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Barrington Stage Buys Former VFW For Performance Space

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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Barrington Stage Company has purchased the former Veterans of Foreign Wars post at 36 Linden St. on April 19 for $340,843.

The company has been using the building since 2008 for rehearsal and for performances as "Stage 2." It is about two blocks from the Main Stage at 30 Union St. and will be home for new plays, musicals and cabarets.

"Having our own home on Linden Street will allow us to create a true community arts center," said Artistic Director Julianne Boyd in a statement. "Not only will we be producing new plays, musicals and cabarets but also we will have spaces for local arts organizations to rent — a rehearsal space, the 110-seat theater and the 50-seat cabaret — at reasonable costs. We want the burgeoning artistic community in Pittsfield to feel BSC is their home."

Boyd said the purchase was made possible because of a gift from longtime supporters Sydelle and Lee Blatt. Sydelle Blatt has been a member of the BSC board of trustees since 2002. The former Lt. John L. Truden VFW Post 448 will be renamed the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Center. The VFW club will move to the American Legion.

The Blatts were instrumental in the company's move from Sheffield to Pittsfield in 2005 and sponsored last season's  world premiere production of associate artist and resident playwright Mark St. Germain's "The Best of Enemies."

The 12,602 square-foot, air-conditioned, 40-year-old building has two levels. The upper level houses a cafe and the 110-seat Stage 2 theater, which will be named the St. Germain Stage after Mark St. Germain. The lower level houses rehearsal space, offices and a 50-seat cabaret space with a bar, which will be named Mr. Finn's Cabaret after Tony-winner and associate artist William Finn, artistic producer of BSC's Musical Theatre Lab.

The building will be dedicated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, May 26, at 2 p.m.

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Dalton Man Accused of Kidnapping, Shooting Pittsfield Man

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A Dalton man was arrested on Thursday evening after allegedly kidnapping and shooting another man.

Nicholas Lighten, 35, was arraigned in Central Berkshire District Court on Friday on multiple charges including kidnapping with a firearm and armed assault with intent to murder. He was booked in Dalton around 11:45 p.m. the previous night.

There was heavy police presence Thursday night in the area of Lighten's East Housatonic Street home before his arrest.

Shortly before 7 p.m., Dalton dispatch received a call from the Pittsfield Police Department requesting that an officer respond to Berkshire Medical Center. Adrian Mclaughlin of Pittsfield claimed that he was shot in the leg by Lighten after an altercation at the defendants home. Mclaughlin drove himself to the hospital and was treated and released with non-life-threatening injuries. 

"We were told that Lighten told Adrian to go down to his basement, where he told Adrian to get down on his knees and pulled out a chain," the police report reads.

"We were told that throughout the struggle with Lighten, Adrian recalls three gunshots."

Dalton PD was advised that Pittsfield had swabbed Mclaughlin for DNA because he reported biting Lighten. A bite mark was later found on Lighten's shoulder. 

Later that night, the victim reportedly was "certain, very certain" that Lighten was his assailant when shown a photo array at the hospital.

According to Dalton Police, an officer was stationed near Lighten's house in an unmarked vehicle and instructed to call over the radio if he left the residence. The Berkshire County Special Response Team was also contacted.

Lighten was under surveillance at his home from about 7:50 p.m. to about 8:40 p.m. when he left the property in a vehicle with Massachusetts plates. Another officer initiated a high-risk motor vehicle stop with the sergeant and response team just past Mill Street on West Housatonic Street, police said, and traffic was stopped on both sides of the road.

Lighten and a passenger were removed from the vehicle and detained. Police reported finding items including a brass knuckle knife, three shell casings wrapped in a rubber glove, and a pair of rubber gloves on him.

The response team entered Lighten's home at 43 East Housatonic before 9:30 p.m. for a protective sweep and cleared the residence before 9:50 p.m., police said. The residence was secured for crime scene investigators.

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