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Monument Mountain Stages 'Little Shop of Horrors'

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — Monument Mountain Regional High School holds its spring musical "Little Shop of Horrors" this weekend on Thursday through Saturday, March 26-28, at 7:30, and Sunday, March 29, at 2:30.

All performances will be held in the Kathleen E. McDermott Auditorium. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.   

The musical with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken, part comedy, part horror as Seymour, an assistant in a flower shop on skid row, adopts a funny-looking plant with a strange appetite. Seymour wants nothing more than to show his fellow flower shop worker, Audrey, that he is more than a nerdy floral assistant. He finds the solution to his problem when the plant, more affectionately called Audrey II, promises to bring Seymour fame and fortune if he continues to nourish it. As the plant grows bigger and bigger, Seymour begins to understand the consequences associated with feeding this plant. When he realizes he has created a genuine threat to his community and the world at large, he realizes that his actions have consequences that are bigger than he ever imagined.

This year's production features more than 40 students in the cast, crew, and pit orchestra. Among the 22 student actors in this double-cast production are Jeremy Gill and Theo Burns as the nerdy, flower shop assistant, Seymour; Ruthie Lee and Caroline Sprague as the love of Seymour's life, Audrey; Dan Santos and Domenic Annand as the grumpy flower shop owner Mr. Mushnik; and Eli Shalles and Peter Teutsch as the sadistic dentist, Orin.

The show is directed by faculty member Linnea Macé who has been working on productions at the high school since 1992.  This is the 18th show she has directed there. Her team, including assistant director Maria Knox, vocal director Cindy Gutter, pit director Joe Rose, tech director Ron Piazza, lighting director Maia Robbins-Zust, and audio engineer Don Harris, ensure the quality of production that audience members have come to expect from the school's musicals over the years.

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Dalton OKs $22M Budget; Tables Concrete Sidewalk Article

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
DALTON, Mass. — Voters approved all but one of the 22 articles on the warrant at the annual town meeting on Monday night at Wahconah Regional High School.
 
More than one hundred registered voters attended the meeting, which lasted more than three hours, to vote on the budget, school district regional agreement, a proposed bylaw change, and various spending items for town equipment, repairs, projects, and initiatives.
 
The town budget of $22,951,092 is an increase of $1,449,376, or approximately 6.74 percent, over this year. Of that, the Central Berkshire Regional School District assessment of $10,537,044 and the town operating budget of $10,147,991 are included. 
 
Article 1, which proposed amending the town bylaw to make concrete sidewalks the standard, was tabled after a 20-minute discussion that included questions and concerns about its language. More on sidewalks here.
 
This has recently been a hot topic, making its way through town government boards and committees will continue with a Planning Board public hearing.  
 
Planning Board member Zack McCain motioned to table the article until a public hearing, where the details could be discussed further. He said this is common practice for bylaw amendments. 
 
During the discussion, voters also urged the need for sidewalks on Orchard Road. The Department of Public Works budget only has $12,000 to cover the cost of maintaining town sidewalks. 
 
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