PITTSFIELD — In 2022, now just around the corner, Julianne Boyd will have been a presence in our artistic lives here in The Berkshires for 30 years. Her first work was with the Berkshire Theatre Festival (BTF) in Stockbridge, where she ruled our theatrical world for three seasons prior to creating Barrington Stage Company (BSC) in 1995, along with Susan Sperber, the former general manager at BTF. The two women founded not just another theater — a summer alternative to their former home in Stockbridge — but moved the region into a long-term, almost year-round season the region had never previously known. “We wanted to do theater for the residents of The Berkshires, in the Fall and the Spring,” Boyd said in a recent interview with this writer. “We wanted to be part of the community — the entire permanent resident community.”
For 27 years, BSC has given us that feeling, that experience. Boyd and her company held sway in Sheffield for its first several seasons, at the Consolati Performing Arts Center at Mount Everett High School and then, in 2005, they bought and renovated the former Berkshire Public Theater/Union Street Theater, one of two major theater buildings in Pittsfield. Now the Boyd-Quinson Stage, it welcomes audiences year round for events of all kinds. In short order, BSC then acquired the former VFW Hall on Linden Street in Pittsfield, converting it into a theater and cabaret space now named the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center, and began to produce in all three venues. BSC also own the historic Octagon House on Union Street and several other properties, including the new Wolfson Center on North Street around the corner from City Hall, where their corporate offices are located along with storage and rehearsal spaces. Boyd’s Barrington Stage is a complete presence in the county’s principal city, proving former Mayor Jimmy Ruberto’s statement that the arts would lead the way in The Berkshires, and in Pittsfield in particular.
Now, with her 28th year of creation and management at BSC in front of her, Boyd today announced her imminent retirement from Barrington Stage Company. “I needed to do it now,” she said, “so we could begin a major national search for a new director, someone I hope can join us next August and take over formally in September of 2022.”
It will be a major shift in Boyd’s life and lifestyle. “I haven’t taken a vacation in the summer for years,” she said, laughing. “It’s been a great time, but I’m looking forward to spending some time with my family — I have seven grandchildren.” She showed me a recent photo on her cell phone of her youngest in his father’s arms. “Do you see what I mean? I want to spend some time with him,” she said. Boyd, in her late mid-70s, smiled, looking just like her BTF portrait. In spite of these 30 years, several meniscus injuries, and other difficulties, she has managed to still look exactly like herself.
Her future plans include dividing her time between her home here and her apartment in Manhattan. “I’m really, really comfortable in both places,” she said. Her travel plans include a return to Japan (“Norman [Dr. Norman Boyd, her husband] has become fluent in spoken Japanese now; he’s been studying it.”) and other exotic locales such as Bali (“I’m in love with their culture and history.”)
Marita Glodt, president of the BSC board of trustees said, “Julie’s imprint on the city of Pittsfield and Berkshire County is part of her extraordinary legacy. Her commitment to community and the arts has been instrumental in shaping the Berkshires as a destination. The theater has flourished under her inspired leadership. We look forward to the 2022 season with Julie and to welcoming the next artistic director to launch 2023 at Barrington Stage.”
“Stepping down in September will hopefully give the new person an opportunity to get to work at the beginning of our annual year,” she said, looking wistfully around her large office in the Wolfson Center. “I really want my successor to design his or her own first season. It will be important for our public to see what’s coming, right from the start, and not live with my leftover thoughts.”
Boyd’s successes at Barrington Stage have gone on win acclaim outside of Berkshire County, as well. In 1998, her production of the musical “Cabaret” moved from Sheffield to Boston and won the Elliot Norton Award. BSC later developed the musical “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” which moved to New York City and eventually won the Antoinette Perry (Tony) Award. Boyd had earlier won the Tony for “Eubie!,” a musical she conceived and directed in 1978 about the work of composer Eubie Blake. More recently, her production of Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green’s “On the Town” also garnered Tony Awards. Her production of Mark St. Germain’s “Freud’s Last Session,” starring company regular Mark H. Dold, played a long run off-Broadway, as did St. Germain’s “Doctor Ruth, All the Way,” starring another company regular, Debra Jo Rupp. Dold opened the now historic 2020 pandemic season with a solo appearance in “Harry Clarke” and Rupp starred in 2021’s “Boca,” by Jessica Provenz, both directed by Boyd. Her commitment to such talented people has been largely responsible for the long, successful career of St. Germain, whose first plays were directed by Boyd back in Stockbridge at the BTF.
In 2016, the first year of the Berkshire Theatre Critics Awards, she swept the field in many categories and has gone on to win many more in subsequent years.
“Obviously my career has meant a lot to me,” she said, “and I’m not giving it up. I plan to direct two shows a year, one here and one somewhere else. And I’ll do that for as long as it’s comfortable for all concerned.”
She is working now on her final season as BSC’s artistic director. It will include, and perhaps open with, “Ain’t Misbehavin,’” a show intended for the 2020 season but lost in the pandemic shuffle. It was also seen at the BTF in the summer of 1992. “One of the things we’ve done in past seasons is bring a diverse audience into our theaters with plays that address their experience and history,” Boyd said. “We’ve created a genuine connection with our African-American residents in the region and now, with “A Crossing,” we’ve forged a strong relationship with the Latinx community, as well. I don’t want to lose that. The more diverse our audience, the better it will be for everyone. That’s been my aim all along.”
"stage" - Google News
November 03, 2021 at 09:00PM
https://ift.tt/3EIMsk8
Julianne Boyd to retire from Barrington Stage Company in September 2022 - theberkshireedge.com
"stage" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2xC8vfG
https://ift.tt/2KXEObV
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Julianne Boyd to retire from Barrington Stage Company in September 2022 - theberkshireedge.com"
Post a Comment