More stars have been announced to appear in the 2018 season of the Berkshires' Williamstown Theatre Festival. Two-time Tony winner Chita Rivera and Broadway alums Eden Espinosa and Krysta Rodriguez are among the talents set to appear onstage throughout the esteemed theater's summer lineup of shows.
Legendary star Chita Rivera, a veteran of Williamstown (The Visit), will offer up the one-night concert An Evening with Chita Rivera (July 9th at 7:30pm), benefitting Williamstown's New Play & Musical Development Initiative. Rivera will re-create moments from her legendary career, accompanied by her longtime music trio, Michael Croiter (music director/percussion/guitar), Gary Adler (associate music director/piano) and Jim Donica (bass).
Joining the previously announced 2018 season casts are Ben Ahlers, Raymond Bokhour and Will Cobbs in The Closet (June 26-July 14); Eden Espinosa, Natalie Joy Johnson, Justin Gregory Lopez, Steven Rattazzi, Michael McCorry Rose, Nathaniel Stampley, Kay Trinidad and Rachel Tucker in Lempicka (July 19-August 1); Ben Ahlers, Vinie Burrows, Will Cobbs, Louisa Jacobson, Tom Pecinka, Liv Rooth, Roslyn Ruff and Logan Schuyler Smith in The Member of the Wedding (August 5-August 19); Will Hochman in The Sound Inside (June 27-July 8); Joshua Boone, Alfie Fuller and Christopher Livingston in Artney Jackson (July 11-July 22); Tré Davis, Michael Esper and Krysta Rodriguez in Seared (July 25-August 4); and Phillip James Brannon, Michael Braun, Alfie Fuller and Samira Wiley in Dangerous House (August 8-August 19).
The 2018 season will also include the Fridays@3 New Play Readings series. The lineup will include Tell Me I’m Not Crazy (a Williamstown Theatre Festival commission) by Sharyn Rothstein (July 6); Saying Goodbye to the People I Love from My Bathtub by Halley Feiffer, directed by Trip Cullman (July 13); Long Lost by Donald Marguiles, directed by Daniel Sullivan (July 20); Secret Soldiers (a Williamstown Theatre Festival commission) with book by Marsha Norman and music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak, directed by Leigh Silverman (July 27); Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury (August 10); and two new plays by commissioned artists Meghan Kennedy (August 3) and Aziza Barnes (August 17).
Since 1955, the Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought America's finest actors, directors, designers and playwrights to the Berkshires. Recent WTF productions that transferred to Broadway include Fool for Love, The Visit, The Elephant Man and The Bridges of Madison County.