Williamstown Theatre Festival

The Nathan Louis Jackson play Broke-Ology will be presented at Boston's Lyric Stage March 25 – April 23, 2011. The play about the issues of an African American family had it premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. That production moved to a successful run off Broadway. Now it is being restaged in Boston.

The Williamstown Theatre Festival will open on June 22 on the Nikos Stage and close on August 28 on the Main Stage. For her first season as artistic director Jenny Gersten has programmed three Main Stage productions with five on the smaller Nikos Stage. In a new tactic the Nikos Stage will combine perennial favorites A Streetcar Named Desire and A Doll's House with three new plays.

During its initial seasons the 100-year-old former vaudeville house, the Colonial Theatre, renovated at a cost of some $23 million, seemed more like a white elephant than a tangible asset. Coming into its first season in a merger with the Berkshire Theatre Festival is proving to be a game changer for theatre and the performing arts in the Berkshires. Artistic director, Kate Maguire, is leading with an ace by headlining Randy Harrison in the rock musical Tommy. See me, feel me, touch me.

Jenny Gersten worked under Michael Ritchie as associate producer of the Williamstown Theatre Festival from 1996 to 2004. We discussed plans and ambitions for her first season as artistic director. As a producer she does not direct. She describes administration, budgets and marketing as her "comfort zone" while conveying concerns about the artistic challenges. We discussed welcoming the Gersten era of one of America's great theatre companies.

Jenny Gersten, the new artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival ha announced the schedule of three plays this season for the WTF Main Stage. The opener on July 1 is a revival of the Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman Pulitzer Prize winning comedy You Can't Take It With You which is headed for Broadway. Former artistic director, Nicholas Martin, will direct Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer. The season ends with a new musical Ten Cents a Dance with music by Rodgers and Hart.

Hot Tuna Blues sizzled at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. It launched a busy Valentine celebration in the Berkshires. Barrington Stage is presenting a weekend long V Day Cabaret. Shakespeare & Company is opening a winter run of Mystery of Irma Vep. Williamstown Theatre Festival announces its season on Friday and hosts a reading of a Neal Simon play on Monday at the Clark. The Met Live in HD will screen Nixon in China on Saturday at the Mahaiwe, Beacon and Clark. Here's looking at you sweetheart.

After a career in marketing and PR for the BSO and Boston Ballet, and years running Arts Boston, in the past few seasons Larry Murray has made the transition to theatre critic. In this installment the publisher/ editor of Berkshire On Stage discusses how a life in the arts has entailed both side of the footlights.

For most of us right now its jingle bells. With the announcement of the 2011 Tanglewood schedule this week, however, Berkshire arts organizations are hard at work planning a fast launch to the season on the Fourth of July. But, like Abbott and Costello, come summer, let's hope they aren't wondering about "who's on first." There is desperate need for branding, pooled resources, and a marketing strategy for the Berkshires.

Theresa Rebeck's comedy The Understudy will be performed at Boston's Lyric Stage from January 1 to 29. The play stars Kelby. T. Aken, Laura Latreille and Christopher James Webb, and is directed by Larry Coen. It entails a screwed up attempt to stage a text by Kafka.

There is a domino impact for the arts in the Berkshires with the merger, over the next year, of the Colonial Theatre and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. A more dynamic Colonial increases the critical mass and leadership of Pittsfield as the matrix and hub of the arts and cultural economy. It is equidistant from the boundaries of the region that represent more than an hour to drive from one end to the other. Strengthening the thriving arts community in Pittsfield changes the paradigm for the region. It increases the potential for synergy or competition.

During a community meeting, and ersatz press conference, the boards of the Berkshire Theatre Festival and the Colonial Theatre, in a bold and surprising move, signed a memorandum of understanding that, over the next year, will merge the arts organzations into a new holding company. Kate Maguire will take over as CEO and Artistic Director of the two organizations. During the event Kate lit up the house with charm, charisma and chuztpah. It was a heck of a show.

Now 91, Marge Champion drove over from Stockbridge to attend a matinee screening of the documentary film, Keep Dancing, that features her with Donald Saddler. She was an original board member of Williamstown Theatre Festival as well as Jacob's Pillow. It was delightful. Which was not the case that evening at Mass MoCA when the Vincent Price cult classic was accompanied by a live rock score by Marco Benevento. The music obliterated rather than enhanced the film.

First time director, Nick Tomnay, was on hand to discuss The Perfect Host after a screening of the thriller during the Williamstown Film Festival. He lucked out in convincing the veteran actor David Hyde Pierce to appear more or less pro bono. He delivers a total gonzo performance in a low budget film shot for just $1 million in a remarkably brief 17 days.

Steve Lawson, the artistic director of the Williamstown Film Festival has created a remarkable program for its 12th season. In addition to a program of shorts and three feature films the highlight of the first of two weekends was a packed house at Mass MoCA for a tribute to Billy Wilder with a dialogue between actor Alec Baldwin and Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne.

The American Repertory Theatre opens the musical The Blue Flower by Jim and Ruth Bauer at the Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square, Cambriidge. Under the direction of Will Pomerantz it brings to life the German artists of the end of World War I that emerged from devastation and chaos to form the movements of Expressionism and Dada that morphed into Surrealism. The production opens on December 1 with previews and runs through January 8.

In 1969, while a sophomore at Williams College Steve Lawson worked that summer for the then young Williamstown Theatre Festival. From a base in Williamstown he divides his time in New York and LA keeping up on theatre and film. He is the Executive Director of the Williamstown Film Festival which will have its 12th season from October 15 through 24. Over two weekends the festival will screen 33 films.

Bus Stop by William Inge opens the Huntington Theatre Company's 2010-11 Season. The quirky story first starred a magnetic Marilyn Monroe in a 1956 film version. This production, directed by Nicholas Martin, the former artistic director of the Huntington Theatre Company,, has no strong lead to act as the core of this show. Instead, it has a spectacular set that appears to overwhelm the mixed performances. In spite of the flaws, the audience seems to appreciate the play.

With three days of programming the arts and the creative community were underplayed in the recent Berkshire Forum. Although the arts are a major employer and drive the economy of the Berkshires just one session was devoted to this essential agenda. The too few seats at the table excluded any representatives from the four major theatre companies, or even Jacob's Pillow. Mass MoCA director Joe Thompson was included in another panel where he commented on the important Wilco Festival this summer.

During the recent, season ending, Tanglewood Jazz Festival we spoke with Mark Volpe, the managing director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. He has had his hands full, yet again, with another medical absence by maestro, James Levine. Despite the concerns of some classical critics regarding the continuity and consistency of the orchestra, for the most part, the season has been successful. Even magical. But regarding non-classical programming, of which there is very little in the program, he was quoted making harsh remarks in the Berkshire Eagle. We asked him about that and were surprised but guardedly pleased by his response.

The all too brief two week run of the smash hit The Last Goodbye with the music of the cult rocker Jeff Buckley conflated with Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet has come to an end on August 20. The world premiere at the Williamstown Theatre Festival was more like an extended workshop. Everyone agrees this show is Broadway bound. We met with the creative team of Michael Kimmel and Lauren Fitzgerald who insist on taking "their baby" through just one measured step at a time.

With two men kissing on Broadway in Lanford Wilson's 1978 play Fifth of July it caused a buzz and sold tickets. In the current Williamstown Theatre Festival production this evokes little beyond an apathetic, ho hum response. It was challenging to care about this play and its over played, outrageous, self absorbed and often obnoxious characters. There were however some finely drawn, tender and endearing moments midst all the screaming and bathos.

A large part of the success of Nicholas Martin's final of three seasons as Artistic Director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival has been the year round presence of the Williamstown resident, General Manager, Joe Finnegan. With a strong background in finance, for the past year, he has brought a professional status to his passion for theatre. With WTF back on track signified by rave reviews and sold out shows he looks forward to working with the new artistic director, Jenny Gersten.

Two and half years of planning went into the three day Solid Sound Festival that brought the rock band Wilco to Mass MoCA. If all goes well the museum director Joe Thompson hopes for their return. The experimental Festival will be a template for future events on a large scale. It got off to a great start on a glorious summer night in the Berkshires.

We caught up with Nicholas Martin for a hug and a kiss as he prepared for the first act of the sold out rock musical The Last Goodbye. Over the last three years we have shared both professional and personal ups and downs. In his three years as artistic director of Williamstown Theatre Festival he has put one of the nation's foremost regional theaters back on track.

There is a Shakespeare marathon in the Berkshires with concurrent productions at three of the four major theatre companies. The generalist Berkshire Theatre Festival has joined the race with quick and lively Macbeth. It stars C.J. Wilson and Keira Naughton as Lady Macbeth. There are lots of blood and guts on stage in Stockbridge.