Shakespeare & Company announces new Marketing Director

12:00AM / Tuesday, January 17, 2006Print Story | Email Story

Lenox - Shakespeare & Company's Executive Director Mark W. Jones, and Artistic Director Tina Packer welcome the arrival of the Company's new Marketing Director Mike Clary who recently joined the year round managerial team at its Lenox Center campus. The hiring of Mr. Clary follows the Company's successful 2005 performance season which was lauded by both critics and patrons alike and ends an almost year-long search by the Company to replace former Communications Director Dan McCleary, who still makes Shakespeare & Company his artistic home. The 2006 performance season is expected to be released to the public mid-February along with the Company's season brochure. Please visit www.shakespeare.org for season updates. Bringing over 20 years experience in advertising and marketing to the Company, Mr. Clary is well versed in both fields including all aspects of production, project management, marketing in every media, and has written, produced and been Creative Director on advertising campaigns and numerous corporate multimedia projects and staged events. He will manage all levels of the Company's marketing department including, media buying, strategic marketing and planning, budgeting, all creative and collateral pieces, overseeing box office and audience services, as well as writing and working with various community organizations on collaborative programming. Mr. Clary will report directly to Jones and Packer, and work closely with Publicity and Playbill Advertising Director Elizabeth Aspenlieder. The newly defined Marketing Director position has been created to give both Mr. Clary and Ms. Aspenlieder equal responsibility over the day-to-day marketing and publicity management of the Company. "We are extremely pleased to have Mike join Shakespeare & Company," said Jones. "Tina, our Board of Directors, and key staff members invested a considerable amount of time and energy in finding exactly the right person for this position, and I know that I speak on behalf of the entire leadership of the Company when I say that we have found the perfect match. It was a unanimous decision to bring Mike on board, and it is particularly heartening that he has been a long-time supporter, Berkshire resident, and friend of Shakespeare & Company." Mr. Clary has worked for numerous ad agencies in New York and New England including Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam and Interpublic, writing and directing campaigns for consumer goods, banks, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and stage companies. Over the course of his career, Mr. Clary has worked with Ciba-Geigy, General Electric, Whirlpool, Freihofer's Bakeries, various service, financial and high-tech companies, The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, and The Brooklyn Academy of Music, where he worked on the creation and development of identity, communication and subscription campaigns. He has also been Creative Director for onsite interactive installations, such as "Hi, It's Me!", a 3000 sq. ft., modular installation for AT&T at the San Jose, CA TechMuseum, an exhibit spotlighting broadband and web-based communication, voice recognition, virtual libraries and video streaming. A graduate from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, Mr. Clary holds a B.A. in Mass Communications. He also studied writing and media production at The New School and New York University and for several years he taught advertising and marketing at The City College of New York. Mr. Clary was also a Medical Corpsman in the Navy Seabees, stationed in Cuba, in Alaska, and on an aircraft carrier. "Mike comes to us at a time when we are about to embark on some exciting changes, challenges and growth for the organization," says Packer. "Mike has proven over his long career that he is not only up to the challenges, but that he can shape successful growth strategies within the marketing department. We are delighted to add his expertise, energy, commitment, and creative passion to our leadership team so that we can continue to strengthen our relationship with our patrons and the community as we continue to reinforce our commitment to the highest standards of theatrical performance, training, and education for the students and theatre-goers of Berkshire County and beyond." Mr. Clary has published numerous essays, short stories, articles and interviews and won the WorldFest Gold Award for Original Film Script, for his provocative script Camus' Shoes in 1992. A few years ago, he wrote and produced Rip!, an original, 21 song musical based on Rip Van Winkle. He lives with his wife Elizabeth in Stephentown, NY, and New York City. "I've admired the creative fire of Shakespeare & Company for several years," says Clary. "I have seen many stunning and magical productions on their stages and believe they bring an indispensable character to the Berkshires. More than a premier company of artists, Shakespeare & Company has a deep commitment to discovering new voices, providing professional training that has produced some of the best actors in America, and being involved in education programs that over the years have benefited thousands of students in schools and communities all across the Northeast. I'm very pleased and proud to be associated with an organization that is internationally recognized for these traditions of excellence, artistic discovery and transformative theater. I look forward to taking part in this great tradition and bringing our new organizational and artistic visions to reality. Always new, always fresh, Shakespeare & Company is now in the first stages of its most exciting, inventive seasons."

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Social Service Organizations Highlight Challenges, Successes at Poverty Talk

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
08:04AM / Sunday, April 05, 2026

Dr. Jennifer Michaels of the Brien Center demonstrates how to use Narcan. Easy access to the drug has cut overdose deaths in the county by nearly half.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Recent actions at the federal level are making it harder for people to climb out of poverty.

Brad Gordon, executive director of Upside413, said he felt like he was doing a disservice by not recognizing national challenges and how they draw a direct line from choices being made by the Trump administration and the challenges the United States is facing.

"They more generally impact people's ability to work their way out of poverty, and that's really, that's really the overarching dynamic," he said.

"Poverty is incredibly corrosive, and it impacts all the topics that we'll talk about today."

His comments came during a conversation on poverty hosted by Berkshire Community Action Council. Eight local service agency leaders detailed how they are supporting people during the current housing and affordability crisis, and the Berkshire state delegation spoke to their own efforts.

The event held on March 27 at the Berkshire Athenaeum included a working lunch and encouraged public feedback.

"All of this information that we're going to gather today from both you and the panelists is going to drive our next three-year strategic plan," explained Deborah Leonczyk, BCAC's executive director.

The conversation ranged from health care and housing production to financial literacy and child care. Participating agencies included Upside 413, The Brien Center, The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, MassHire Berkshire Career Center, Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, Greylock Federal Credit Union, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, and Child Care of the Berkshires.

The federal choices Gordon spoke about included allocating $140 billion for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, investing $38 billion to convert warehouses into detention centers, cutting $1 trillion from Medicaid over 10 years, a proposed 50 percent increase in the defense budget, and cutting federal funding for supportive housing programs.

Gordon pointed to past comments about how the region can't build its way out of the housing crisis because of money. He withdrew that statement, explaining, "You know what? That's bullshit, actually."

"I'm going to be honest with you, that is absolute bullshit. I have just observed over the last year or so how we're spending our money and the amount of money that we're spending on the federal side, and I'm no longer saying in good conscience that we can't build our way out of this," he said.

Upside 413 provided a "Housing Demand in Western Massachusetts" report that was done in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst's Donahue Institute of Economic and Public Policy Research. It states that around 23,400 units are needed to meet current housing demand in Western Mass; 1,900 in Berkshire County in 2025.

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