The Berkshire Theatre Festival is one of the oldest professional performing arts venues in the Berkshires, celebrating 100 years of theatre in 2028.
26-674: The main building of the Berkshire Theatre Festival was originally the Stockbridge Casino , designed by Stanford White and built in 1887. At one point the center of social life in Stockbridge, by 1927 it had fallen into disuse. Mabel Choate , the daughter of one of the casino 's founders, purchased the property for $ 2,000, but wasn't interested in the casino itself (she moved the Mission House to
52-737: A Golden Globe for the 1989 TV movie No Place Like Home and won a Golden Globe and an Emmy in 1998 for her role as Kate Austin in the CBS series Chicago Hope (1995–99). She returned to Broadway in 2009 to star in God of Carnage . She has had a number of recurring roles: as Sonya Paxton in the NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2009–11), as Doris McGarrett in the CBS series Hawaii Five-0 (2012–19), and as Laurel Hitchin in NBC's The Blacklist (2015–17). She currently appears as Sheryl Luria in
78-727: A Necktie (1967) Dustin Hoffman in Fragments (1966) Gene Hackman in Fragments (1966) Karen Allen Linda Hamilton Jeffrey Donovan in Toys in the Attic (2000) Randy Harrison in Equus , Amadeus , One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , Mrs. Warren's Profession , Waiting for Godot , Ghosts , The Endgame , and The Who's Tommy Kate Baldwin in A Little Night Music (2014), What
104-622: A few special appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit . In September 2011, Lahti starred with Morgan Freeman in the Broadway debut of Dustin Lance Black 's play, 8 —a reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage —as Kris Perry . In March 2012, she was featured with Jamie Lee Curtis and Jansen Panettiere at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre . The production
130-526: A formal season of plays was offered in the Unicorn Theatre to meet the growing popularity of the festival. Prior to that, the Unicorn had been in use for years to house various offerings over the course of the season, including a slate of cabaret and workshop productions in 1992. The Unicorn Theatre was completely replaced with a new facility prior to the 1996 summer season; the inaugural production in
156-487: A low balustrade. On the front roof face, the cupola flanked by round-headed dormers. The main facade has a projecting two-story center section, composed of three bays articulated by engaged round columns. Each of these bays has a paneled first floor and a rounded window on the second. Entrances are located flanking this projecting bay, accessed via stairs at differing elevations. The interior has undergone some alterations from its original appearance, due to its conversion to
182-660: A part of the grounds of the Berkshire Theatre Festival , the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The former Stockbridge Casino is set east of Stockbridge's Main Street downtown, at the northwest corner of Yale Hill Road and East Main Street. It is a two-story wood-frame structure, with a hip roof and clapboarded exterior. The roof is capped by a cupola, mounted in eight small round columns which are surrounded by
208-425: A piece of toilet paper attached to her shoe as an "inside joke" about her previous appearance. In 2001, her first directorial feature-length film, My First Mister , was released. Starring Leelee Sobieski and Albert Brooks , the movie debuted with good reviews. In DVD commentary she applauds the work of her cast and crew, remarking "[I] was very lucky to have such a wonderful crew..." She said she felt regret that
234-419: A theatrical performance space. Designed by Stanford White , the casino was built in 1887 near the western end of Main Street at the base of Prospect Hill, and for many years was a popular recreational and social attraction (according to older usages of the word " casino ", it was not necessarily a gambling establishment). After falling into decline, the property was purchased in 1927 by Mabel Choate , owner of
260-577: A true theatrical “Festival.” More than 2,100 actors have worked at the BTF in more than 6,000 performances, including notable actors that have won Emmys , Oscars , and Tonys . Many playwrights at BTF have won Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes . Buster Keaton Ethel Barrymore Thornton Wilder Calista Flockhart Christopher Walken in The Rain Maker Al Pacino in Does a Tiger Wear
286-491: A waitress and did commercials. Her breakthrough movie was ...And Justice for All (1979) with Al Pacino . In the film Whose Life Is It Anyway? (1981), starring Richard Dreyfuss and John Cassavetes , she was cast as a physician who grows attached to a paralyzed patient seeking the right to leave the hospital. Later, she was cast in an important role in Running on Empty , a 1988 movie in which she and Judd Hirsch played
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#1732780348611312-474: The CBS / Paramount+ series Evil . Lahti was born in Birmingham, Michigan , the daughter of Elizabeth Margaret (née Tabar), a painter, homemaker, and nurse, and Paul Theodore Lahti, a surgeon . She has three sisters, Carol, Catherine, and Linda, and two brothers, Paul Jr. and James Lahti. Her paternal grandparents were Finnish immigrants and her maternal grandparents were from Austria-Hungary. Lahti
338-591: The Constitution Means to Me (2023) Christine Lahti in the world premiere of The Smile of Her (2023) Stockbridge Casino The Stockbridge Casino is a historic building at the junction of East Main Street and Yale Hill Road in Stockbridge, Massachusetts . Built in 1887, it is a prominent local work of architect Stanford White , and has served as a cultural center in the community since its construction, despite being moved in 1928. Now
364-660: The Neighborhood (2019). For her directorial debut with the 1995 short film Lieberman in Love , she won the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film . Lahti made her Broadway debut in 1980 as a replacement in Loose Ends and went on to star in the Broadway productions of Present Laughter (1982) and The Heidi Chronicles (1989). An eight-time Golden Globe nominee and six-time Emmy Award nominee, she won
390-700: The Three Arts Society was dissolved and the Berkshire Playhouse was incorporated as a nonprofit organization, the Berkshire Theatre Festival. In 1982, the Berkshire Theatre Festival purchased Beaupré Performing Arts Center 's property in Stockbridge , renaming it the Lavan Center for the Performing Arts. The site was used as a dormitory, classroom, and performance space for the organization's apprentices and interns. In 1993,
416-430: The film was rated R, for language, despairing that the movie might not be viewed by teens who would relate with the characters. Also, Lahti mentioned that she would have liked to have had more time to shoot different perspectives in order to facilitate story arc. Lahti starred in the executive ADA role on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Sonya Paxton while the character Alexandra Cabot ( Stephanie March )
442-435: The nearby Naumkeag estate. She sought the property as a location for the Mission House , and was not interested in the casino building. She sold it for $ 1 to businessman and artist Walter Leighton Clark on the condition that it be moved. Together with sculptor Daniel Chester French and Dr. Austen Fox Riggs, he founded the Three Arts Society, which purchased the building and moved it to its current location. The building
468-506: The new space was "L-Play" by Beth Henley. In 2010, Berkshire Theatre Festival merged with The Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield, MA to form Berkshire Theatre Group. The Berkshire Playhouse facility was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Over the past 80 years, the Berkshire Theatre Festival has produced 550 fully staged productions, an eclectic mix of revivals, classics and premieres, embracing fully its role as
494-510: The newly christened Berkshire Playhouse opened on June 4, 1928, with a production of "The Cradle Song" with Eva Le Gallienne . Actors who have starred in productions at the Berkshire Playhouse include James Cagney , Lionel Barrymore , Lillian Gish , Katharine Hepburn , and Buster Keaton . Notable producing directors have included Billy Miles, Joan White , Robert Paine Grose, George Tabori , Arthur Penn , Josephine Abady, Julianne Boyd, Bill Gibson, Richard Dunlap, and Arthur Storch . In 1967,
520-795: The parents of a musically promising son; the family went underground to avoid the FBI after the parents had damaged a napalm factory, and they all must periodically move on short notice and assume new identities. She has also focused on television, beginning with her role in the made-for-TV adaptation of The Executioner's Song (1982). She appeared on Broadway in Wendy Wasserstein 's seriocomic play, The Heidi Chronicles . Lahti received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Swing Shift (1984), and won an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action for Lieberman in Love (1995), in which she starred and also directed. It
546-443: The property). Three prominent Stockbridge residents, sculptor Daniel Chester French , businessman and artist Walter Leighton Clark , and Dr. Austen Fox Riggs, formed a committee called the Three Arts Society to save the casino; Choate sold the building to them for $ 1 on the condition that it be relocated. French, Clark, and Riggs agreed, and had the structure dismantled and moved to its current location. After an extensive renovation,
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#1732780348611572-526: Was adapted from Lieberman in Love , a short story by W. P. Kinsella . Lahti won a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award in 1998 for her role in Chicago Hope . Lahti was in the bathroom when she won the third award and finally came to the stage following an attempt by show producer John Tinker to accept on her behalf and an interruptive riff by Robin Williams . In 1999, she presented with
598-933: Was broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights . Her book of autobiographical essays, titled True Stories From an Unreliable Eyewitness, was published in 2018 by Harper Wave . In 2020, Lahti appeared as a guest on the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip marathon fundraiser episode of The George Lucas Talk Show . Lahti has been married to television director Thomas Schlamme since September 4, 1983. They have three children. Lahti resides in Los Angeles, California , with her family. She also owns an apartment in Greenwich Village . In 2004, Lahti took part in
624-576: Was in appeals. She was in the first four episodes of the 11th season and returned for the show's eighth episode, where she clashed with Alexandra Cabot ( Stephanie March ). Lahti later guest starred in the ninth and 17th episodes of the 12th season , where she reprised her role as Paxton. Her character was murdered in the 17th episode. She returned to Broadway upon joining the cast of the Tony Award –winning play God of Carnage on November 17, 2009, replacing Marcia Gay Harden . Both actresses had
650-848: Was raised in the Lutheran Church. Lahti studied Fine Arts at Florida State University and received her bachelor's degree in Drama from the University of Michigan , where she joined Delta Gamma sorority . She studied acting at HB Studio in New York City , as well as completing a two-year professional actor training program at the William Esper Studio for the performing arts in Manhattan . After college, Lahti headed to New York City in 1973, where she worked as
676-504: Was renovated and reopened in 1928 as the Berkshire Playhouse, which later became the Berkshire Theatre Festival . Christine Lahti Christine Ann Lahti (born April 4, 1950) is an American actress and filmmaker. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the 1984 film Swing Shift . Her other film roles include ...And Justice for All (1979), Housekeeping (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Leaving Normal (1992), and A Beautiful Day in
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