Shakespeare & Company Presents Will 444 Bash

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LENOX — A party like this only happens once every 444 years.

Shakespeare & Company is using the birthday of its namesake as the inspiration for a merry, informal, fun-drenched party—including the chance to win an amazing vacation package.

The Will 444 party will rock Josie’s Place Café and Founders’ Theatre on Wednesday, April 23 from 6pm until 10pm. The evening includes Elizabethan-inspired food, cash bar, live music, birthday cake for all, and a one-time-only performance called All Things Will. The evening includes a raffle drawing highlighted by a trip for two to London, where William Shakespeare penned and first produced some of the greatest works composed in English or any other language.

The grand prize package includes airfare for two and a two-night stay at London’s exclusive Claridge’s Hotel. The second prize is an autumn weekend retreat in Lenox, great for out-of-towners or locals who could use a chance to take a break and enjoy the Berkshires with fresh eyes. This prize includes accommodations for two on Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday the 8th, dinner for two at Aster’s Steakhouse on Saturday night, and two of the best seats in the house for The Canterville Ghost at Shakespeare & Company. The third prize is a Shakespeare finger puppet!

All ages are welcome to this bash. Tickets for the entire evening, including pre-show food, All Things Will, and post-show dessert party are $25. Tickets for just the performance and post-show party are $10. Raffles tickets are $10 each. All tickets are available in advance at www.shakespeare.org or by calling the Box Office at (413) 637-3353, or at the door. Advance tickets are recommended but not required. Raffle ticket-holders must be present to claim prizes.


The party will include wandering troubadours, spontaneous sonnets, and other surprises. All Things Will is a loose, playful, humorous romp. It will include a piece specially prepared for the occasion by Shakespeare & Company Founder and Artistic Director Tina Packer as well as a live performance by Albany-based band Citizen Genet including a new rock adaptation of “Willow,” the legendary song from Othello.

It will also include excerpts from two new plays appearing at Shakespeare & Company this season—Theresa Rebeck’s Bad Dates (performed by Elizabeth Aspenlieder) and Christine Whitley’s The Goatwoman of Corvis County, which will make its world premiere at Shakespeare & Company’s new Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre this summer. All Things Will also features an excerpt of the rapid-fire tour through Shakespeare’s work, life and times called Shakespeare and the Language that Shaped A World.

Swordplay and wordplay are expected. Please check all slings, arrows, knives, poisons and treachery at the door.

The party schedule is: 6pm-7pm — Elizabethan food with cash bar, 7:15-8:15 — All Things Will, 8:15-10:00 — The party continues with dessert (birthday cake!), music provided by our house DJ, and a cash bar. The raffle drawing is at 9pm. Raffle tickets are on sale throughout the evening.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.

Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business. 

"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality." 

Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.

"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."

After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.

Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.

"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."

The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.

"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."

Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.

"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.

Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.

"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.

The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.

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