Berkshire Playwrights Lab to Present Staged Reading
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Berkshire Playwrights Lab will present a free, staged reading workshop production of Joe Cacaci’s new play with music, "Keeping Time," on Wednesday, July 28 at 8 p.m. The playwright will direct the reading at Monument Mountain Regional High School, 600 Stockbridge Road.Set in New York City in 1965, "Keeping Time" tells the story of two close friends. Willie is a black pianist, composer, and singer. Paul is a white singer. The two men have a long-running act and are finally on the brink of getting their big break when they get caught up in and caught off guard by the civil rights movement, threatening both their friendship and their dream. Complicating the action are Bennie (their longtime manager), Rose (a journalist), and Anna (a dancer).
The cast for this workshop reading includes Larry Bryggman, Tituss Burgess, Ylfa Edelstein, with two additional actors to be announced. The play includes an original song composed by Bennie Wallace, with lyrics by Cacaci. Wallace has composed scores for feature films such as "White Men Can't Jump" and "Blaze," and worked with Cacaci on the TV shows "Copshop" and "The Hoop Life." Music will be performed live on stage by the actors.
Bryggman has won two Obie Awards, been nominated for a Drama Desk Award, as well as twice-nominated for a Tony Award. He has appeared in the TV shows "As the World Turns" and "Law and Order," the movies "Die Hard with a Vengeance" (1995) and "Spy Games" (2001), and the Broadway shows "Twelve Angry Men," "Proof" and "Picnic." Burgess recently finished a revival of "Guys and Dolls" on Broadway, and other Broadway credits include "The Little Mermaid," "Jersey Boys" and "Good Vibrations." Edelstein was a regular cast member in two TV series, "The Hoop Life" and "The Education of Max Bickford," and has appeared in episodes of "Law and Order," "Law and Order: SVU," "Law and Order: Criminal Intent" and the pilot "Copshop." Most recently, she was a part of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab staged reading production of "Eyes Forward" by Philip Gerson.
Cacaci is a founding co-artistic director (with Jim Frangione, Bob Jaffe and Matthew Penn) of the Berkshire Playwrights Lab. He was also the founding director of East Coast Arts, where he produced 20 world-premiere plays over seven seasons, and he has served since 1993 as the producing director (with Dan Lauria) of the Playwrights Kitchen Ensemble in Los Angeles, where more than 500 new plays have been given staged readings in the Monday Night Reading Series. His own plays have been produced at the Public Theater, Coconut Grove Theatre (where he also directed), Long Wharf Theater, and Alley Theatre in Houston, as well as commercially in New York City and Los Angeles. He co-produced David Mamet’s Obie-winning play "Edmond" at the Provincetown Playhouse, as well as directing at the Westport Playhouse and commercially in Los Angeles.
Cacaci has written numerous made-for-television movies and co-created the CBS prime time series "The Trials of Rosie O’Neill." He was executive producer of two prime time series: Showtime’s "The Hoop Life" and CBS’ "The Education of Max Bickford," and he directed the PBS pilot "Copshop." Currently, Cacaci teaches television writing in the graduate program of the Film School at Columbia University. He recently directed the feature film "Snatched," which premiered at the Slamdance Festival in January, 2010, and completed a screenplay about the Negro Leagues for Lightworks Pictures.
For reservations, call 413-528-0100 or visit the Mahaiwe Box Office, 14 Castle St.
