A June Wedding at BTF

From the Theater Vault Dept.: Looking over last week’s story, I noted that the adjacent piece in my files reveals some of the Albany area’s theater offerings as noted forty years ago on this date. It thus is merely an exercise in nostalgia, and an easy way to fill a blog-slot.

                                                                                         

Berkshire Theatre Festival

ONE OF THE DELIGHTS AVAILABLE to natives of a town small enough to publish a paper only weekly is the information thus available about what your neighbors are up to. One of the heartbreaks available to adolescents in such a town is the-black-and-white evidence of the inevitable nuptials of those you’ve loved and, romantically, lost. This was the case in the town where I grew up, and it was both painful and amusing to note the two great wedding flurries: the first occured right after graduation from high school; the second took place four years later. I subscribed to the paper long after I’d left the town, just to confirm that the matrimonial axe was still picking ‘em off.

This is in reaction both to the month of June, with its flurry of gowns, tuxes, and raucous motorcades, and the observance of this tradition by the Berkshire Theatre Festival, which has opened its season with Carson McCuller’s “A Member of The Wedding.”

First performed on Broadway in 1950, it launched the career of Julie Harris. McCullers adapted the script from her own moving novel about an adolescent girl who gets caught up in a particularly poignant wedding.

The BTF will stay on this theme and its offshoots throughout the season. Says artistic director Josephine Abady, “Americans are rediscovering the excitement and the importance of sharing, caring, warmth and understanding. The need for commitment and relationships is stronger than ever before.”

Other offerings will include Philip Barry’s “Paris Bound,” “Beyond Therapy” by Christopher Durang, and “Caught!” by Bernard Kahn.

“A Member of the Wedding,” which opened yesterday (Wednesday) plays Tuesday through Friday evenings at 8:30, Saturdays at 5 and 9 PM and Sundays at 5:30 P.M. There is also a Thursday matinee at 2. The show continues through July 14; tickets are priced form $19 to $10. 

In the Wings

Opening today (Thursday) at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham is “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” the rags-to-riches story of the title character, whom we first meet in a Colorado mining town and follow into the palaces of Europe. There’s a new schedule for the theater this season: Opening-day performances are at 2 and 8 PM, then Wednesday through Friday evenings at 8, Saturdays at 5 and 8:30 PM. Sundays at 2 and 7 PM, and Wednesday afternoons at 2. “Molly Brown runs through July 7; tickets range from $12 to $8.50. 

Saturday is opening day at the Bond Street Theatre Coalition, located near the Catskills in Palenville, ten miles north of Woodstock. It’s Circus Arts Day on Saturday, beginning at noon with a flag of nations parade, community circus, and marching band – celebrities (yay!) and speeches (boo) are promised. Later in the afternoon, the Bond Street Theatre minicircus will get underway, with workshops including stiltwalking, unicycling, acrobatics, and other circus arts. And ... it’s free! Circus Arts Day continues on Sunday, also from noon to 3: the Bond Street Theatre season continues Friday, July 5 with the renowned Japanese dance ensemble Sachiyo Ito and Company. 

– Metroland Magazine, 27 June 1985