Photo Flash: First Look at Jason Hite, Will Roland and More in Barrington Stage's THE BLACK SUITS

Barrington Stage Company, under the leadership of Julianne Boyd, Artistic Director, and TriStan Wilson, Managing Director, presents a workshop production of the new musical The Black Suits with music and lyrics by Joe Iconis and book by Joe Iconis and Robert Emmett Maddock. The Black Suits is part of Barrington Stage's Musical Theatre Lab, William Finn, Artistic Producer. Directed by John Simpkins, choreographed by Jennifer Werner, with musical direction by James Sampliner, The Black Suits is currently running through September 2 at BSC's St. Germain Stage (formerly Stage 2). BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production photos below.

The Black Suits is a rock musical about a high school garage band on suburban Long Island trying to win the St. Anne's Battle of the Bands. Two teens struggle to learn how to be real friends as the inevitability of adulthood threatens to pull them apart. A musical about dreams, blood, Pop Tarts, records, drug runs, blue hair and the transformative coolness of rock and roll music.

Making their BSC debuts in The Black Suits are Annie Golden (Xanadu/The Full Monty) as Mrs. Werring, Jason Hite (Giant – Dallas Theatre Center) as John, Ben Platt (National Tour: Caroline, Or Change) as Chris, Harrison Chad (Caroline, Or Change) as Brandon, Will Roland as Nato, and Sarah Cetrulo as Lisa.

The Black Suits has sets by Tony Award-winner Derek McLane, costumes by Tony Award-winner Paloma Young, lighting by Jason Lyons, sound by Brad Berridge, and music direction by James Sampliner. Swaine Kaui is the Drama League Directing Fellow. Kate J. Cudworth is production stage manager. Shakina Nayfack is Associate Producer.

The Black Suits is sponsored in part by Gregory Bulger and Richard Dix. The Barrington Stage Company Musical Theatre Lab is sponsored in part by Elayne Bernstein and Sol Schwartz.

Performances are Tuesday-Friday at 7:30pm, Thursday at 3pm (excluding August 16), Saturday at 4pm and 8pm, Sunday at 3pm. Tickets are $15-$39; with preview prices of $15 on August 16 & 17. Seniors: $28 all matinees. Youth 18 and under $15 all performances except Saturday evenings. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the Barrington Stage Box Office at 413-236-8888 or visit www.barringtonstageco.org. The Box Office is located at 30 Union Street.

The Musical Theatre Lab, created in 2006, is a place for young musical theater writers to develop their work on all levels: from staged readings to workshops to full productions. Since its creation, eight world premieres and four workshops have been produced. The critically acclaimed The Burnt Part Boys (2006), written by Nathan Tysen, Chris Miller and Marianne Elder, received a production at Playwrights Horizons in May/June 2010, and is now published by Music Theatre International. Kirsten Childs, who wrote the 2007 world premiere Funked Up Fairy Tales, continued developing her musical at The Sundance Institute in December 2007. Barry Wyner's 2007 hit musical Calvin Berger recently received critical acclaim at the George Street Playhouse. See Rock City & Other Destinations by Adam Mathias and Brad Alexander was produced in 2008 and later played at the Transport Group in NYC, where it won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical. Sara Cooper and Zachary Redler's The Memory Show received critical acclaim and will be seen Off-Broadway in 2013.

Barrington Stage Company, a professional award-winning Equity regional theatre located in the heart of the Berkshires, in Pittsfield, MA, was co-founded in 1995 by Artistic Director Julianne Boyd. Barrington Stage's mission is three-fold: to present top-notch, compelling work; to develop new plays and musicals; and to find fresh, bold ways to bringing new audiences into the theatre-especially young people. Barrington Stage garnered national attention in 2004 when it workshopped, and premiered William Finn and Rachel Sheinkin's musical hit The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which later transferred to Broadway where it won two Tony Awards and played more than 1,000 performances. In 2009/2010 Barrington Stage produced the world premiere of Mark St. Germain's Freud's Last Session, which later moved Off-Broadway and ran 775 performances. Barrington Stage was voted "Best Live Theatre" by The Berkshire Eagle readers in 2011 and 2012 and was named "Best Theatre Company" in Metroland's Best of the Capital Region 2009-2012.

Photo Credit: Kevin Sprague