Williamstown Theatre Festival

It’s been an inclement week in the Berkshires but last night was just glorious for the launch of the BSO’s Tanglewood season featuring the ever magnificent soprano “The People’s Diva” Renée Fleming. From July 16 through 26 she will make her dramatic debut at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Living On Love. As she told us last night she is enjoying her extended time in the Berkshires. But it's a working holiday.

Mostly a moldy fig, the vintage, 1929 comedy June Moon about Tin Pan Alley, by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman, seems like an oddly conservative choice to launch the Williamstown Theatre Festival season. With tedious plot exposition the play slogged through the first act but under the adept direction of Jessica Stone came alive hilariously in the second act.

Jessica Stone made her debut as a director when through a hunch her mentor and friend, Nicholas Martin, tapped her for an all male production of Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum." That first effort was a smash hit for Williamstown Theatre Festival. It was followed by "Last of the Red Hot Lovers." She returns to the main stage this season directing "June Moon." Poignantly she discussed WTF as a family and the legacy of Martin.

The Austrian artist Franz West (16 February 1947- 25 July 2012). is being featured this summer in the Northern Berkshires. There is a display of several large scale, puffy, pink phallic sculptures at Mass MoCA and a tandem exhibition of works on paper and smaller scale sculptures at Williams College Museum of Art. The artist was widely included in global biennials and museum exhibitions including a retrospective at the Baltimore Museum of Art. We consider West in the milieu of post war artists in Vienna including its outrageous Actionists.

In 2011 Nina Arianda one of the most talented actresses of her generation was nominated for a Tony as the lead in a revival of Born Yesterday. Some say as a young unknown she was robbed. In 2012 she returned to Broadway and nailed a Tony for Vanda the dominatrix in the David Ives play Venus in Fur. Amazingly she will come to Williamstown Theatre Festival through a casting change announced today. With the hot Sam Rockwell as her co star act fast if you want to see the Sam Shepherd play Fool for Love.

After extensive renovation and expansion the Clark Art Institute reopens this summer. Much is being made of how its Tadeo Ando designed low lying horizontal line and large reflecting pool embrace nature and the background rolling mountain range. The paradigm for architecture set into natural surroundings, however, is the Moshe Safdie design for Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas. It is nestled into a ravine with a series of pontoon "bridges." The museum which opened on 11/11/11 has some 500,000 annual visitors for its controversial collection of American art.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra begins its 2014 Tanglewood season on Saturday, July 5, at 8:30 p.m. in the Shed, with an all-American Opening Night at Tanglewood program featuring superstar soprano Renée Fleming.

At mid career Emmy winner Marg Helgenberger is making the transition from TV to stage in the Berkshires. She is galvanic in Sharr White's complex and riveting The Other Place at Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. She would like to take this hit production back home to LA.

In 2013 Nicholas Martin was nominated for a Tony as best director. While known on Broadway he is remembered for serving as artistic director of Huntington Theatre Company in Boston followed by three years in that capacity with Williamstown Theatre Festival. His term was shortened by a stroke as he continued to work following a full schedule on both coasts. For the extended theatre family that loved him Nicky was a warm and supportive father figure.

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced casting for their Main Stage productions, along with a several special events for their 2014 Summer Season. On the Main Stage: Festival veterans including Nate Corddry, Holley Fain, Christopher Fitzgerald and Nancy Opel join the cast of June Moon, directed by Jessica Stone (July 2- 13); Justin Long returns to Williamstown, joining Renee Fleming in the World Premiere of Living on Love (July 16 - 26), and theater veterans Judy Kuhn, Howard McGillin, festival favorite Roger Rees, and more join Chita Rivera in the John Doyle-directed production of The Visit, with choreography by Graciela Daniele (July 31 - August 17).

This week representatives of the Clark Art Institute, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown Theatre Festival and Mass MoCA met with the media to promote plans for a spectacular Northern Berkshires season. The Clark reopens following extensive expansion and renovation. Mass MoCA offers the first full season of its Anselm Kiefer building. Jenny Gersten has planned a blockbuster program for WTF. WCMA plans special events like a Think and Drink series. In high season it may be hard to book a hotel or dine at the best restaurants.

Massachusetts funded Mass MoCA initially, and now again, as an economic development to drive the creative economy of cultural tourism in the depressed Northern Berkshire County. In addition to the Clark Art Institute expanded and coming back on line this summer, in a few years, Mass MoCA plans to double its exhibition space. A key result of that expansion will be a shift of visitors from day trips to weekends. In this next phase more involvement with the local community, particularly its artists, will be crucial.

With a $25.4 Million grant from the Commonwealth Mass MoCA is embarking on the third and final phase of renovation and development of its 26-building, 600,000 square foot, 16-acre factory campus. Phase III research and concept design work is complete. The project is ready to move construction projected for 2014-2016. This entails 130,000 square feet of gallery space requiring $25 million in state infrastructure grants, plus $30 million in privately raised construction investments, building maintenance reserves, and endowment funding.

"For our 86th Summer Season, we are producing a full schedule of musicals, plays, and special theatrical performances for another wonderful summer in the Berkshires with a splendid cast and crew of talented artists from across the nation,” said Kate Maguire. "Six extraordinary plays: The Mystery of Irma Vep: A Penny Dreadful, Benefactors, Design for Living, A Hatful of Rain, including two world premieres: Cedars and POE and two wonderful musicals: A Little Night Musicand Seussical highlight our schedule and make for an enjoyable mix of masterful and provocative classics and contemporary works. A special week-long performance of A Lover's Talespotlighting the works of Giuseppe Verdi, Charles Ludlam and Alexandre Dumas and performances by our summer apprentices, our 86th season will be memorable and entertaining for all.”

During a recent press conference artistic director Julianne Boyd announced the 20th season for Pittsfield's Barrington Stage. She confirmed that last summer's hit musical On the Town is transferring to Broadway. This is a part of a trend for regional theaters to develop shows for New York. We asked Boyd about the impact and implications for the Berkshires and her company.

Yesterday there was a late afternoon media scramble when a Barrington Stage Company press conference announcing the 2014 season was followed within minutes by an unanticipated release by Williamstown Theatre Festival. It's taken some sorting but we now have an unusually early and clear picture of the summer season. We have a fairly complete clip and save rundown. Berkshire Theatre Group has yet to announce and WTF will soon post its program of the Nikos Stage.

For her fourth and final program at Williamstown Theatre Festival outgoing artistic director Jenny Gersten has played her aces. Actually, make that Queens. Renowned opera soprano Renée Fleming will play, guess what, an opera diva in Living on Love. Broadway favorite Chita Rivera will appear in The Visit with book by Terrence McNally; music by John Kander; and lyrics by Fred Ebb. Jessica Stone who directed during Gersten's debut WTF season returns to helm a revival of June Moon by Ring Lardner and George S. Kaufman.

Shows used to be developed in Boston, New Haven and other out of town venues prior to opening on Broadway. That's become too expensive and obsolete. Some shows open directly on Broadway following ever longer previews. That's risky. An alternative is to transfer regional hits like A.R.T''s superb Glass Menagerie to Broadway. It's also been a game changer for regional companies as a source for revenue and national recognition.

Given negative trends in media it comes as no surprise that The North Adams Transcript will merge with the Berkshire Eagle as of January 20. The weekly Adovcate, which has been in freefall for the past few years, will cease publication. As a part of the transition the Eagle will exand its weekly arts tabloid insert from summer to year round. Given the importance of the economy based on cultural tourism, and coverage of issues and politics in the still depressed Northern Berkshire County, despite attempts at positive spin this is really bad news.

Not long after he took over as Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company in 2009 Tony Simotes had to deal with near extinction caused by some $10 million in debt. With the board and managing director, Nicholas J. Puma, great strides were accomplished to reduce and restructure debt bringing stablity to the company which Tina Packer founded in 1979. In a major change the board has created the new position of Executive Director, Jerry Bilik, whom Simotes and Puma will report to. Those close to the company see this as a long term step foward.

As she has for the past three seasons Jenny Gersten will plan the 2014 program for the Williamstown Theatre Festival. In September Mandy Greenfield will take over as artistic director. Currently she is Artistic Producer at Manhattan Theatre Club.

The Last Goodbye,” now at the Old Globe, had its world premiere at the 2010 Williamstown Theatre Festival, and since then has been a work in progress undergoing one “musical autopsy” after another in an effort to ensure that the work will find a friendly regional theatre stage to call home for awhile. It is set to the music of the late Tim Buckley. The production runs to November 3.

Meeting to recap the third and final year of her contract as Artistic Director of Williamstown Theatre Festival Jenny Gersten was coy when I asked what comes next.? Now we know. Gersten is leaving Williamtown for NY's High Line. But she is planning and will help execute next summer's WTF program assuring an orderly transition during the search for a new Artistic Director. There have been three in the past nine years. Who will be the next three and out?

In 1987 Clarence Fanto moved full time to the Berkshires joining the Berkshire Eagle as editor of its then new Sunday edition. He left the paper as its managing editor and several years ago rejoined as a reporter and has now slowed down as a freelancer and columnist. For the past several years he has compiled an annual summary of budgets, attendance and box office revenues of the major Berkshire arts organizations. We got together for lunch to connect the dots. There is no dispute over the accuracy of the data he compiles but we differ on its interpretation. Our occasional meetings and e mails are always lively and this is a chance to listen in.

With several major Berkshire arts organizations now closed until next year it's time to reflect on the intense and often remarkable 2013 high season. It's impossible to be everywhere, often with conflicts on any given night, but we offer highlights of what we managed to review. In addition to the Berkshires we covered five new plays at the Contemporary American Theatre Festival in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. The busy season included a number of interviews with artistic directors, actors and playwrights.