WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL CELEBRATES TONIGHT’S OPENING NIGHT OF THE WORLD PREMIERE OF “PAMELA PALMER”; “WTF IS NEXT” TO BEGIN NEXT THURSDAY, AUGUST 1
Contact:
Rick Miramontez / Aaron Meier / Briana Sanchez / Morgan Zysman
rick@omdkc.com / aaron@omdkc.com / briana@omdkc.com / morgan@omdkc.com
212-695-7400
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ON THURSDAY, JULY 25, PLEASE
THE TONY AWARD®-RECOGNIZED
WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
CELEBRATES TONIGHT’S OPENING NIGHT
OF THE WORLD PREMIERE OF
“PAMELA PALMER”
THE NEW PLAY BY TONY AWARD® NOMINEE DAVID IVES
DIRECTED BY TONY AWARD WINNER WALTER BOBBIE
FEATURING
BECKY ANN BAKER, TINA BENKO, CLARK GREGG, AND
MAX GORDON MOORE
“WTF IS NEXT”
THE MINI FESTIVAL-WITHIN-THE FESTIVAL
THAT WILL OFFER A GLIMPSE INTO THE FUTURE OF WTF
TO BEGIN NEXT THURSDAY, AUGUST 1
New York, NY (July 25, 2024) – The Williamstown Theatre Festival’s (Jenny Gersten, Interim Artistic Director) world premiere of Pamela Palmer by Tony Award® nominee David Ives, directed by Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie opens tonight, July 25 on WTF’s CenterStage. Additionally, WTF IS NEXT, the expansive glimpse into a new vision for the Tony Award-recognized Festival begins next Thursday, August 1 and lasts through Sunday, August 4.
Pamela Palmer features OBIE Award® winner Tina Benko as ‘Pamela Palmer,’ Clark Gregg as ‘The Detective,’ Max Gordon Moore as ‘The Husband,’ and Emmy Award® winner Becky Ann Baker as ‘The Mother.’ The play will also feature scenic design by Alexander Woodword, costume design by Amanda Roberge, lighting design by Landon K. Elder, and sound design by Dan Moses Schreier
Pamela Palmer production photos can be found here with photo credit to Arden Dickson.
The author of “innumerable clever comedies” (New York Times), Ives puts a noir spin on an existential romance in this world premiere play. Pamela Palmer (Tina Benko) lives a seemingly perfect life with her husband (Max Gordon Moore) at Wishwood but has a bizarre suspicion something’s wrong, only for them both to become entangled with the detective (Clark Gregg) she hires to investigate. Pamela Palmer goes undercover as a plainclothes philosophical look at the human condition.
Pamela Palmer is a limited engagement through Saturday, August 10. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit: https://wtfestival.org/main-events/pamela-palmer/
WTF IS NEXT, taking place Thursday, August 1 through Sunday, August 4, is the ambitious new model for the future of the festival which will surround WTF’s regular summer programming with a robust schedule of not-to-be-missed experiences. Throughout this special weekend, guests will be immersed in activities and events that combine the transformative power of theater with the natural beauty of the Berkshires: memorable morning and midday activities, curated experiences, vibrant late-night programming, and more. Central to “WTF IS NEXT” is the Festival’s commitment to fostering community and deepening connections while broadening the concept of theater.
Spoken word poet, Sarah Kay, will be a part of the kick-off event on Thursday, August 1 at 4pm and Friday, August 2 at 4pm leading the weekend experience with poetry and language. Carissa Potter will be leading an hour-long somatic workshop at the Clark at 11:00am on Friday, August 2.
The “WTF IS NEXT” lineup will run concurrently with Pamela Palmer; the WTF Cabaret; the Fridays@3 reading of the new play KILL CORP by Sofia Alvarez, directed by Portia Krieger; and The Plastic Bag Store by Robin Frohardt.
For individual ticketing information and to reserve passes, a complete itinerary, and updates on the “WTF IS NEXT” weekend, please visit: www.wtfestival.org/main-events/wtf-is-next2024/
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2024 WTF SUMMER SEASON
The season’s fully staged shows are produced in a new space for the Festival: the intimate 150-seat CenterStage, a state-of-the-art versatile performance space in Williams College’s ‘62 Center for Theatre & Dance (1000 Main St, Williamstown, MA 01267) that includes orchestra and balcony seating on three sides. The CenterStage season’s second production is the world premiere of David Ives’ Pamela Palmer directed by Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Venus in Fur) playing through Saturday, August 10.
On Sunday, July 28 at 3 PM, Grammy Award winner Sara Bareilles will host an afternoon of music to benefit Williamstown Theatre Festival.
The Plastic Bag Store, created, written, designed, and directed by Robin Frohardt, with music by Freddi Price, produced by Pomegranate Arts, and presented with MASS MoCA (housed in Building 1: 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247) runs through Sunday, November 3.
WTF’s Fridays@3 reading series, curated by the Festival’s Artistic Programs Manager, Lianna Rada-Hung will take place at 3 PM in the Auditorium at the Clark Art Institute (225 South Street, Williamstown, MA 01267). This year’s lineup includes Indigo Dreams by Melis Aker, directed by Kate Whoriskey on Friday, July 26; and KILL CORP by Sofia Alvarez, directed by Portia Krieger on Friday, August 2 and
Saturday, August 3.
Starting Thursday, July 25, WTF’s beloved cabaret series will return to the Festival Stage in the MainStage Theater, curated in partnership with music director Joel Waggoner and creative advisors Christopher Fitzgerald and Asmeret Ghebremichael.
This year’s upcoming developmental workshops include Marcel On The Train by Marshall Pailet and Ethan Slater, directed by Marshall Pailet, produced by Mix and Match Productions (Maxwell Beer and Mitch Marois) taking place July 30-31.
As part of the WTF Playwright-In-Residence program, a special reading of WHITE BITCHES IN DELHI, written by Ellis Stump & Neeta Thadani, created by Stump, and
directed by Thadani will take place Saturday, August 10 at 5 PM.
BIOGRAPHIES
Sarah Kay is a writer, performer, and educator from New York City. She has shared her poems in cornfields in Iowa, an orthodontist office in Nepal, a viking ship on a fjord in Norway, a nightclub in Singapore, the Royal Danish Theater in Denmark, the Kennedy Center in DC, Carnegie Hall & the Booth Theatre on Broadway in New York City, the back rooms of dive-bars, middle school gymnasiums, and once on top of someone’s dining room table. Her poetry can be found on Netflix tv shows, Uniqlo t-shirts, and bookstore shelves. She is the author of five books of poetry including her forthcoming collection, A Little Daylight Left (spring 2025). Kay is the founder and co-director of Project VOICE, an organization that uses poetry to entertain, educate, and empower students and educators in classrooms and communities worldwide.
Carissa Potter is an artist and the founder of People I’ve Loved, a social media presence and stationary line that bridges the gaps between people by helping them have authentic and sometimes difficult conversations. In 2021, Carissa was named one of the 50 People and Companies Inspiring the Working Not Working Community Right Now and one of Cosmopolitan’s 24 People (Genuinely) Making the World a Better Place. She lives with her partner, father, mother-in-law, and daughter in Oakland, California.
ABOUT WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
For seven decades, the Tony Award-recognized Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought emerging and professional theater artists together in the Berkshires to create a thrilling summer festival of diverse, world premiere plays and musicals, bold new revivals, and a rich array of accompanying cultural events.
Artists are drawn to Williamstown Theatre Festival to make great theater in an environment conducive to artistic risk-taking. Matthew Broderick, Audra McDonald, Dominique Morisseau, Mary-Louise Parker, Susan Stroman, Uma Thurman, and Blair Underwood are just a few of the luminous theater artists who have worked at the Festival. Many others, including Sterling K. Brown, Ty Burrell, Charlie Day, Paul Giamatti, Kathryn Hahn, Allison Janney, Brie Larson, Chris Pine, and George C. Wolfe, began their careers at the Festival.
Productions and artists shaped at the Festival fill theaters in New York City and around the world. Recently, Williamstown Theatre Festival was represented on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally by The Sound Inside, Grand Horizons, The Rose Tattoo, The Visit, Fool for Love, The Elephant Man, Seared, Selling Kabul, Unknown Soldier, the 2018 Pulitzer Prize-winning Cost of Living, and Lempicka.
Learn more about Williamstown Theatre Festival at www.wtfestival.org.
# # # #
www.wtfestival.org
www.facebook.com/wtfestival
www.instagram.com/wtfestival
www.x.com/wtfest
www.tiktok.com/@wtfestival
www.omdkc.com
www.x.com/omdkc
www.facebook.com/omdkc
www.instagram.com/omdkc