BTG PLAYS! To Conjure Up Shakespeare

Berkshire Theatre Group and Artistic Director/CEO Kate Maguire are excited to announce BTG PLAYS! 2018-2019 Touring Show, “Showtime with Shakespeare: A Magic Tree House Adventure”, based on “Magic Tree House: Stage Fright on a Summer Night” by Mary Pope Osborne, book and lyrics by Jenny Laird and Will Osborne, music and lyrics by Randy Courts and directed by Travis Daly.

As noted in the press release announcing the production, Mary Pope Osborne, award-winning author of the best-selling children’s book series, Magic Tree House, calls “Stage Fright on a Summer Night” one of her favorites in the series. In this new hip-hop musical version, the Magic Tree House whisks Jack and Annie back to Elizabethan England, where they meet William Shakespeare himself. Young viewers will get a chance to experience live theater, and a bonus: through her Classroom Adventures Program, Osborne will provide every student who sees the show with a free copy of Magic Tree House Book #25, “Stage Fright on a Summer Night.”

BTG PLAYS! Touring Show is a part of Berkshire Theatre Group’s year-round theatre program, which reaches 13,000 school children annually. Beginning in October and running through the school year, this production is appropriate for elementary and middle school aged children and family audiences, and is designed to introduce students to the excitement of live theatre. Touring to schools and venues all throughout Berkshire County and surrounding towns with a local company of artists, a Q&A session with the actors follows each performance.

BTG PLAYS! 2018-2019 Touring Show is sponsored by Lead Sponsor, Berkshire Bank; Massachusetts Cultural Council; and The Shubert Foundation.