Category — Events

Calling all Berkshire County theatre people: The Berkshire 24 Hour Theatre project may not be happening until the 23rd and 24th of April, but the time to start thinking about it is now. Interested in working with people from across the county on a project that will only take 12 hours of your time? Interested in giving acting, writing or directing a try? Please contact Kelli Newby at 413-664-7745 or kelli (at) mainstreetstage (dot) org to express your interest.

The Berkshire 24 Hour Theatre project will begin at 7:00 PM on April 23rd as writers gather in Stone Soup at Topia in downtown Adams for a night of brainstorming and writing. At 7:00 the next morning, the writers will hand off their scripts to the pre-established acting and directing teams who will rehearse in spaces in downtown Adams. Everyone will rejoin at 7PM that evening for the big show.

Main Street Stage presents its Second Annual Short Play Festival. Audition for a role in one of several original, never-before-produced one-acts! These short plays were handpicked by company members from over 400 nationwide submissions as part of MSS’s annual playwriting contest. Auditions will be held on Saturday, January 30th and Sunday, January 31st from 12 to 4 PM at Main Street Stage, 57 Main Street, North Adams, MA. Performance dates will be the first two weekends of March. All actors are encouraged to prepare one contemporary monologue of one minute in length, no memorization required. For any questions or concerns, call Eric K. Auld at (518) 610-2574 or e-mail spf@mainstreetstage.org.

A community outreach collaboration of BCC Players and “VOICES” Theatre Company presents a staged reading of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens on Sunday, December 20 at 2 p.m. at Main Street Stage.

Adapted and directed by Sally Filkins
Co-directed by Judy McNutt

Proceeds benefit Maurice Alexander, an 11-month-old baby with a cancerous inoperable brain tumor.  Please help us raise money for this cause.

All tickets are Pay-what-you-can. No one is turned away for lack of money. Suggested donation $5.00.  Tickets may be purchased in advance at BCC’s Office Of Student Life 413-236-1660 or at the door.

Tax deductible checks may be made payable to:

“Compassionate Care Trust”
230 Mohawk Forest North Adams, MA 01247

Main Street Stage announces today their fall production Marcus is Walking, written by Joan Ackermann. The play will preview Thursday November 12th and open Friday November 13th. It will run Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays until November 21.

Tickets are $15 general admission and $10 for students. All shows start at 8 p.m. Thursday November 12th is communtiy pay what you can night. To make a reservation please call the box office at 413-663-3240 or reserve online here.

Directed by Kathy O’Mara, the play consists of eleven vignettes and examines the emotional landscape we roam as we travel in our cars. Control, navigation, love and escape, are some of the themes explored.  The scenes include a protective father who guides his son through the neighborhood on Halloween; an actor on his way to perform Hamlet is in a rear-end collision and confrontation with a Czech cab driver; a devastated businessman strikes up an unlikely friendship with a homeless woman who sleeps in his car.

The cast includes Main Street Stage company members Michael Trainor, Wendy Walraven, Lisa Remillard, April Castanguay, Jack Sleigh, Sarah Rae Brown, Jeremy Kerr, Cassidy Matthew, Eric K. Auld, Julia Les, Todd Hamilton and newcomers Andrew Bigelow, Breana Gladu, and Abigail Kelly.

Dates for Marcus is Walking:

Thursday November 12, Preview, pay what you can

Friday November 13, Opening, $15/$10

Saturday November 14, $15/$10

Thursday November 19, $15/$10

Friday November 20, $15/$10

Saturday November 21, Closing, $15/$10

Catch Main Street Stage’s popular Redroom series performing at Topia Arts Center in Adams, this Friday, October 16th at 6 pm!  And then see us throughout the day in galleries in North Adams during Open Studios on Saturday and Sunday!

Several great events in store for the evening at Topia:

Presentation: “A Jewel In Downtown Adams”:

Tour the green building design through 3D renderings on Topia’s enormous film screen. Find out what you can expect from Topia Arts Center in the years to come. Learn about exciting programs that will be coming to Adams. Find out how you can help!

Silent Auction: Celebration of Self Expression

Silent auction of donated items: quilts, gift certificates, paintings, drawings, jewelry, services, facials, pedicures, massages, sculptures, home-made crafts, landscaping, home improvement, etc.

Refreshments will be served, cash bar.

The Redroom was rated at 5 out of 5 by the Berkshire Eagle’s “Region After Dark.” It is an artist’s playground where genre lines don’t matter. One audience member called it something you’d see in someone’s basement in Greenwich Village during the 1960’s. Full of readings, original skits and plays, improvisational rap, dance, local musicians and anything else we can get our hands on.

If you are interested in performing or having your work featured in The Redroom, please contact Kelli Newby at theredroomna@gmail.com

Award-winning Minneapolis family entertainers Z Puppets Rosenschnoz present two performances at Main Street Stage, 57 Main Street, North Adams Oct. 3, 2009: “A La Carte: In a Fool’s Kitchen” for families at 7:00 pm and for adults, “The Comical Misadventures of Mr. Punch” at 10 pm.

“Zany, wacky, and for all ages…half Monty Python and half Sesame Street!” DeBlaze and Associates

Z Puppets Rosenschnoz delight children and their adults with feats of imagination through puppetry, physical comedy and live music. Based in Minneapolis, their family-friendly comedies have earned national recognition, including grants from the Jim Henson Foundation and Puppeteers of America.

Z Puppets has charmed audiences at theaters, festivals and special events across the country. They have been featured at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, Walker Art Center and Minnesota Children’s Museum.

“Bursts at the seams with wild energy, creative genius and sheer fun!” Minnesota History Center

“A La Carte: In A Fool’s Kitchen”

Saturday, October 3rd at 7:00pm Tickets $10 adults, $6 children Recommended for ages 3 and up.

“A La Carte” is a comic battle between a faux French Chef and a wily lobster set to live accordion music. A family-friendly spectacle, “A La Carte” is a playfully interactive comedy featuring clowning, puppetry, music and a few unruly vegetables.

“A La Carte” begins as the Chef sets the table for the Grand Opening of his 2-seat café. Before the Chef can dazzle his very important guests, dinner’s main ingredient stages a rebellion — again and again and again. Who knew crustaceans could cook up such delicious mischief?

“The brilliance of its slapstick routines is on par with anything
from the glory days of Laurel and Hardy.” MN Daily

“The Comical Misadventures of Mr. Punch”

Saturday, October 3rd at 10:00 p.m. Tickets $10

When the Baby goes missing, Mr. Punch sets out to the rescue, unleashing mischief and mayhem all the way. Tangling with a crocodile, a policeman and the devil himself, Mr. Punch presents a travesty of manners in which the children must keep the puppets from misbehaving and the Baby triumphs in the end. The Comical Misadventures of Mr. Punch is a madcap call and response hand puppet romp.

“Ingenius!” City Pages

For more info about Z Puppets Rosenschnoz visit www.zpuppets.org

Attention Playwrights! Main Street is now accepting submissions for its Second Annual Short Play Festival. All plays must be original, unproduced works, 15 to 30 minutes in length. Playwrights may submit more than one play. Please e-mail submissions to spf@mainstreetstage.org or mail to Main Street Stage P.O. Box 137, North Adams, MA 01247 no later than October 31st, 2009. For any questions or concerns, contact Eric K. Auld at (518) 610-2574 or e-mail spf@mainstreetstage.org.

The First Annual Short Play Festival ran two weekends last January to sold out audiences and featured four original plays by writers from both Berkshire county and New York. This fall, Main Street Stage will celebrate its ten year anniversary by continuing to support new, original work by local writers, by creating community access to the classics and by being an artists’ playground.

On Saturday, September 26th, the Redroom, Main Street Stage’s popular cabaret series will take on American History. Doors open at 8 PM for life drawing and light refreshment. The locally written and produced show will start at 9. Every Redroom is a new show and a great deal. $10.00 covers an entire night’s worth of entertainment. Contact Kelli at 413-664-7745 for more information, or find us on Facebook. All Redrooms contain mature themes and language. Redroom is supported by a grant from the Mass Cultural Council.

The performance will include a dramatic reading of Charles Guiteau’s play written four days before he was hanged for assassinating President Garfiled in addition to company written skits (“The Writer’s Room for National Treasure 3”), songs and readings all giving Redroom’s take on American History, just in time for school to begin.

If you are interested in performing or having your work featured in The Redroom, please contact Kelli Newby attheredroomna@gmail.com.

Main Street Stage, in conjunction with Creatively Independent, will be offering two workshops Monday August 3 and Tuesday August 4 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Each workshop is $40.

Stage Combat, Unarmed Violence for Stage & Screen

Slaps, punches, kicks and more taught with the “safety first” technique used on stage & screen. Get on your feet and learn the illusion of violence and how to stage it in your next show. Participants will learn the primary safety aspects of combat and the core unarmed moves they will most likely come across in their scene work: identifying when combat is needed and how to be smart, safe actors when dealing with violence. Plus, the physical ensemble work will promote team building, listening skills and a heightened awareness of one’s surroundings. All skill levels and body types welcome.

Physical Comedy – Extreme Actor/Audience Techniques

Let them laugh at you… it’s your JOB! Learn a hybrid of straight comic acting, physical comedy and quick witted improv to engage and mesmerize your audience. Tune up your own comedic timing and inject that into your character work. Find out the magic of repetition, how to make the simple hilariously difficult, and much more. Participants will develop a stronger sense of the clown in their character work and how to incorporate the audience in everything they do. Focus is also put on being vulnerable in front of an audience and reaping the benefits from the honesty in your comic work. All skill levels welcome.

The instructor, Christopher Beaulieu, is an Actor/Director/Fight Choreographer/Teacher with over 15 years experience teaching and directing students in various areas of theater. Co-founder of the physical theatre company, Creatively Independent, LLC, Chris tours 250+ days/year performing and teaching the performing arts. He has taught internationally in Germany and Canada, as well as nationally. Chris has founded theater companies in Massachusetts and Germany. He has trained and taught with the internationally recognized Shakespeare & Co. education program. Chris is an accredited Advanced Actor/Combatant in 7 weapons with the Society of American Fight Directors. He recently finished the prestigious Physical Theatre Program at Dell Arte International School of Physical Theatre. This intensive training focuses on the actor-creator and the development of devised work for the theatre including stage movement, mask construction & performance, commedia, melodrama, clown and improv. Beyond the stage, Chris teaches at multiple conferences: Florida State Thespians, North Carolina State Thespians, Florida Assoc. of Theatre Educators and the prestigious Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (SE Region), as well as clown/performance skills under the Big Top for Circus Smirkus, a well established youth based circus school. Recently, Chris was asst. director to Dell’Arte’s Artistic Director, Michael Fields on the original production of The Hunting of the Snark. Chris is happy to announce his recent invitation to join the select list of teaching artists working for ISTA (International Schools Theatre Association). ISTA reaches students across the globe and is responsible for the IB Theatre curriculum. Recently, Chris directed Continental Theatre’s premiere of “The Diminticato Family Circus” at Montreal’s highly acclaimed Segal Centre.

To register for this class please call Main Street Stage at 413-663-3240 or reserve online here. Space is limited.

For more information on Creatively Independent visit: creativelyindependent.net

Thursday, July 16th, from 5:30-8:30 PM, come celebrate the summer with music, comedy and food! $10.00 in advance ($12 at the door) will get you into a show at the American Legion in North Adams (91 American Legion Drive) that features local musicians Michael Quinones and Gillian Jones playing tunes from Woodstock in addition to improv comedy by The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe and sketch comedy by the cast of the Redroom. And there will be food! Entertainment will be family friendly. All proceeds will benefit the Main Street Stage’s summer production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, including the free performance at Windsor Lake on August 9th at 2 p.m.

For advance tickets call 413-663-3240 or visit reserve online here.