(Pittsfield, MA) July 2024 – Barrington Stage Company (Artistic Director Alan Paul) is the recipient of a $120,000 grant from The Shubert Foundation. Granted in the category of Theatre, the award will support key programming in BSC’s 2024 season.
A leader in funding for the arts, last year The Shubert Foundation announced $40 million in unrestricted grants to 653 not-for-profit theaters, dance companies, academic theater training programs, and related service agencies.
“We are deeply honored and grateful to receive this generous $120,000 grant from The Shubert Foundation,” said Alan Paul. “This vital support enables us to continue our mission of producing bold and innovative theater that resonates with our community and beyond. The Shubert Foundation’s investment in our work allows us to nurture new talent, expand our educational programs, and bring transformative theatrical experiences to our audiences. This grant is an affirmation of the importance of live theater and its power to inspire and connect us all.”
Barrington Stage Company’s 2024 season, running now through October, includes La Cage aux Folles, Boeing Boeing, Next to Normal, A Tender Thing, Forgiveness, Primary Trust; the 2024 Mr. Finn’s Cabaret Series, the new Devised Theatre Ensemble and the Celebration of Black Voices.
The Shubert Foundation is a leader in providing general operating support to professional resident theatre and dance companies that develop and produce new American work. As always, funds are unrestricted, empowering the organizations supported to utilize the funds as they see fit. To ensure support to the widest range of recipients, The Shubert Foundation maintains an open-door policy. The Shubert Foundation is also the largest funder of theatre education for the NYC Public Schools. Additionally, the Shubert Scholars Program provides scholarships for students in university programs in theatre arts.
The Shubert Foundation was established in 1945 by Lee and J.J. Shubert, in memory of their brother Sam. Today, the Foundation is the nation’s largest funder of unrestricted aid for not-for-profit theatre and dance companies. Since the establishment of The Shubert Foundation grants program in 1977, more than $653 million has been awarded to not-for-profit arts organizations throughout the United States. For more information, visit https://shubertfoundation.org.
The Foundation also continues to expand the Shubert Archive. Created in 1976, the Archive contains more than a century’s worth of production designs, scripts, sheet music, publicity materials, photographs, correspondence, business records and architectural plans. The collection is available to researchers, writers, historians and theatre professionals. For more information, visit https://shubertarchive.org.
ABOUT BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
Barrington Stage Company (BSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Alan Paul, is an award-winning theatre located in Pittsfield, MA, in the heart of the Berkshires. Co-founded in 1995 by Julianne Boyd, BSC’s mission is to produce top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to engage our community with vibrant, inclusive educational outreach programs. Alan Paul succeeded Ms. Boyd as the company’s Artistic Director in 2022.
BSC attracts over 60,000 patrons annually and has gained national recognition for its superior-quality productions and comprehensive educational programming, including the award-winning Playwright Mentoring Project, the Musical Theatre Conservatory, Youth Theatre, KidsAct! and other initiatives. The company has become integral to the economic revitalization of downtown Pittsfield.
BSC’s reputation for excellence began with a smash revival of Cabaret that moved to Boston in 1997 for an extended run. The theatre’s prominence grew with the world premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee by William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin (BSC 2004; Broadway 2005-2008, winner of two Tony Awards). Other notable productions include the world premiere of Christopher Demos-Brown’s American Son (BSC 2016; Broadway 2018); Mark St. Germain’s Freud’s Last Session (BSC 2009; Off-Broadway 2010-2012); Leonard Bernstein, Betty Comden & Adolph Green’s On the Town (BSC 2013; Broadway 2014, four Tony Award nominations); Stephen Sondheim and George Furth’s Company, starring Aaron Tveit (2017); and West Side Story in honor of Leonard Bernstein and Jerome Robbins’ centenaries (2018).
BSC develops and commissions new work with two programs: PlayWorks, which supports the creation of new plays, and the Musical Theatre Lab, which develops new musicals. Since 1995, BSC has produced 48 new works, 23 of which have moved to New York and major US regional theatres.
BSC is the recipient of 15 Berkshire Theatre Awards for the 2023 season, including Outstanding Production of a Musical for its production of Cabaret, directed by Alan Paul, and the Sally And Robert Sugarman Award for a world premiere of a New Play or Musical for The Happiest Man on Earth, by Mark St. Germain.