Barrington Stage Company
Boyd-Quinson Stage, 30 Union St., Pittsfield Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center( St. Germain Stage, Mr. Finn ' s Cabaret), 36 Linden St., Pittsfield barringtonstageco. org 413-236-8888
“ I call this my American icon season,” says Artistic Director Alan Paul.“ It’ s Eisenhower. It’ s Pelosi. It’ s Lebron James. It’ s Joan Rivers. It’ s also about more than just entertainment. We’ re all asking,‘ Where are we now?’ Our first three shows explore different facets of American democracy, not political party. The only way you’ re going to change someone’ s mind or open their heart is through a human story. I’ m eager for the audience to walk away talking about what they just saw, to feel part of it.”
The first play of the season at Barrington Stage is Dwight Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground( June 3 – 8) on the Boyd-Quinson Stage. It is a candid and fascinating fictional eavesdropping on President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The play is written by Richard Hellesen, directed by Peter Ellenstein, and stars John Rubinstein.( See page 60.)
Next up is N / A( June 4 – 22) about the relationship between veteran politician Nancy Pelosi, arguably the most powerful woman in politics, and neophyte House Speaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.“ It’ s about generational change, generational politics,” says Paul,“ which we’ ll be facing in three and a half years.”
Joan( July 31 – August 17) by Daniel Goldstein and directed by David Ivers will have its regional premiere on the Boyd-Quinson Stage. This is a bio-play of Joan Rivers, the queen of“ Can we talk?” who broke so many barriers in a male-dominated industry. It is presented as a dramatized highlights reel of a series of rushed-through bullet points of Rivers ' life, according to a review by playwright Daniel Goldstein in Drama World after the play’ s premiere last year at South Coast Repertory. Joan’ s daughter, Melissa, wanted a piece about her mother’ s life and is very much a part of
it, says Paul. King James( August 12-31) by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Rob Ruggiero is on the St. Germain Stage. The play is not so much about Lebron James’ life, but how the friendship of two men changes because of sports and their relationship with the basketball player. Paul wanted to do one for the husbands, admitting that“ male friendship is fascinating.”
Barrington Stage is pulling out all the stops once again for a big musical: Lerner & Loewe’ s Camelot( June 25 – July 19) on the Boyd-Quinson Stage. It’ s a love triangle, yes, but really it’ s about the birth of democracy.“ King Arthur was hell-bent on civilizing England,” says Paul, who directs the musical. Book and lyrics are by Alan Jay Lerner; music is by Frederick Loewe.
The world premiere of fuzzy( July 8 – 27) is on the St. Germain Stage, book and lyrics by Jeff Talbott, music and lyrics by Will Van Dyke, and directed by Ellie Heyman. This is the story of a writer taking care of his ailing mother, a story so painful to write that he told it through puppets fuzzy( him) and muzzy( his mother).
Gary Clark Jr. | June 28 Saratoga Jazz Festival
Laufey | August 9 The Philadelphia Orchestra
Mystic Familiar | July 11 & 12 New York City Ballet
2025 Summer Season
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center June 15-August 17
Saratoga Jazz Festival presented by GE Vernova June 28 & 29
New York City Ballet July 9-12
The Philadelphia Orchestra August 6-23
Cynthia Erivo | August 22 The Philadelphia Orchestra
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50 // BERKSHIRE MAGAZINE May / June 2025