Interior of The Colonial Theatre
Berkshire Theatre Group (Kate Maguire, Artistic Director/CEO) in association with five-time Tony Award-winning Caiola Productions (Once on this Island, Dear Evan Hansen, The Color Purple, All The Way, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf) presents Rock and Roll Man: The Alan Freed Story, directed by Tony Award-nominee Randal Myler (It Ain’t Nothin’ But The Blues) at The Colonial Theatre as part of their 2019 Summer Season. The production is in development for a Broadway run and a national tour.
Left: LaVern Baker, photo by Atlantic Records
Right: The Everly Brothers
Kate Maguire says, “Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis, LaVern Baker, The Everly Brothers and Screamin’ Jay are the artists that shaped rock and roll, and Alan Freed is the man who introduced their music to America, creating a wave that changed the musical landscape forever. Join us as they step onto our Colonial stage for a new musical that is sure to shake, rattle and roll Berkshire County! I can’t begin to describe how excited we are to collaborate with this great team of Broadway producers and creators for Rock and Roll Man this coming summer.”
Tickets will go on sale in February 2019. 2019 Summer season passes are available now for purchase at $120 for a three-show pass and $240 for a six-show pass.
Alan Freed, photo by James Kriegsmann, NY
Rock and Roll Man
The Alan Freed Story
Book by Gary Kupper, Larry Marshak, and Rose Caiola
Original music and lyrics by Gary Kupper
Directed by Randal Myler
at The Colonial Theatre
BTG’s Pittsfield Campus, 111 South Street
Late June through Late July 2019
In the summer of 1954, in a small radio station in Cleveland, an unknown disc jockey heard the sound that would change America. And the rest is music history.
Rock and Roll Man is the new musical about the incredible rise and fall of Alan Freed, the man who coined the phrase rock and roll and brought its sound to the world. He discovered black artists—and got them record deals. He traveled the country—and got them heard from coast to coast. He spoke to the younger generation—and brought them to their feet.
By the dawn of the ’60s, he was the biggest name in music—until scandal made him the biggest target in America. Featuring original songs and some of the biggest hits of a decade, including “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” “Tutti Frutti,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Roll Over Beethoven,” “Ain’t That a Shame” and many more, Rock and Roll Man takes you behind the scenes and behind the music of one of the most influential—and controversial—figures in pop music history.
Left: Chuck Berry
Right: Jerry Lee Lewis, photo by Maurice Seymour
To purchase season passes, visit www.BerkshireTheatreGroup.org, contact the Colonial Ticket Office at 413-997-4444, or in-person at the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield.
Ticket offices are open Monday-Saturday 10am-5pm, Sundays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain.
