While Wilco will be taking to the big stage at MASS MoCA this weekend, a myriad of other strange creatures will be performing in miniature downtown when Main Street Stage retells Lewis Carroll’s classic tale of Alice in Wonderland using an authentic toy theatre dating back to the 19th century.

“I’d been searching local antique shops for a working toy theatre for some time without much luck,” explains the director Calvin Callay, “so you can imagine my surprise when I found, quite by accident during a garden tour of at The Mount in Lenox, a classic freestanding Danish Dukketeater, designed I think, by Alfred Jacobsen in the 1880s. No one seems to mind that I’ve borrowed it.”

Calvin Callay, who teaches theatre history at a local college and is co-founder of Tumtum Tree Art Collective, has set out to rediscover the wonder and magic of Victorian toy theatre and share it with the North Adams community. “It’s amazing just how life-like tiny bits of cut up paper can become—if you squint your eyes a bit, it’s almost like being transported back in time to an age of drawing rooms and petticoats, and when treating astigmatism was much more tricky.”

Professor Bandersnatch of Willibum College, Willibum, CT notes that the Toy Theatre was a very popular parlor game and after dinner activity in many Victorian households right here in North Adams.

“During a visit to North Adams in 1905, President McKinley was reported to have enjoyed a delightful Toy Theatre adaption of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon, and later wrote in his Presidential diary, “I should quite like being shot from a canon, I think.”

Bandersnatch, (whose research on the popular toy theatre play Blackbeard the Really, Really Scary Pirate won him the 2009 Lectura Obscura prize) notes, “It’s quite rare to discover a fully working Victorian theatre in such good condition. I haven’t seen anything of this ilk since I came across The Triumph of Neptune in a dumpster behind Best Buy.”

“Oddly enough, several popular television shows have been based on classic European toy theatre games. Most notably, “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” originates from the French farce Fraîchement Lavés Balades Prince en Dehors (The Freshly Washed Prince Strolls Outside) and the widely popular “The Hills” was developed from the German toy theatre play Frech Hügel Auf Denen Menschen Kinder Schokolade Milch Zum Frühstück (The Naughty Hills Where People Drink Chocolate Milk for Breakfast).”

Appropriate for all ages, Alice in Wonderland will be performed Saturday, Aug. 14 at 11 am and Sunday, Aug. 15 at 10 am at Main Street Stage, 57 Main Street, a five-minute walk from MASS MoCA. Tickets are $7. Click here for reservations or call the box office at 413-663-3240

Pirates! Returns to Main Street Stage Friday July 30th at 11 a.m.

Written and directed by Don Jordan,  Pirates! is a swashbuckling adventure featuring bold buccaneers, a mysterious map with a riddle, cursed treasure, a visit to an island that you can’t see, a pirate ghost, and a magical journey to the bottom of the sea. This sea-faring tale features mime, music, masks, and delightful puppets created by Clothespin Puppets.

Yes, the Redroom returns after a long hiatus!  This is the Mommy Redroom: a locally written variety show exploring all things pregnancy and babies.  Thursday August 5, Friday August 6 and Saturday August 7 the doors will open at 8:30 for life drawing and the show will begin at 9 p.m.

$10 includes a live model, art supplies, food, drink and show.

• Grand Prize (Richie Havens concert and dinner at Gramercy Bistro): Darcie S.
• 2 tickets to Sweeney Todd at Barrington Stage: Dawn D.
• 2 tickets to Williamstown Theatre Festival: Paula J.
• 2 tickets to Shakespeare and Co.: Carol S.
• Season pass to Main Street Stage: John B.
• Season pass to Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe: Arlene C.
• Massage at Tsubo: Rich W.
• Massage at Flow Bodywork: Ron W.

Congratulations to all of our winners!

Stay tuned for upcoming events this summer supporting Main Street Stage!

Main Street Stage is having a fundraising event  to support it’s upcoming 2010-2011 season.

The Grand Prize is dinner  for two at Gramercy Bistro, $100 value, and two tickets to the Richie  Havens concert at Mass Moca on July 2.

Other wonderful prizes include:

• Two tickets to any weeknight performance at Williamstown  Theatre Festival

• Two tickets to Barrington Stage’s Sweeeney Todd

• One-hour massage at Tsubo in Williamstown

• One-hour massage from  Janice Thomas at Flow Bodywork

• Season tickets to Main Street Stage

• Season tickets to The Royal Berkshire Improv Troupe

Tickets are $5 or 5 for $20 and  can be purchased at Stone Soup in Adams, Shima in North Adams, Papyri Books in North Adams or by calling 413-663-3240.

UPDATE 2! Review by Larry Murray in Berkshire Onstage

UPDATE! Story from The Advocate

Winner of the Obie Award, The Baltimore Waltz is a giddy, fleet fantasy based on the love and adventures of a brother and sister, one of whom has a fatal disease. In the opening scene, the brother is wearing pajamas, but it is his schoolteacher sister who’s diagnosed with a deadly virus that sends the two of them spinning off to Europe to find romance and a cure before the final crashing scenes where reality sets in.

Performance dates are June 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26 at 8 p.m. and Sunday June 20th at 2 p.m.  Tickets are $10 for students, $15 for seniors and $20 for adults.  Thursday June 24 is community pay what you can night.  For reservations please call the box office at 413-663-3240 or go to mainstreetstage.org and click on reservations.  This show contains adult subject matter and is not suitable for children.

The play is directed by Wendy Walraven and the cast includes Mollie O. Remillard as Anna, Michael Trainor as Carl and Jack Sleigh as The Third Man.  Set Design by Julianna Haubrich and Lighting Design by Julie Seitel.

See the article in Berkshire On Stage

The cast includes three woman ages 25-40 and one man aged 25-40 to play 8 different characters.

Mary –Often construed as the main lady explorer of the expedition, Mary Baltimore constantly cites her favorite periodical (the fictional newspaper The Boston Geo) as a source of wisdom.

Alex–The youngest of the group, and she allows her age to make up a considerable amount of her personality. She is typically forgetful, and tends to daydream.

Fanny– The most conservative of the group in all aspects: socially, politically, and morally. She is the only married member of the group.

Male characters include:
Alphonse, Grover, The Yeti, The Gorge Troll, Mr. Coffee, Madame Nhu, Gus, and Nicky Paradise

Show Synopsis

Three Victorian lady explorers set out on an adventure that takes them to darkest Africa, highest Himalaya and Terra Incognita. Blending Tom Stoppard’s limber linguistics with the historic overview of a Thornton Wilder, Mr Overmyer takes his audience on a mirthful safari…spinning into time travel.

Resumes and headshots and welcome, but not required.  Sides will be provided.  Please call 413-663-3240 for more information and to leave a message.

Looks best in full screen (start the slideshow and click the little icon on the bottom right).

Main Street Stage’s Second Annual Short Play Festival will be held Friday March 5, Saturday March 6, Friday March 12 and Saturday March 13 a 8 p.m. and will feature 5 new, original short plays that range from the absurd to the dramatic. Come see the plays chosen from over 400 entries. Tickets are $15. For reservations please call 413-663-3240 or click here. Seating is limited.

After receiving over 400 submissions this year from around the country the play reading committee chose five plays to be in the festival.

“We Appear to Have Company” by Greg Freier, Directed by Sarah Rae Brown
An older English couple suddenly happen to find a mysterious clown reading Dostoyevsky on the other side of their living room. It is up to them to determine who he is, how he got there, and when exactly he is going to leave.

“Restraining Orders” by Ruben Carbajal, Directed by Andrew Bigelow
Alex, a hard-working stalker, is offended to learn that Angela hasn’t noticed his obvious advances for the past seven months. As Alex is about to learn, though, Angela still manages to have a couple of secrets up her sleeve.

“Something Like Loneliness” by Ryan Dowler, Directed by Sarah Rae Brown
In a world where the most intimate of moments can be kept and sealed in Tupperware containers, Dan and Mia, two neighbors, discuss what to trade with one another in an attempt to perk up their lonely lives.

“The Shoe” by Ralph Tropf, Directed by Alexia Trainor
In this film-noir version of a classic fairy tale, an experienced private detective must seek out and find a runaway woman for the Prince of Wall Street—and see if the shoe fits.

“Drip Torch” by Trey Tatum, Directed by Jeremy Kerr
Patrick and Sullivan have been friends since childhood, but now Patrick is about to move halfway across the country. In an attempt to leave his past behind him, though, Sullivan reminds Patrick that maybe letting go is not as easy as it seems.