | August 14
By Meghan Kennedy
Featuring Marisa Tomei
The Tulip Craze | August 21
By Jay Reiss
LATE-NIGHT CABARET SERIES | July 16 – 18; July 30 – August 1; August 13 – 15
The Sanctuary at 777 Main Street at 10:30 PM; $25
The stars come out at night in Williamstown! WTF’s legendary Late-Night Cabaret Series showcases the talents of the Festival artists—both established and emerging—during these exhilarating, intimate, and unforgettable evenings.
Cabarets will be held at The Sanctuary, at the intersection of Rt. 43 and Rt. 2, just a few blocks from the Main and Nikos Stages. WTF Donors at the Sustainer level and above receive first access to these limited seating events.
DEVELOPMENTAL WORKSHOPS
The Country Girls
by Edna O’Brien; Directed by Garry Hynes
The doyenne of modern Irish literature, Edna O’Brien, teams with Garry Hynes, one of Ireland’s most dynamic and fearless theatre directors, on a stage adaptation of O’Brien’s breakthrough novel, The Country Girls, considered one of the great literary works of Western literature.
Poster Boy
Music & Lyrics by Craig Carnelia; Book by Joe Tracz
Fast-rising playwright Joe Tracz and Tony and Drama Desk Award-nominee Craig Carnelia collaborate with director Stafford Arima on a new musical inspired by the events surrounding the 2010 suicide of Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers undergraduate who brought national attention to cyberbullying.
FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS
WTF Donors at the Sustainer level and above receive first access to these limited seating events. Annually, WTF awards the prestigious Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller Directing Fellowships to two up-and-coming directors, challenging them to create ambitious new work in collaboration with writers, composers, designers, and members of the Non-Equity Company.
Dental Society Midwinter Meeting | July 19 & 20 at 7pm and 11pm
By Laura Jacqmin; Directed by Foeller Fellow Adrienne Campbell-Holt
Directing Studio; reservations required
As Five Years Pass | August 16 & 17 at 7pm and 11pm
By Federica Garcia Lorca;
Translated, Adapted & Directed by Boris Sagal Fellow Dustin Wills
Original Music by Daniel Schlosberg
Directing Studio; reservations required
TICKETS AND SCHEDULE
Single tickets for the 2015 Williamstown Theatre Festival season are now available through the WTF website (www.wtfestival.org) and by mail order using WTF’s season brochure (call 413-597-3400 to join the mailing list). The WTF Box Office will open on June 2 at which point tickets may be purchased online, by phone, or in person at the ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance Box Office at 1000 Main St (Route 2), Williamstown, MA 02167
ABOUT WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
Every summer since 1955, the Festival has brought America’s finest actors, directors, designers, and playwrights to the Berkshires to produce unique experiences for artists and audiences alike. The Festival creates bold, innovative theatre, hosts dynamic development opportunities for new plays and musicals, and offers a rich array of accompanying cultural events such as Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabarets, Comedy, and One-Night Concerts. With offices in both Williamstown and New York City, WTF creates vibrant work that feeds the wider theatrical landscape. The artists and productions shaped at the Festival each summer often go on to reach diverse audiences nationally and internationally. The Festival is currently represented by The Elephant Man, Living on Love, and The Visit on Broadway this season and Fool for Love next season, as well as Here Lies Love and The Elephant Man in London. WTF is also home to one of the nation’s top training and professional development programs for new generations of aspiring theatre artists and administrators. The Festival is a recipient of the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre and the Massachusetts Commonwealth Award for Achievement.
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WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
2015 SEASON SUMMARY
MAIN STAGE
WORLD PREMIERE
Off the Main Road | June 30 – July 19
By William Inge; Directed by Evan Cabnet
With Becky Ann Baker, Aaron Costa Ganis, Howard W. Overshown, Estelle Parsons, Kyra Sedgwick, and Mary Wiseman
WORLD PREMIERE
Paradise Blue | July 22 – August 2
(2012 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award Winner)
By Dominique Morisseau; Directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson
With De’Adre Aziza, Andre Holland, Keith Randolph Smith, and Blair Underwood
A Moon for the Misbegotten| August 5 – August 23
By Eugene O’Neill; Directed by Gordon Edelstein
With Aaron Costa Ganis, Audra McDonald, Howard W. Overshown, and Will Swenson
NIKOS STAGE
WORLD PREMIERE
Legacy | July 1 – July 12
By Daniel Goldfarb; Directed by Oliver Butler
With Eric Bogosian, Halley Feiffer, Jessica Hecht, and Justin Long
AMERICAN PREMIERE
Kinship | July 15 – July 25
By Carey Perloff; Directed by Jo Bonney
With Penny Fuller, Chris Lowell, and Cynthia Nixon
WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL
Unknown Solider| July 30 – August 9
Book & Lyrics by Daniel Goldstein; Music & Lyrics by Michael Friedman
Directed by Trip Cullman
With David Greenspan, Derek Klena, Erik Lochtefeld, Estelle Parsons, and Lauren Worsham
DOUBLE HEADER of TWO AMERICAN PREMIERES of BRITISH PLAYWRIGHTS
August 12 – 23
Chewing Gum Dreams
Written & Performed by Michaela Coel
An Intervention
By Mike Bartlett; Directed by Lila Neugebauer
With a rotating cast