with Guest Artist & Pulitzer-Prize Winning Playwright Marsha Norman

GREAT BARRINGTON, MA—The Theater program at Bard College at Simon’s Rock premieres 4 one-act student-written musicals this week from April 7-9 in the McConnell Theater at the Daniel Arts Center. Simon’s Rock students have had the privilege of working with Pulitzer Prize and Tony award-winning playwright and screenwriter Marsha Norman over the past eight months in the development process of their musicals.

Marsha Norman, who now resides in the Berkshires after retiring from her position as co-chair of Juilliard’s Lila Acheson Wallace American Playwrights Program, won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play, “night, Mother,”  a Tony Award for the Broadway musical book and lyrics for The Secret Garden, and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical for the libretto of The Color Purple. After connecting with theater professor Aimée K. Michel at Simon’s Rock, they discussed possibilities for designing a musical theater workshop while also navigating Covid protocols and challenges.

Opening night is on Thursday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. with Program A, which runs again on Friday, April 8 at 3:00 p.m. and includes “Seller’s Market” by Ashlyn Bagocious, junior, directed by Aimée K. Michel, and “Birds of Pray” by Rowan Truman, sophomore, directed by Beck Selberg, junior.

Program B runs on Friday, April 8 at 7:00 p.m. and Saturday, April 9 at 3:00 p.m. and includes “Shades of Blue” by Blake Bynum, sophomore, directed by Rowan Truman,  and “Your Choice” by Tevah Rose, sophomore, directed by Provost John Weinstein.

Simon’s Rock theater professor and director of the workshop Aimée Michel shared that “Marsha has been a huge gift with the weight and depth of her experience. She has been cheering them on and encouraging them to hold fast to their visions,” shared Michel. With live performances, “every single night is a different show. The audience is what makes it different. It’s the one thing you can’t control; the energy and cycle of how the audience reacts.”

Performances run Thursday, April 7 through Saturday, April 9 at the McConnell Theater at the Daniel Arts Center at Bard College at Simon’s Rock. Program A tickets can be reserved here for April 7 at 7:00 p.m. and April 8 at 3:00 p.m. Program B tickets can be reserved here for April 8 at 7:00 p.m. and April 9 at 3:00 p.m.

About Simon’s Rock Bard College at Simon’s Rock is the only college in the country specifically designed for highly motivated students ready to enter college after the 10th or 11th grade. Simon’s Rock offers a challenging program in the liberal arts and sciences, taught exclusively in small seminars by supportive, highly trained faculty, who are leading scholars in their fields. The College grants degrees in more than 35 majors. The Princeton Review’s Best 380 Colleges rates academics at Simon’s Rock higher than Harvard and Princeton. Bard Academy at Simon’s Rock is the nation’s first two-year boarding and day program designed to prepare 9th and 10th graders to start college early. A student entering Bard Academy as a high school freshman will earn an Associate of Arts degree from Bard College at Simon’s Rock after only four years and a Bachelor of Arts degree after only six years. The Academy curriculum is designed and taught by students’ future college professors who are leading scholars in their fields. For more information, visit simons-rock.edu and bardacademy.simons-rock.edu.