The Mikado is a sparkling and lavish comedic operetta written by Gilbert & Sullivan at the height of their creative genius. A Japanese prince will do just about anything to win the hand of the national executioner’s daughter, for she is his one true love. Yum-Yum, Nanki-Poo and other charming and absurd characters will amuse and entertain.

It’s at  the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield,  Saturday.  Performances are at 3:00 and 8:00. At Brook Farm Inn, your Lenox B&B, we can recommend some good Pittsfield restaurants to round out your evening.

“The Mikado” by Gilbert & Sullivan

BTF has announced its performances for both the Unicorn Theatre and the Main Stage, beginning June 19th and going into October.  We at Brook Farm Inn – our Lenox B&B is 4 miles down the road from the theater — are looking forward to plays by Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, Shakespeare, and Rodgers and Hart, among others.   Quite a range!  Tickets are available now at www.berkshiretheatre.org.

Now that we have your attention, we can tell you about an event this Saturday featuring Francine Segan, food historian, cookbook writer, and friend to celebrity chefs. “Aphrodisiacs: Myth or Reality” will start with Ms. Segan’s talk, followed by a dessert reception and a screening of “Moonstruck.”  It’s at the Mahaiwe, Saturday February 13th, 7:00 PM.

Ms. Segan, her writing and her presentations, are favorites at Brook Farm Inn.  We met her several years ago when she wrote about our Lenox, MA bed and breakfast in an article,  ”Best Breakfast in the Berkshires.”  We’ve attended her highly entertaining talks, and we’ve used her cookbooks. 

Information is at www.mahaiwe.org

Menus for Elegant Entertaining   Recipes from Ancient Greece and Rome for the Modern Cook   Renaissance Recipes for the Contemporary Cook   Recipes for Perfect Meals with Your Favorite Films

We spent an entertaining and engrossing evening at this play, currently being performed around the corner from Brook Farm Inn, Lenox MA, at Shakespeare & Co.  The  intimate theater is a wonderful place to connect with the action, and the costumes alone are worth the price of admission.  Here’s the information:

Love is the ultimate weapon! This wickedly entertaining story of love, sex and betrayal is as sumptuously guilt-inducing as a decadent chocolate you just can’t resist. Depicting the devious schemes of French aristocrats on the cusp of the Revolution, it heats up the intimate Bernstein Theatre at Shakespeare & Company this winter under the direction of Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer.

Packer directs Elizabeth Aspenlieder, who won the coveted Elliot Norton Award for her tour de force performance in Bad Dates last winter, and Josh Aaron McCabe, most recently seen last fall as Sherlock Holmes (and a host of other characters, both male and female) in the runaway hit The Hound of the Baskervilles. Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) was ahead of its time as a novel in 1782 and it still may be ahead of its time today.

At Brook Farm Inn, Lenox MA, we recommend this wonderful theater experience to put a smile on your face this weekend.  There’s no need to ask, “Wherefore art thou?” if you’re looking for hilarity.  Everything, yes, everything the Bard wrote is slammed by a mighty wind; nothing can avoid the slings and arrows!

The first production of the new year, indeed the new decade, at the  nearby Ghent Playhouse will be The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, co-directed Tony Pallone and Colleen Lovett, both relative newcomers to the Ghent Playhouse scene, although Mr. Pallone will be remembered as the lead horse in their 2005 production of Equus. The production opens January 15 and closes January 31 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sunday afternoons at 2 p.m.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) is a Monty Python-esque romp through the work of the greatest playwright in the English language, with a tiny cast of actors playing all the roles in all the plays. That’s right, ALL…albeit in abridged form. From gender-bender casting to “Titus Andronicus” staged as a cooking show to a backwards version of “Hamlet,” this frenetic roller coaster ride offers something for everyone, be they scholar or simpleton, schoolchild or septuagenarian. The play was written by the Reduced Shakespeare Company, a group known for writing and performing unsubtle, fast-paced, seemingly improvisational condensations of huge topics. “Complete Works (Abridged)” was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1987 and later played at the Criterion Theatre in London, where it ran for nine years. It has been performed all over the world in a variety of languages — sometimes even in languages the audiences could understand

Brook Farm Inn recommends “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged)” at Ghent Playhouse

Good news for movie goers in the Berkshires — a new, state-of-the-art theater! It’s the Beacon Cinema on North Street in Pittsfield, where an old building has been completely renovated into 5 separate screening rooms. It has the advantages of comfy seats, lately released films, and a convenient location, and some great restaurants are springing up in the neighborhood. It’s close to Brook Farm Inn, your bed and breakfast in Lenox, MA.

The Berkshire Theatre Festival is offering a holiday treat!  Dickens’ classic  will be performed just minutes away from Brook Farm Inn, Lenox MA. 

A Christmas Carol runs from December 12-30.  Please note the special “movie pricing” nights on Sunday, December 20 and Monday, December 28 where all seats are only $10!  Order your tickets at (413) 298-5576 ext. 33 or by going to Online Ticketing.

  Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”

When the food and festivities of Thanksgiving Day are  over, there are still things to do  for the rest of the weekend in the Berkshires.  Lenox is hosting the Antiques and Collectibles Show all weekend, and Brook Farm Inn is offering free tickets to guests.  The Berkshire Bach Society has their 5th annual Messiah Sing on Saturday, November 28th.  Then there’s the hilarious Pantaloons performance, an annual Thanksgiving treat.  This year they’re performing  “Puss In Boots.”  Combine your stay at our Berkshires bed and breakfast with a performance, or some real shopping bargains at the Prime Outlets in Lee.

“Zany” and “freewheeling” are two of the adjectives being used to describe Shakespeare & Co.’s new offering, opening tonight in Lenox, Massachusetts. “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is, of course, based on the story by Arthur Conan Doyle.  Three actors play 16 characters, including Watson and Holmes.  At Brook Farm Inn, we’ve already purchased our tickets, as some of the guests have done as well, since you can walk to the theater from here.  The play runs through November 8th, and is a welcome attraction for the foliage season. We’ll tell more about it after we see the performance.

Sherlock Holmes (Sidney Paget, 1904)