James Naughton to Direct Berkshire Theatre Group's BRACE YOURSELF, Featuring Jill Eikenberry, Jackie Hoffman and More

The world premiere of Brace Yourself, opens at Berkshire Theatre Group's Fitzpatrick Main Stage on August 18 at 8pm. Previews begin August 14 at 8pm and closing is on August 25. Brace Yourself is sponsored by Country Curtains, Blantyre and The Red Lion Inn.

Tickets to Brace Yourself are $37-$57; all preview tickets are $37. Contact the Stockbridge Campus Ticket Office at 83 East Main Street, by calling 413-298-5576or the Colonial Ticket Office at 111 South Street, Pittsfield by calling 413-997-4444. Tickets can also be bought online at www.berkshiretheatregroup.org. Ticket Offices are open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturdays 10am-2pm or on any performance day from 10am until curtain. All plays, schedules, casting and prices are subject to change.

Everyone is preparing for the hurricane to arrive, but at Sunny's house the storm has already hit. With a huge wedding to plan, an unhappy bride to appease, a promiscuous son to keep track of and a dead aunt to dispose of, it's no wonder Sunny is a bit tense. However, it's only once the hurricane finally hits that Sunny learns that it's ok to let go, in more ways than one. Hilarities abound in this outrageous world premiere directed by two-time Tony Award winner, James Naughton.

The cast includes Clea Alsip as Kitty, Jill Eikenberry as Sunny, Tara Franklin as Nina, Jackie Hoffman as Jeanette, David Ross as Andy, and Michael Tucker as Milt.

James Naughton (Director) Naughton has appeared on-screen in The Devil Wears Prada playing Meryl Streep's husband, co-starred opposite Barbara Hershey in the independent film Childless, and was also seen be seen in The Weinstein Company's Factory Girl, playing Sienna Miller's father, and Warner Brothers Independent Films Suburban Girl, alongside Sarah Michelle Geller and Alec Baldwin. Naughton has won two Tony Awards as 'Best Actor in a Musical' for Chicago and City of Angels, the latter earned him a Drama Desk Award as well. He starred in the Broadway production of Democracy as Willy Brandt opposite Richard Thomas. Naughton's other theatre credits include Four Baboons Adoring the Sun, I Love My Wife, Whose Life is it Anyway, Drinks Before Dinner and Losing Time. On Broadway, Naughton has directed Arthur Miller's Tony nominated production of The Price and Paul Newman in Thornton Wilder's Our Town.

David Epstein (Playwright) David Epstein's plays have been produced Off-Broadway, in Europe and at regional theatres across the US including, South Coast Rep, Yale Rep, Woolly Mammoth, and Actors' Theatre of Louisville. Symphony Space recently produced his play, Surface To Air, in New York, directed by Jim Naughton. Exact Change was seen at the Lyric Hammersmith during a critically acclaimed run in London. He wrote the books and collaborated on the lyrics for the Off-Broadway musicals Wanted and The Bonus Army with the late Rev. Al Carmines. He wrote the screenplay for Palookaville, produced by Red Wave Films, an award winner at the Venice Film Festival. He has written for the major film studios, and has been produced numerous times by network TV and PBS. Mr. Epstein, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, was Artist-in-Residence at Colgate University for a number of years.

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