PITTSFIELD, MASS.: The Berkshire Theatre Group will celebrate its 87th summer season with a series of audience favorites.
First up will be a production of Ira Levin’s Deathtrap (July 3–25), the long-running Broadway comedy/thriller. Aaron Mark will direct.
“Deathtrap ran for four years on Broadway after opening in 1978, and it’s remained ubiquitous in theatres around the world,” Mark said in a statement. “It’s the play theatregoers think we know, but shocks us every time.”
Next is the Jule Styne/Betty Comden/Adolph Green musical Bells Are Ringing (July 9–26), about a meddling telephone operator who falls for one of her customers. Kate Baldwin and her real-life husband, Graham Rowat, will take the leading roles, and the show will be directed by Ethan Heard.
Terrance McNally’s frank middle-aged romance, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune (Aug. 1–22), follows; the director is Karen Allen. Closing the season will be Disney’s Mary Poppins (Aug. 13–23), BTG’s 10th annual community production.
“For the past 10 years, BTG’s community production has brought together children and adults who have learned from each other all in the midst of collaboration and creativity,” said Kate Maguire, BTG’s artistic director/CEO, in a statement.
The Colonial Theatre, founded in 1903, and Berkshire Theatre Festival, founded in 1928, are two of the oldest cultural organizations in the Berkshires. The two institutions joined forces in November, 2010, as Berkshire Theatre Group. BTG serves more 100,000 patrons per year and reaches more than 13,000 students through its educational and outreach programs.
