Williamstown Theatre Festival and Williams College Museum of Art Announce 4th of July Events

Williamstown Theatre Festival (WTF) and Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) invite you to grab your American flags, tinsel, and Uncle Sam hats for a day of events celebrating The Fourth of July in Williamstown, MA. The day will commence with a Fourth of July Parade at 11:00am with appearances from stars of the Williamstown Theatre Festival 2012 season followed by the annual Reading of the Founding Documents at WCMA at 1:30pm. The celebration comes to a close with a performance of David Hyde Pierce's hilarious new production of The Importance of Being Earnest at 7:30pm.

The Fourth of July Parade will kick off the festivities at 11:00am on Spring Street. Residents of Williamstown will march alongside stars from the Williamstown Theatre Festival's 2012 season in this quintessential New England tradition. Everyone is invited to wear red, white, and blue and bring their American flags to wave as the parade makes its way through the streets.

The WCMA, WTF, and Chapin Library are pleased to present A Reading of the Founding Documents, an annual Williamstown tradition at 1:30pm on the lawn outside WCMA (15 Lawrence Hall Drive). Heather Lind (HBO's "Boardwalk Empire") and Finn Wittrock (Broadway's Death of a Salesman), both currently featured in WTF's World Premiere production of The Blue Deep, will read the Declaration of Independence followed by a reading of the British reply by comedian and WTF favorite Lewis Black, reprising his appearance from last year. The museum will be open during this special event from 11:00am to 3:00pm. Robert Volz, the Custodian of the Chapin Library, will be available in the Museum after the reading to explain and answer questions concerning the Founding Documents. Admission is free and families are encouraged to attend. The event will take place rain or shine, with a rain location inside the museum.

End the day with a performance of the Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at 7:30pm. In this hilarious new production directed by Tony and Emmy Award winner David Hyde Pierce, a family of Guys and Dolls-style gangsters move to Downtown Abbey-style London in order to escape certain, shall we say, entanglements. What happens when two of these wise guys fall hard for two tough dolls and the formidable dame who runs the aforementioned criminal family develops an appetite for cucumber sandwiches? This production gives us Oscar Wilde's hilarious high society satire in a very new way.