Bay Street Theater Hopes to Build on Success

Bay Street Theater is not resting on its laurels. According to Scott Schwartz, the theater’s artistic director, last summer was the most successful ever in terms of attendance and ticket sales. As in years past, the lineup of plays included one world premiere and two revivals. 

Rather than play it safe with a successful formula, this summer the Sag Harbor theater will mount three world premieres, beginning Tuesday with the three-week run of “The Prompter,” a new comedy by Wade Dooley in which he will star with Tovah Feldshuh.

“The Prompter” is about a veteran actress, Irene Young (Ms. Feldshuh), who is returning to the Broadway stage after 40 years. However, because she can no longer be counted on to do it alone, the production hires a young actor, Wade (Mr. Dooley), to be her prompter. 

For her work on the New York stage, Ms. Feldshuh has earned four Tony nominations for best actress and won four Drama Desk Awards. Her most recent television credits include “The Walking Dead” and “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.”

As both actor and playwright, Mr. Dooley knows what he’s talking about. “The Prompter” is drawn from his own experience as a prompter on Broadway for an actress who went on to win a slew of best acting awards for her performance. Mr. Dooley’s previous stage work has included the tours of “Jersey Boys” and “The Trip to Bountiful.” Mr. Schwartz will direct the production. 

The other premieres are “Safe Space” and “My Witch.” Written by Alan Fox, “Safe Space,” which will open June 25, explores political correctness on an elite university campus. The production stars the Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes Ruehl, Sasha Diamond, and Rodney Richardson and is directed by Jack O’Brien, a three-time Tony and Drama Desk Award winner.

“My Witch,” a new play by John Ahlin, stars Jean Talfer as Margaret Hamilton, a gentle kindergarten teacher from Cleveland and character actress who, as the Wicked Witch of the West 

in “The Wizard of Oz,” has scared generations of moviegoers. Will Pomerantz, Bay Street’s associate artistic director, will direct the production, which will have a five-day run in July.

The final summer production will be Irving Berlin’s “Annie Get Your Gun.” “I’m proud that Bay Street has become a place where you can take these classic musicals and see them in a completely new way,” said Mr. Schwartz. Sarna Lapine, the play’s director, has received permission to incorporate elements from the original script Dorothy Fields wrote before Berlin was involved with the show.

“That script has a much more progressive view of women and women’s power in society than the final product had. It’s still the beloved show, and it’s still set in the past, but the lens through which we are viewing it is very fresh.” 

The four theatrical productions are only part of Bay Street’s summer programming. The Music Mondays series will feature performances by Jill Eikenberry and Michael Tucker, Andrea McArdle and Donna McKechnie, Linda Lavin, LaChanze, John Lloyd Young, and Isaac Mizrahi. Perhaps the hottest of those hot tickets will be “Duets,” an acoustic show by Pat Benatar and Neil Giraldo. “It will be all the classic songs and stories of how they came about,” said Mr. Schwartz.

Back this summer after a one-year hiatus is Under the Stars, two free staged readings in Mashashimuet Park that typically draw 400 people for each performance. This year’s production, a new musical titled “The Romeo and Juliet Project,” will feature the music of Ms. Benatar and Mr. Giraldo. “Pat and Neil are directly involved,” Mr. Schwartz said, “and they will be there, but they aren’t literally in the show.”

The production sets the Romeo and Juliet story in a near-future dystopian city that has been ravaged by war. Because classic English has been outlawed, most of the text is modern English. 

For the first time, Under the Stars is being presented in partnership with Guild Hall. “What’s lovely is that the 

two organizations have really grown in different directions, which allows us now to be really symbiotic,” said Mr. Schwartz. “We’re hoping this will be the first of more opportunities to work together.”

It wouldn’t be summer at Bay Street without Comedy Club, which will kick off Saturday with the return of Paula Poundstone and her observational humor. Ms. Poundstone’s show is sold out, but the box office is taking names for a waiting list. The good news is that tickets are still available for Robert Klein (June 22) and Colin Quinn (July 27), but they are selling fast.

While Bay Street doesn’t usually schedule shows for Mondays in June, Mr. Schwartz said they couldn’t resist Walker Vreeland’s “From Ship to Shape,” which will be performed on June 10. The solo show, which comes to Bay Street from an extended sold-out 

run Off Broadway, is a tragicomic autobiographical monologue about one young man’s struggle with mental illness in today’s world. Mr. Vreeland is familiar to East End radio listeners for having hosted “The Afternoon Show” on WBAZ FM.

The theater’s summer interns will once again mount a fully staged theatrical production. This year’s play, “Incognito” by Nick Payne, will be produced, directed, acted, designed, and marketed by interns. “The interns come from 36 states,” Mr. Schwartz said, “and they get to work with every single Bay Street department.”

Bay Street’s website is the source for information on all the theater’s programs, tickets, and, in most cases, seat selection. A limited number of pay-what-you-can tickets are available in person at the box office on the day of the first performances of “The Prompter,” “Safe Space,” and “Annie Get Your Gun.”