Thrillers, musicals, drama, farce and Dr. Ruth set stage for the Barrington Stage Co. 2012 Season [Berkshire on Stage]

Barrington Stage Company isn’t resting on its laurels. It has once again shaken up all the theatrical ingredients and come up with a menu of plays and musicals that has this reporter salivating. At a news conference held at the company’s Stage 2, there was more than just change afoot, there were promises made, too.

So here’s the rundown of the three announced mainstage plays and four on Stage 2.

MAINSTAGE

Gary John LaRosa will direct and choreograph Fiddler on the Roof: Julianne Boyd announced that she had secured the rights to produce Fiddler on the Roof last year, with the musical slated to run two weeks before the Summer Season officially begins, from June 13 to July 14. The popular show will be directed and choreographed by Gary John LaRosa with music direction by Darren R. Cohen. LaRosa, a Fiddler on the Roof veteran performer and director/choreographer, makes his BSC debut.

Fiddler on the Roof, the Tony Award-winning musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and book by Joseph Stein, based on characters and stories created by Sholom Alecheim, features one of the most beloved scores in the history of the American theatre – “Tradition,” “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” “Sunrise, Sunset,” and “Far from the Home I Love.” Fiddler tells the universal tale of Tevye, the milkman, who tries to hold on to ‘tradition’ as the world around him and his family changes in the little village of Anatevka. Fiddler on the Roof is sponsored by Berkshire Bank and Cranwell Resort.