Barrington Stage Purchases Berkshire Music Hall for Permanent Home

BSC bought the 1912 landmark building as well as the neighboring Octagon House from owner Raymond Schilke for $785,000. Schilke had been renovating the Music Hall, which had been used as both a legitimate theater and a movie house at various times.

The 10-year-old company will continue to perform at its current home in nearby Sheffield through August 7; its 2005 schedule includes Follies, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Cusi Cram’s Fuente. But BSC’s upcoming production of Hair, starring Ryan Link and Denise Summerford, will play at the Music Hall August 11-14, following an August 3-7 run at the Mahawie in Great Barrington. (The Mahawie will also house the company’s production of William Finn’s Elegies: A Song Cycle, August 11-28.)

At a press conference this morning, artistic director Julianne Boyd announced that the company will be seeking to rent additional space for a new Stage II space as well as for the building of costumes, sets, and props. In addition, she announced that Finn will curate a series of new musicals for Stage II in 2006; the Tony Award-winning composer’s current Broadway hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee had its world premiere at Barrington Stage in 2004.

“We are looking forward to making Pittsfield our year-round home and to becoming part of this burgeoning, vital arts community,” said Boyd. “It is our wish that this move will allow us to grow artistically while reaching an even broader, more diverse countywide audience.”