Destination: Theater

Need your theater fix this summer? New York City may be the theater capital of the world — but with shows and festivals opening throughout North America this summer, there’s plenty of other travel options for theater lovers. Here’s a small sampling of some popular destinations that are well worth checking out:

LONG ISLAND:

Bay Street Theatre
Tony Award winner Mercedes Ruehl stars as Mexican artist Frida Kahlo in the world premiere of Viva La Vida! The show is preceded by a new production of The Who’s Tommy (starring Euan Morton of Taboo fame in the title role), while the season concludes with the American premiere of Crispin Whittell’s Darwin in Malibu.

HUDSON VALLEY:

SummerScape Festival at Bard College
Music, opera, dance, film, cabaret, and more are included in this fourth annual festival, which is devoted to the music of composer Franz Liszt. The theater highlight is a new production of Camille, adapted by Neil Bartlett and directed by Kate Whoriskey.

New York Stage and Film
Daisy Foote’s Bhutan, directed by Evan Yionoulis, and Keith Huff’s A Steady Rain, directed by Trip Cullman, are the Mainstage productions of the 22nd Powerhouse Theater season, held on the Vassar College campus in Poughkeepsie. Also featured are concert readings of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley’s new musical Prarie, Andrew Lippa’s musical Jerry Christmas, and Mixed Company, a performance piece conceived by Billy Porter utilizing songs by Stephen Sondheim and text by William Shakespeare to tell the story of man’s seven ages.

BERKSHIRES:

Williamstown Theatre Festival
For his second season as artistic director at Williamstown, Roger Rees presents such popular fare as Anything Goes, featuring Sharon Lawrence, Malcolm Gets, and Matt Cavenaugh, Romeo and Juliet, with film star Emmy Rossum as the young Capulet, and Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth. There are also newer works on tap, including the recently deceased playwright John Belluso’s A Nervous Smile and the musical The Opposite of Sex. Rees is also directing the U.S. premiere of Double Double, a romantic thriller that he co-authored with Jersey Boys scribe Rick Elice.

Berkshire Theatre Festival
Some of this year’s highlights include Jonathan Epstein and Randy Harrison in Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus; Linda Hamilton, Robin Weigert, and Garret Dillahunt in Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana; and Law and Order‘s Annie Parisse and Jeremy Davidson in Tina Howe’s Coastal Disturbances.

CAPE COD:

Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theater
WHAT’s season includes two of this year’s finalists for the Pulitzer Prize: Adam Rapp’s Red Light Winter and Rolin Jones’ The Intelligent Design of Jenny Chow. Other shows on tap are the recent NYC hit Candy and Dorothy, by David Johnston; Johnny Got His Gun, adapted from Dalton Trumbo’s novel by Bradley Rand Smith; and Rebekah Maggor’s solo show Shakespeare’s Actresses in America.

DC METRO:

Capital Fringe Festival
There are fringe festivals all across North America, but this is the first time one is taking place in our nation’s capital. Emphasizing edgy and offbeat works, the Capital Fringe features hundreds of performances by adventurous, innovative artists from throughout the U.S. and overseas. Entries include a 10-hour human installation of improvised dance/theater called Sanctuary; an exploration of unprotected gay sex called Riding the Dragon: Raw and Bareback; and La Corbière, a work about a boatload of shipwrecked French whores — performed outdoors in the water.

MIDWEST:

Ravinia Festival
A concert by four-time Tony winner Audra McDonald, an evening of songs and stories by theater legend Elaine Stritch, and a new production of the Jule Styne-Stephen Sondheim-Arthur Laurents musical Gypsy starring Patti LuPone are three great reasons to visit this Illinois hotspot over the summer.

Colorado Festival of World Theatre
A spectacular Rocky Mountain setting serves as the backdrop for this international festival. Participants include Lynn Redgrave and Brian Murray, who will star in Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads; British director Justin Butcher, who stages Peter Shaffer’s Black Comedy; and the award-winning vocal quintet Toxic Audio, who create more sounds using only their voices than most people can do utilizing traditional instruments.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST:

Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Located in picturesque Ashland, this festival doesn’t limit itself to Shakespeare works — although they are doing the Bard’s King John, The Winter’s Tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Two Gentlemen of Verona. In addition, the 2006 slate of shows also includes such eclectic fare as The Diary of Anne Frank, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Intimate Apparel.

CANADA:

The Stratford Festival
The internationally acclaimed festival annually offers a variety of excellent productions ranging from Shakespeare to modern-day musicals. Colm Feore returns to the festival in three different shows — Coriolanus, Oliver!, and Don Juan — while the great Brian Bedford directs and stars in London Assurance, and also plays Malvolio in Twelfth Night.

The Shaw Festival
Located in Ontario’s Niagara-on-the-Lake, this is Canada’s other major theater festival. This year’s shows include Arms and the Man and Too Good to Be True by Shaw, as well as Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, Noël Coward’s Design for Living, an adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel The Invisible Man, and much more.