The Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts , where Mr. Ritchie was stage manager for years and then artistic director from 1996 through 2004 , has long been famous for elegant , crowd-pleasing productions that feature celebrated playwrights -LRB- Chekhov , Shaw , Coward , Miller -RRB- , and star well-known-to-famous actors -LRB- Blythe Danner , Gwyneth Paltrow , Sam Waterston , Jesse L. Martin and Kate Burton , Mr. Ritchie 's wife -RRB- .