The presentation through Aug. 29 at BSC Stage 2 in Pittsfield, MA, is a project of BSC's Musical Theatre Lab. Opening night is Aug. 22.
The Memory Show is by Zach Redler (music) and Sara Cooper (book and lyrics). Joe Calarco (The Burnt Part Boys, Shakespeare's R&J) directs.
The musical, according to BSC, "is a two-person comic tragedy about the complicated relationship between a woman who has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and her estranged daughter who moves back home to Brighton Beach to care for her. As the mother starts forgetting the present; her daughter begins remembering the past."
Cox's credits include Broadway's Footloose, Baby and Oh! Coward. Kritzer recently appeared in Broadway's Sondheim on Sondheim and was featured in A Catered Affair and Legally Blonde.
The production has music direction by Vadim Feichtner (BSC's Spelling Bee and The Mysteries of Harris Burdick); scenic design by Brian Prather, costume design by Kristina Sneshkoff, lighting design by Joel Shier and sound design by Adair Mallory. Production stage manager is Michael Andrew Rodgers. Assistant director is Nick Potenzieri. BSC's Musical Theatre Lab is under the mentorship of Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist William Finn.
The Memory Show received a staged reading last summer at Barrington Stage's Musical Theatre Lab under the title Memory is the Mother of All Wisdom. It was developed at the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, where Redler and Cooper met and received their graduate degrees.
Zach Redler (music) is a composer, pianist, copyist, musicologist and musical director. Recent productions as composer: Loving Leo (workshop at ATF, book and lyrics by Sara Cooper); The Memory Show (NAMT Festival of New Musicals; reading, Barrington Stage Company); Perez Hilton Saves the Universe (Joe's Pub, DC Arts Center, NY Fringe Festival 2008 Best Musical); May Day; Adeyele.
Cooper (book and lyrics) is a member of the Dramatists Guild and ASCAP, and is also a recent graduate of the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at the Tisch School of the Arts (NYU). She wrote the book and lyrics for Loving Leo (workshop, Adirondack Theatre Festival, 2010).
For ticket information, call (413) 236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.
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Celebrating its fifth year, BSC's Musical Theatre Lab, overseen by Tony Award-winning composer-lyricist William Finn, is a place for young musical theatre writers to develop their work on all levels: from staged readings to workshops to full productions. Since its creation, five world premieres and four workshops have been produced. The Burnt Part Boys (2006) written by Nathan Tysen, Chris Miller and Marianne Elder, received a production at Playwrights Horizons in May-June 2010. Barry Wyner's 2007 musical Calvin Berger recently played George Street Playhouse, and an Off-Broadway production is planned. In 2008, The Mysteries of Harris Burdick by Joe Calarco (book), Nathan Tysen (lyrics) and Chris Miller (music) received a full production (after a 2007 BSC workshop) and was chosen one of the Top 10 year-end shows by both The Boston Globe and The Berkshire Eagle. See Rock City and Other Destinations by Adam Mathias and Brad Alexander was also produced in 2008 and won a Top 10 nod from Metroland, and received its New York City premiere by The Transport Group this summer.
