Shakespeare & Co. is presenting “The Canterville Ghost” from Sept. 19th through November 9th.  Adapted from the story by Oscar Wilde, it sounds like the perfect play for the autumn season.  Featured is Michael Hammond as Sir Simon the Spellbinder.  Hammond received rave reviews for his recent portrayal of Iago.  We have our tickets, and will encourage our guests, at Brook Farm Inn in Lenox Massaachusetts, to see it.

This weekend see the critically acclaimed SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY production of Hamlet.  When SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY staged their stunning new production of Hamlet in 2006, The New York Times praised the “invaluable and indefatigable” 28 year old company for “…speak[ing] the speech so clearly and comprehendingly that even theater goers new to Shakespeare grasp the plot and characters.”

Now, America’s foremost center for Shakespeare performance and studies will offer Hamlet as their first national tour in the fall of 2008, bringing a “pared-down, revved-up version” of Shakespeare’s uncontested masterpiece to audiences across the country.

Curtain times are at 2:00pm and 8:00pm on Saturday and Sunday September 13 and 14.  Contact boxoffice@shakespeare.org or visit their website http://shakespeare.org.  The performances are at the Founders Theater on Kemble Street in Lenox Massachusetts, around the block from Brook Farm Inn.  Call us to reserve your room this week end.

Callers to Brook Farm Inn in Lenox, Massachusetts are asking about fall foliage — they want to know if the leaves are changing yet.  The answer is, a little bit.  You can see a few maples with orange leaves at the end of some branches, and even though the days are beautiful and warm, the evenings get cool. So that will bring on more changing colors.  Come see the Berkshires for yourself in this beautiful season!

We have our tickets, and can’t wait to see “Oliver!” at the Berkshire Theater Festival in Stockbridge.  It’s one of the favorite musicals of all time. The cast includes children and adults drawn from the local Berkshire community.  Stay at Brook Farm Inn in Lenox Massachusetts, and see the show September 4 through 7.

Come to the Berkshires in September, and enjoy special events at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington.  September 13, it’s Paula Poundstone, Sept. 21st see the Indigo Girls.  Then on Sept. 22nd the Metropolitan Opera “Live in HD” series begins, with Renee Fleming.  Stay with us at Brook Farm Inn in Lenox Massachusetts, and you can also enjoy the Mahaiwe’s Monday night movies, which present great classic flicks.

The Capitol Steps will be performing their hilarious political satire at the Cranwell Resort and Spa in Lenox Massachusetts through the Labor Day weekend.  Guests of Brook Farm Inn who saw the show this week reported that many new skits have been added that make the show timely.  The recent events in Georgia, the Olympics in China, and John Edwards all are dealt with as only the Capitol Steps can.  By the way, has anybody seen John Edwards lately?

Don’t miss the final weekend of performances.  Also, make reservations for  dinner at The Wyndhurst in the mansion at Cranwell before the Capitol Steps shows.  If you prefer a more casual meal eat at the Sloanes Tavern.  Try the porter on tap if you like dark beer.

We hope the Cranwell brings back the Capitol Steps next season.  In fact, we wish they were staying until November.  This election year should certainly give them a lot of material to work with.

It’s time for picking your own apples in the Berkshires!  At Brook Farm Inn in Lenox Massachusetts, we’re recommending Windy Hill Farm in Great Barrington, where the orchard offers a beautiful mountain view.  This weekend, Bartlett’s Orchard in Richmond will also be open for “pick your own.” 

At Brook Farm Inn in Lenox Massachusetts, we’re recommending that our guests see these wonderful exhibits at the Berkshire Museum.

Look at Us: Portraits from the Berkshire Museum
The Berkshire Museum showcases a diverse collection of art from the 17th century to the present. Look at Us, on view July 1 through October 26, 2008, will feature approximately 40 paintings,  drawings, photographs, and prints, by artists over the centuries. Featured artists include: Ammi Phillips, Rembrandt Peale, Asher B. Durand, Erastus Salisbury Field, John Singer Sargent, J.M. Whistler Edouard Vuillard, Norman Rockwell, Kaethe Kollwitz, Alfred Stieglitz, and more. Plus, a selection of portraits on loan from the Whitney Museum of American art will include works by Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, Chuck Close, Ann Hamilton, and others. Explore how Facebook and other technologies change the way we think of identity and portraiture. Take your picture in the photo booth or get creative at the mobile art studio (Saturdays). July 1-September 1, 2008
Full Moon at Night: Monoprints by Betsy Dovydenas
Eight works by the Lenox, Mass., artist explore the natural world at night.  In-kind sponsor: Curtis Publishing and The Saturday Evening Post

Lenox, Massachusetts is a prime destination for September and October.  The Lenox Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring these great events, and we’re telling all our guests at Brook Farm Inn about them.  Call us for more information. 

Sept. 12-14 — A Weekend of the Gilded Age

Sept. 19-21 — The Autumn Art Festival

Sept. 26-28 — Apple Squeeze and Folk Art Festival

Oct. 11-13 — A Coaching Weekend and America’s Harvest

Oct. 18 — Scenic Fall Foliage Train Ride

The company that for many years produced the “News In Review” in the Berkshires is opening “Parenting 101, the Musical” Friday at the Kimmel Center’s Innovation Theater in Philadelphia and runs through Sept. 14.  Sketches and musical paradies are performed by a cast of four actors.  Nancy Holson and Jay Falzone, who wrote “The News In Review” also collaborated on this project and have been touring the country with Patenting 101 for three years.

The ”News in Review” did not perform this year in the Berkshires.  They are missed in an election year.  The Capitol Steps has been performing at the Cranwell.  They are talented and funny, however, their material is not as timely as the Holson/Falzone written sketches.   Brook Farm Inn guests enjoyed Capitol Steps last nite but commented that not a word was said about John Edwards.  That would never have happened with “News In Review”.