WTF Finalizes Summer 2011 Lineup

Submitted by Seth Rogovoy on April 7, 2011 - 8:30pm

(WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass., April 7, 2011) - Jon Robin Baitz’s two-person drama Three Hotels will join the 2011 Williamstown Theatre Festival Main Stage line-up. Tony Award-winner Robert Falls (Death of a Salesman) will direct Three Hotels, which will play June 29 – July 24, 2011 and will now kick off the Main Stage season.

The two-character Three Hotels, which Baitz based on his parents, replaces the previously announced production of You Can't Take It With You, the casting of which was not able to be completed in time for its engagement at Williamstown Theatre Festival.

“Jon Robin Baitz has always been a writer I’ve held in high regard, and we feel so lucky to be able to present Three Hotels in what has turned out to be such a landmark year for him,” artistic director Jenny Gersten said. “Three Hotels is a beautiful and overlooked play. By presenting it on the Main Stage, WTF affirms our relevance in the American theater by continuing to serve as a home for our most important artists. I anticipate finding two extraordinary actors for these powerhouse roles.”

In Three Hotels, Ken Hoyle is an ambitious hatchet man for a multinational company that sells defective baby formula in developing African countries. His wife Barbara advises other young executive wives on life in the third world. Their days as idealistic Peace Corps volunteers are far behind them – physically and metaphorically – and the succession of moral compromises has taken its toll. Jon Robin Baitz, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, weaves a timely tale of corporate misdeeds, personal tragedy, and marital discord that takes us into the private thoughts of a man and a woman searching for answers and aching for redemption.

WTF also announced additional programming for the 2011 season, including:

Free Theatre:
William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors

Free Theatre returns to the outdoors with Shakespeare’s rollicking farce of mistaken identity, The Comedy of Errors. One of Shakespeare’s earliest comedies, the play traces the adventures of two sets of identical twins unaware of one another’s existence in a small town. Directed by former Sagal Fellow Johanna McKeon, with a raucous, Laurel and Hardy twist, this beloved, uproarious classic will play at Poker Flats Field July 13 – 16 and July 19 – 22 at 7, offering the local community an opportunity to enjoy quality theater as the sun sets on the beautiful Berkshire Hills.

Late Night Cabaret Series

Comedian (and Williamstown veteran) Lewis Black will host the renowned WTF Late-Night Cabaret Series, one of the only late-night cabaret scenes in the Berkshires. These unique evenings of musical theatre and comedy, presented July 7 – 9, July 21 – 23 and August 4 – 6 at 10:30 in Goodrich Hall, will feature a mixture of Tony-winning Equity actors and members of the non-equity and apprentice corps.

SITSTANDWALKLIEDOWN

Theatre artist Phil Soltanoff will be in residence at the 2011 Festival to create an outdoor performance piece about public space. Transforming stairways, alleys, bus stops, and parking garages with kinetic movement and striking tableaux, the work will be performed at several sites in Berkshire County. Exact times and locations will be announced in June.

Announcements regarding additional cast and creative team information for both Nikos Stage and Main Stage productions, as well as additional Festival events, are forthcoming.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE

Single tickets for the 2011 Williamstown Theatre Festival season will go on sale June 1, 2011 and can be purchased online at Williamstown Theatre Festival, by phone at (413) 597-3400 or in person at the ’62 Center for Theatre and Dance, 1000 Main St. (Route 2), Williamstown, MA 02167. New curtain times for all Main Stage and Nikos Stage shows are as follows: Tuesday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For more schedule details, visit Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Williamstown Theatre Festival

The Williamstown Theatre Festival brings award-winning actors, directors, and playwrights to the Berkshires, engaging a loyal audience of both residents and summer visitors. A WTF season covers a broad range of theatrical endeavors, revisiting classic plays with exciting new productions on its Main Stage, developing and nurturing bold new works on the Nikos Stage, and offering audiences a rich array of cultural events including Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabarets, readings, workshops, and educational programs like the Greylock Theatre Project–a program for children in neighboring North Adams. While best known for its acclaimed productions, WTF is also home to unparalleled training and professional development programs serving new generations of aspiring theatre artists and managers. WTF was honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2002 and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement in 2011. The Festival welcomes Jenny Gersten as its new Artistic Director for the 2011 season.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL 2011 SEASON SUMMARY

MAIN STAGE

Three Hotels

By Jon Robin Baitz

Directed by Robert Falls

June 29 – July 24, 2011

She Stoops to Conquer

By Oliver Goldsmith

Directed by Nicholas Martin

Cast includes: Brooks Ashmanskas, Kristine Nielsen, Jon Patrick Walker, Paxton Whitehead

July 27 – August 7, 2011

Ten Cents a Dance