The Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center is presenting a special one-night-only benefit performance of Broadway in the Berkshires on Monday, August 2 at 7:00PM at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, MA. Proceeds from the event will benefit the theater. For tickets and information call (413) 528-0100 or visit www.mahaiwe.org.
Broadway in the Berkshires, a magical evening of all-star entertainment, features Broadway’s brightest stars. This year’s benefit will be hosted by Drama Desk Winner and Tony Award Nominee Richard Kind. Producer and Actor Deborah Grausman has assembled an extraordinary cast, exceptional musicians, and a first-rate creative team-all of whom are excited to be on stage at the Mahaiwe ahead of their Broadway re-openings.
“This is the fourth time Deborah Grausman has produced Broadway in the Berkshires,” says Martinson. “We are thrilled that proceeds will benefit the Mahaiwe and we anticipate an exciting sold-out event – it’s always the talk of the town and we look forward to welcoming the artists back to our stage.”
Richard Kind is a Drama Desk Award Winner and Tony Nominee for the Broadway hit, The Big Knife. He is an accomplished stage, screen, and television actor who continues to redefine the term character actor. Richard appeared in the Academy Award Winning Best Picture Argo for director Ben Affleck and starred as ‘Bing Bong’ in the hit Pixar Film, Inside Out. He played a memorable, heartbreaking role in Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter. Richard was ‘Uncle Arthur,’ brother to Michael Stuhlbarg in the critically acclaimed A Serious Man, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. He worked a second time with the Coen brothers in Suburbicon, directed by George Clooney. Broadway credits include: The Producers; Kiss Me, Kate; Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Sly Fox and The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife. Currently, he is recurring in the following TV series: The Goldbergs, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Brockmire, and The Other Two. He is also known for his voiceover work in A Bug’s Life, Cars, and many other animated features and TV series.
The dazzling line-up of Broadway performers includes: Alyson Cambridge (Rocktopia, The Metropolitan Opera), Ali Ewoldt (The Phantom of the Opera, Les Misérables, The King and I), Satomi Hofmann (The Phantom of the Opera, Mare of Easttown), Russell Arden Koplin (Les Misérables, James Joyce’s The Dead), Raymond J. Lee (Aladdin, Groundhog Day, Soft Power), Laura Patinkin (Fiddler on the Roof, Beau Jest), Crystal Sha’nae (Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, The Blacklist), Mariand Torres (Wicked, In Transit), Michael Wartella (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Wanderer, Wicked). The illustrious cast also features Carolyn Berliner (The Elephant Man at Williamstown Theatre Festival), Lamont Brown (Riverdance at Radio City Music Hall, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas), Deborah Grausman (Sesame Street, Fiddler on the Roof, productions at Shakespeare & Company and BTG), Lauren Jelencovich (Yanni’s Featured Vocalist, Star Search Grand Prize Winner), Keri Safran (Forbidden Broadway, Barrington Stage Company’s Typhoid Mary), Jared Trudeau (Broadway Voice Teacher and Professor of Voice at The Boston Conservatory), and child actor Violet Tinnirello (Sesame Street, Chasing Rainbows).
The creative team, headed by Producer Deborah Grausman (Broadway in the Berkshires, Broadway in Charlottesville), includes Director Robin Levine (performer in Mamma Mia on Broadway and Radio City Christmas Spectacular, director of Anything Goes at the Mac-Haydn Theatre), Music Director Laura Bergquist (Allegiance, Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Man of La Mancha with Opera Saratoga), Writer/Comedian Jason Salmon (Comedy Central, Orange is the New Black, Force of Nurture), Casting Consultant Robin Carus (Webby, Telly, Davey, and Hermes Award-winning project Sing Out!, Pip’s Island), Music Consultant Michael Lavine (Broadway Vocal Coach and Sheet Music Guru), and Production Stage Manager Kat West (Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, Jersey Boys).
“I am thrilled to be working with these supremely talented artists to raise much-needed funds for the Mahaiwe,” says Actor/Producer Deborah Grausman. “The arts have suffered immensely this past year and it’s an honor to rally my friends and colleagues in support of this treasured Berkshire landmark.” She adds, “Performing at the Mahaiwe is always a special treat – one to which the entire company of Broadway in the Berkshires is looking forward. We can’t wait to safely welcome artists and audience members back to the theater for what promises to be an enchanting and entertaining evening!”
SPACE IS LIMITED. Audience members will be masked and there will be distanced seating. This event is expected to sell out; patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets early. Tickets are $250 (Executive Producer), $125 (Producer), $75 (Investor) and $50 (Backer). For questions or to purchase tickets, call (413) 528-0100 or visit: www.mahaiwe.org.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer, an Award winning filmmaker and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. Her short film, When the World Was Young recently garnered a 2021 DisOrient Film Audience Choice Award for Best Short Narrative. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations.
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