StageStruck: Cheapies and Freebies

With most regular ticket prices at the major Berkshire summer theaters falling in the $50-$60 range and even smaller theaters’ tickets pegged at several times the cost of a movie, the fact that these prices are minuscule by Broadway standards doesn’t cut...
StageStruck: Da Godmuddah

StageStruck: Da Godmuddah

The last production I saw of The Importance of Being Ernest was spoiled by the actors struggling to get their American tongues around Oscar Wilde’s so veddy English epigrams and their bodies into appropriately Victorian attitudes. For theaters on this side of...
Between Two Worlds

Between Two Worlds

“There are three companies in residence here right now,” says Byam Stevens, sitting in his tiny office at the Chester Theatre Company. When I visited recently, the first show of the season, Animals Out of Paper, was nearing the end of its run; the next...
StageStruck: Two Singular Sensations

StageStruck: Two Singular Sensations

It’s no coincidence that the Berkshire Theatre Group (formerly Berkshire Theatre Festival) is following A Chorus Line, its season opener, with A Class Act, a pastiche musical celebrating the life and songs of Edward Kleban. Kleban wrote the lyrics for the...
StageStruck: From the Fringes to the Vanguard

StageStruck: From the Fringes to the Vanguard

“Theaters that program more conservatively to deal with declining audiences are faring poorly,” says Sabrina Hamilton, citing recent national attendance studies, “while the more adventurous ones are actually succeeding.” As artistic director of...