The company will kick off its 12th season with Mark St. Germain's The Collyer Brothers at Home and Period Piece, which will play May 17-28 at a Stage II performance space to be announced. The Collyer Brothers, according to press notes, “brings to life the compelling and darkly funny tale of withdrawal, suspicion and eccentric bravado that pits two personalities against the march of time,” while Period Piece “features two veteran character actors desperately competing for the spotlight.”
The MainStage summer season will begin with Galt MacDermot and William Dumaresq’s rarely produced Broadway musical The Human Comedy. Artistic Director Julianne Boyd will helm the production, which will run June 21-July 15 and will feature choreography by Lara Teeter and musical direction by Darren Cohen. The Human Comedy features music by MacDermot, libretto by Dumaresq and is based on the William Saroyan novel and "relates the joys and sorrows of small town life as seen through the eyes of young telegraph messenger Homer Macauley.”
Wonder of the World, a play by David Lindsay-Abaire, who is currently represented on Broadway with Rabbit Hole, will follow. Rob Ruggiero will direct the July 20-Aug. 5 run of the black comedy.
Tony Award winner Carole Shelley, most recently on Broadway in Stephen Schwartz's Wicked, will star in the next Barrington offering, Christopher Fry's adaptation of Jean Anouilh's Ring Round the Moon. Boyd will direct the romantic comedy, which is set to play the Massachusetts theatre Aug. 10-27.
Another Tony Award winner will highlight the Barrington season, A Chorus Line's Donna McKechnie. McKechnie, who played Carlotta in the Barrington production of Follies, will return in the title role of Jerry Herman's Mame. Boyd will direct the concert version of the classic musical, which is set to run Oct. 4-15. The musical will co-star Diane J. Findlay as the boozy Vera Charles. The 2006 season will conclude with Ella, a new musical about the late "First Lady of Song," Ella Fitzgerald. Conceived by Rob Ruggiero and Dyke Garrison, the musical features a book by Jeffrey Hatcher and nearly two-dozen Ella classics. Tina Fabrique, seen on Broadway in Ragtime and Off-Broadway in Dessa Rose, will star in the title role. Ruggiero directs.
For more information about the Barrington season call (413) 229-2076 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org.
