Ten Minutes With Julianne Boyd
BARRINGTON STAGE CO-FOUNDER AND ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JULIANNE BOYD
Julianne Boyd is on the phone from St. Barts after two weeks of auditioning actors in New York. More island vacations await: Boyd, 77, announced she’s stepping down as artistic director of the Barrington Stage Company this fall, the theater group she cofounded in 1995. During her 27 years at the helm, Boyd has led a huge expansion of Barrington Stage Company—from its humble beginnings in a Sheffield high school with an operating budget of $249,000, to a five-building theater operation in Pittsfield with 22 full-time employees and a $5.8 million budget. In a career full of successes, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee stands as a notable highlight. Boyd staged the world premiere at Barrington Stage Company in 2004, and the musical later spent more than two years on Broadway.
BILL WRIGHT COURTESY BARRINGTON STAGE COMPANY
What are your memories of that first year in Sheffield? It was an utter delight. Our first show wasn’t actually at the high school. It was Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, and we wanted to stage it in the kind of place where Billie Holiday would have performed at the end of her career. We found the perfect bar and grill (the Macano Inn in Housatonic, now the Brick House Pub). I’ll always remember the way people welcomed us into the community and the great outpouring of support. People were so ready for theater in south county. The show sold out immediately.
How did The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee get started? Did the script arrive on your desk one day? I wish it was that easy, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun. (Laughs.) I knew (composer and lyricist) William Finn, and I called him in 2003 and said, “Bill, do you have anything you’d like to develop?” He said, “I have two and a half songs of a new musical, and I want to workshop it.” I remember, on opening night, Bill was so nervous. I told him, “Don’t worry, it’s going to be a big hit.” That first night, the audience howled with laughter.
What show best represents your vision for Barrington Stage Company? The play that people still ask me about the most is probably The Best of Enemies by Mark St. Germain. It’s based on the true story of a black civil rights leader who squared off against a KKK leader as schools dealt with desegregation in the South. They eventually realize they have something in common: They’ve both been held down by their poverty. Not only did the play (staged in 2011) rivet our audience, it got the community involved. The play calls for a black choir and we worked with local residents to create the choir. The whole thing was unbelievably powerful.
With live theater, something can always go wrong. Is there something that makes you laugh as you look back on it? In Company (2017), we had these bean-bag chairs, and during the first preview, an actor plopped down on one of them and it exploded—the bean stuffing flew everywhere, even into the orchestra pit. (Laughs.) Later in the same show, the fire alarm went off. Fortunately, it’s a musical, so it’s okay to laugh.
What will you miss most about being the artistic director of Barrington Stage? I’ll miss working with the theater artists who have become part of the Barrington family. I’ll miss working with the youth in Pittsfield. We’ve really tried to make a difference in the city, and the city has been so supportive of us. I’ll also miss working with the staff. They’re topnotch. It all comes down to the people— that’s what I’ll miss the most.
What will you miss the least? The meetings. They’re necessary, but they’re also nonstop. When you’re in meetings all day, it doesn’t allow you to have the free time you need to be creative.
How did you select the plays for your final season at Barrington Stage? Some of the plays were shows that didn’t get staged because of COVID. That’s the case with Ain’t Bisbehavin’. I wanted to do a show that was an upbeat celebration of black life. This season also includes shows that deal with the social issues that have always been important to us at Barrington—equity, diversity and inclusion. Near the end of the season, I’ll be directing A Little Night Music. We’ve had a long relationship with Sondheim musicals, and Stephen Sondheim actually came up to the Berkshires to see three of the shows. I’ve always felt closest to A Little Night Music. It’s witty and charming, and it takes place on a midsummer night. That seems appropriate. So why not go out with A Little Night Music?
It sounds as if Sondheim was supportive of the way you handled his work at Barrington Stage? Yes. He always came backstage to meet the cast. At Follies, he was the first one to stand up and applaud at the end of the show.
Are you leaving Barrington Stage in a good place? I wouldn’t leave the theater if it wasn’t in the black. The theater is very healthy right now. When it comes to dealing with COVID, government grants have helped us tremendously. We’re healthy artistically and financially, so it was the perfect year to leave.
What’s the biggest challenge facing the new artistic director? Continuing to develop a younger audience. In a good year, we bring in 60,000 people, but all theaters face the same challenge—finding a younger audience. And that doesn’t mean just people in their 20s and 30s, but also in their 40s and 50s. I hope the new artistic director will also continue developing our relationship with Pittsfield. We’re passing on a wonderful relationship with the city, and I hope the new artistic director can build on it.
What do you plan to do after you retire? I’ll be around as a consultant to the theater company, and I’d love to continue directing one show a year. I have three children and seven grandchildren, and I want to spend more time with them. My husband and I love to travel. We’re looking forward to a long trip to Japan. I’m also planning a trip to London to see plays.
—Alexander Stevens