Terry Kinney to direct Lanford Wilson's "Fifth of July"

MAIN STAGE
AUGUST 11 – 22, 2010



Williamstown, MA (3/11/2010) – Williamstown Theatre Festival (Nicholas Martin, Artistic Director) announced today that Terry Kinney (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; reasons to be pretty) will direct a production of Lanford Wilson’s modern classic Fifth of July, which will play the WTF Main Stage from August 11 – 22, 2010. A co-production with Bay Street Theatre, this gentle comic drama from Wilson's beloved Talley Trilogy will be the final Main Stage production of the season.

In Fifth of July, as friends and family gather to remember a lost loved one, a group of thirty-something prodigals from the rebellious post-Vietnam generation return to their rural Missouri home, finding themselves older and wiser, but devoid of dreams. Long-buried rivalries and burning secrets reignite on a late summer evening as this motley tribe struggles to adapt to the changes wrought in their lives.

One additional Main Stage production and one additional Nikos Stage production, as well as performance dates, casting and full creative teams for the Williamstown Theatre Festival 2010 Season will be announced at a later date.

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Williamstown Theatre Festival Announces 2010 Summer Season

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2010 SUMMER SEASON OF AMERICAN CLASSICS, SOLO & WORLD-PREMIERE OFFERINGS

WTF Artistic Director Nicholas Martin is pleased to announce five productions of the 2010 eight-show season.

"For my final summer at the theatre I love, I want to produce a series of the kinds of plays I love the most: American classics and new American plays."

The Main Stage season kicks-off on Wednesday, June 30, 2010 with a production of the Tony Award-winning Burt Shevelove/Larry Gelbart/Stephen Sondheim musical, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (June 30 – July 11). Directed by Jessica Stone (Butley; The Odd Couple) and featuring Tony Award-nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (Young Frankenstein; Wicked; Finian’s Rainbow) as Pseudolus, a slave who must win his freedom by playing matchmaker for his master, Forum combines the frothy wit of Sondheim (a Williams College alum) with crowd-pleasing base and bawdy jokes. This paean to the Gods of Comedy is a hilarious, musical romp through ancient Rome.

Artistic Director Nicholas Martin (Present Laughter, Hedda Gabler) will direct Thornton Wilder’s quintessentially American play Our Town (July 28 – August 8). Set not far from the Festival’s Berkshire home in the fictional Grover’s Corners, New Hampshire, Wilder’s masterpiece finds the beautiful in the mundane lives of people in a small town. Martin brings together a family of Williamstown favorites, including Becky Ann Baker (All My Sons; Assassins) and Dylan Baker (God of Carnage; Mauritius; Revolutionary Road), Jessica Hecht (A View from the Bridge; After the Fall) and Campbell Scott (The Spanish Prisoner; Roger Dodger; Singles), as the local town-folk whose hopes and memories are chronicled in America’s most beloved play.

On the Nikos Stage, funny-woman Judy Gold (“Ugly Betty,” “Sex and the City”) will appear in her new one-woman play, It’s Jewdy’s Show! (June 23 – July 4), directed by Festival Artistic Associate Amanda Charlton (Caroline in Jersey; Dissonance). Following the success of her show 25 Questions for a Jewish Mother, Gold returns to the stage in this hilarious look at her amazing life through the lens of the classic sitcoms of her youth. With multimedia, original music, laughter, and love, Judy shows us how she balances family and ambition in a world in which she sometimes does not fit.

Amy Herzog’s (Hungry, Willing) incendiary new play After the Revolution makes its journey from the Festival’s fellowship project last summer to the Nikos Stage this summer. It's 1999, and three generations of a radical leftist family meet in New York to celebrate the law school graduation of Emma, the family's youngest torch-carrier. A public revelation about her late grandfather, a victim of the blacklist, sends Emma reeling as the family begins to fracture. Shaken and betrayed, she must weigh her fierce politics and family loyalty to decide if the end really justifies the means. Developed from scratch at WTF, After the Revolution is a play about love, family secrets, and the American Left.

In another homegrown production, Samuel J. and K. by Mat Smart (The 13th of Paris; The Hopper Collection) arrives on the Nikos Stage after a hugely successful reading as part of WTF’s Fridays @ 3 last summer. In this hard-charging play, Samuel J. surprises his adopted brother, Samuel K., with a trip back to his birth country of Cameroon for college graduation—but Samuel K. has no desire to face a place and a past that abandoned him. Samuel J. and K. challenges the traditional definitions of family and asks if a place we’ve only imagined can become home overnight. Festival Artistic Associate Justin Waldman (What is the Cause of Thunder?; The Atheist) directs.

Two additional Main Stage productions and one additional Nikos Stage production, as well as performance dates, ticket information, casting and full creative teams for the Williamstown Theatre Festival 2010 Season will be announced in the coming weeks.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL 2010 SEASON SUMMARY

MAIN STAGE
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM
Book by Barry Shevelove & Larry Gelbart
Music & lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Directed by Jessica Stone
Choreography by Denis Jones
Featuring: Christopher Fitzgerald
June 30 - July 11, 2010

OUR TOWN
By Thornton Wilder
Directed by Nicholas Martin
Featuring: Becky Ann Baker, Dylan Baker, Jessica Hecht and Campbell Scott
July 28 - August 8, 2010

NIKOS STAGE
IT'S JEWDY'S SHOW
By Judy Gold and Kate Moira Ryan
Original music by Judy Gold
Lyrics by Kate Moira Ryan and Judy Gold
Additional material Eric Kornfeld and Bob Smith
Directed by Amanda Charlton
June 23 - July 4, 2010

AFTER THE REVOLUTION
By Amy Herzog
Additional information is forthcoming

SAMUEL J. AND K.
By Mat Smart
Directed by Justin Waldman
Additional information is forthcoming

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
Continuing its 56-year history under the artistic direction of Nicholas Martin, Williamstown Theatre Festival hosts award-winning actors, directors and playwrights who join forces to entertain and delight the Berkshire community of year-round and seasonal patrons. In addition to its acclaimed productions, WTF has extensive training and professional development programs for the next generation of actors, writers, directors, designers, technicians and managers. In 2002, WTF received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre.

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Thank you! To all our blog readers—

It has a been a great summer here at WTF—from opening nights for the Main and Nikos Stages to Workshop shows to the Cabaret—and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading all about it on the Within The Festival blog. We will post occasionally during the off-season, but don’t worry, we’ll get back in the game regularly as soon as the Festival begins again next summer.

If you haven’t had time yet to check out all the posts for the shows this summer or read about your favorite intern or apprentice, you still can! All the posts from this summer will be up year round for your perusal.

And don’t forget to check back for season, alumni and special event announcements throughout the next year.

Thanks again for reading!

-Sarah Slight, Literary Associate

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Behind the Scenes | Technical Staff/Intern Photos

The Williamstown Theatre Festival provides some of the best opportunities for theatre artists, technicians and administrators available in American theatre today.

By providing a vital and supportive atmosphere in which to experience the many challenges of working in the professional theatre industry, WTF offers students educational and career advancement opportunities seldom available elsewhere. WTF offers programs for young actors and directors, as well as opportunities for designers, technicians and administrators.

Training programs for young theatre professionals are a vital a part of WTF's mission. Many alumni maintain close relationships with WTF, and the Festival frequently offers them the chance to return and further hone their skills throughout their careers.

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Photo Retrospective | Fellowship Program

The WTF Fellowship Program is an innovative program which challenges young theatre artists to develop original theatrical material under the aegis of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. The Boris Sagal and Bill Foeller Directing Fellows each create a play or a musical theatre piece over the course of the summer with a playwright or young musical theatre team of their choosing. Collaborating with actors from WTF’s Non-Equity Company, these practitioners walk into a room with just an idea for their project at the beginning of the summer. They then have ten days to workshop and develop their material with their cast which leads to a three-week, off-site incubation period where the creative team prepares a script with which to go into rehearsal. Once they return to WTF, the whole production has three weeks of rehearsal which culminates in four public performances. We truly believe, and have proof positive, that a new young theatre voice can be fostered in this structure; both plays and musicals created in this supportive environment have gone on to be produced at other theatres.

The Fellowship Projects are made possible through the generous support of the Bill Foeller and Boris SagalScholarships.

Please enjoy these photos from this summer's Fellowship productions!

WORKSHOP STAFF

Amanda Charlton | Artistic Associate

Reed Wilkerson | Apprentice Coordinator

Monica Hammond | Workshop Assistant

Becca Euliss | Workshop Intern

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[July 12–13 ’09] AFTER THE REVOLUTION

a new play by AMYHERZOG
directed by Bill Foeller Fellow TAMARA E. FISCH

scenic design DAVID ARSENAULT
costume design JEANETTE LEE PORTER
lighting design WILBURN BONNELL
sound design LEO A. MARTIN, IV
production stage manager MICHAEL BLOCK
production manager CONNOR “MAC ” SMITH

with LAUREN BLUMENFELD, RICH DREHER, DANIEL HARTLEY, ASHTON HEYL, LUCAS KAVNER, IRENE SOFIA LUCIO, JOEL PEREZ, GAYLE RANKIN, DOMINIC SPILLANE

[August 12–13 ’09] GOLDEN GATE

book & lyrics by CHRISTOPHER DIMOND

music by MICHAEL KOOMAN

music directed by CHRISTOPHER D. LITTLEFIELD

directed by boris sagal fellow DAN RIGAZZI

Scenic Design SARAH MUXLOW

Costume Design PAMELA WILCOX

Lighting Design ISABELLA F. BYRD

Sound Design SAMANTHA WELLER

Production Stage Manager FRANCES INES RODRIGUEZ

Production Manager CONNOR "MAC" SMITH

with LAUREN BLUMENFELD, FRANCESCA CHOY-KEE, RICH DREHER, DANIEL HARTLEY, ASHTON HEYL, LUCAS KAVNER, IRENE SOFIA LUCIO, JOEL PEREZ, GAYLE RANKIN, DOMINIC SPILLANE

[all photos] © SAM HOUGH for WTF ’09

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Photo Retrospective | Directing Assistant Projects

Within the WTF Workshop, the Directing Assistantship is the intermediate-level training program for individuals who have chosen a career in directing. Directing Assistants assist a professional director on one of the Main or Nikos Stage productions and also direct the Non-Equity Company in two projects presented to the Festival and the local communities. The 2009 Directing Assistants were Mike Donahue, Adam Knight, and Kate Pines.

The WTF Non-Equity Company is comprised of young artists drawn primarily from the top graduate acting programs in the country. Non-Equity company members supplement the Equity Company in the Main and Nikos Stage productions and take on principal roles in the Free Theatre and Fellowship productions.

In addition to the acting opportunities the Workshop projects provide, the Directing Assistant projects also offer design opportunities for Festival interns and staff from the scenic, costume, lighting, and sound departments.

Please enjoy these pics and credits from the 2009 Directing Assistant Projects!

WORKSHOP STAFF

Amanda Charlton | Artistic Associate

Reed Wilkerson | Apprentice Coordinator

Monica Hammond | Workshop Assistant

Becca Euliss | Workshop Intern

Connor "Mac" Smith | Workshop Production Manager

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[July 16 ’09] WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP?

by DAN O’BRIEN

directed by ADAM KNIGHT

scenic design DAVID ARSENAULT

lighting design BEKAH HERNANDEZ

sound design CHET MILLER

with RIGHTOR DOYLE, IRENE SOFIA LUCIO

[July 18 ’09] THE EGG LAYERS

by LAUREN FELDMAN

directed by MIKE DONAHUE

Scenic Design JULIE BARNHARDT

Costume Design CHRISTOPHER METZGER

Lighting Design ROB ROSS

Sound Design AMANDA HOSKING

with LAUREN BLUMENFELD, FRANCESCA CHOY-KEE, DANIEL HARTLEY [pictured], ASHTON HEYL [pictured], GAYLE RANKIN

[July 22 ’09] NICO

by MIRA GIBSON

directed by KATE PINES

Scenic Design SARAH MUXLOW

Costume Design BRIDGET GAVLIN

Lighting Design CHRISTAL BOYD

Sound Design BEN TRUPPING-BROWN

with ANDREA SYGLOWSKI [pictured], HEATHER LIND [pictured], JOHN DOHERTY

[August 1 ’09] CHOPIN'S PRELUDES

by MAT SMART

directed by ADAM KNIGHT

Scenic Design STEPHEN RICKER

Lighting Design STEVE MATURNO

Costume Design JEANETTE LEE PORTER

Sound Design COLLIN BARNUM

with LAUREN BLUMENFELD, FRANCESCA CHOY-KEE [pictured],ADAM LERMAN [pictured]

[August 4 ’09] BULLY TO YOU

by ERICA LIPEZ

directed by MIKE DONAHUE

Scenic Design JULIE BARNHARDT

Costume Design CHRISTOPHER METZGER

Lighting Design MICHAEL CECCHINI

Sound Design AMANDA HOSKING

with RIGHTOR DOYLE [pictured], RICH DREHER, HEATHER LIND [pictured], STEPHEN O’REILLY [pictured], ANDREA SYGLOWSKI [pictured]

[August 7 ’09] THE CONSEQUENCES

Book by KYLE JARROW

Music & Lyrics by NATHAN LEIGH & KYLE JARROW

Musical Direction and Orchestrations by NATHAN LEIGH

Directed by KATE PINES

Scenic Design MARIANNE WARD

Costume Design BRIDGET GAVLIN

Lighting Design MICHAEL MEGLIOLA

Sound Design BEN TRUPPIN-BROWN

with LUCAS KAVNER, GAYLE RANKIN [pictured], DOMINIC SPILLANE

All photos © SAM HOUGH for WTF’09

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