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Mayor Daniel Bianchi said the series will build on the city's already existing arts culture.

Pittsfield Launching Free 'Shakespeare in the Park' Series

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Allen P. Harris, of Berkshire Money Management, program founder Enrico Spada and Mayor Daniel Bianchi announced the series on Tuesday.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For Enrico Spada, it is a dream come true. A midsummer's night dream, in fact.

The local businessman and actor announced Tuesday a series of free, outdoor plays will be coming to Springside Park this summer.

Spada, in partnership with the city, is launching eight free performances of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer's Night Dream" from July 17-27.

"One of the things I've thought the Berkshires needed was this program," he said of a goal he set just a few years earlier.

Spada operates a graphics design business, but has also been teaching in Shakespeare & Company's youth programs for a number of years.

He brought the idea to the Parks Commission last fall.

The Shakespeare in the Park performances will include full lighting and sound and feature local actors. Additionally, Shakespeare & Company has volunteered to reach out to high schools and younger children to perform various roles in the play. The performances, at 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, are expected to be another cultural attraction to build on the city's arts scene.

"We really want people to enjoy the arts for the sake of the arts. We want the community to be enriched culturally," said Allen P. Harris of Berkshire Money Management, who is the lead sponsor for the performances.

Mayor Daniel Bianchi said the program will grow the economic base the arts contribute to the Berkshires by exposing more people to arts. With the performances being free, Spada said the barriers keeping some people from experiencing Shakespeare are broken.

"The stories and themes he writes about are huge, bold and timeless," Spada said of the benefits of people being exposed to the Bard. "I think that Shakespeare is a very important part of our heritage."



However, with all of the approvals and commitments in place, Spada said organizers are still looking to raise $25,000. They'll be launching a fundraising campaign for lighting, props and sound equipment, and to pay the staff and actors.

"The biggest expense is the lights and sound," Spada said.

Berkshire Money Management is matching $5,000 of donations brought in through the Indiegogo funding campaign during the first 10 days of launch, beginning Wednesday. Local artisans have contributed gifts for those who donate — and those who donate more than $1,000 will receive a "cameo" in the play.

"It's a big project," Harris said. "We have a challenge out there for the community."

The auditions are Saturday, April 12, from 10 to 4, at the Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, 28 Renne Ave., followed by three weeks of rehearsals. During that period, the actors will be holding workshops and working with schools.

"I know Shakespeare & Company has been very much involved with the kids in high school," Bianchi said. "We are so very thankful to have them involved [in this project]."

For more information, contact Spada at enrico@pittsfieldshakespeare.org


Tags: free theater,   shakespeare,   Shakespeare & Company,   

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North Adams Regional Reopens With Ribbon-Cutting Celebration

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff

BHS President and CEO Darlene Rodowicz welcomes the gathering to the celebration of the hospital's reopening 10 years to the day it closed. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The joyful celebration on Thursday at North Adams Regional Hospital was a far cry from the scene 10 years ago when protests and tears marked the facility's closing
 
Hospital officials, local leaders, medical staff, residents and elected officials gathered under a tent on the campus to mark the efforts over the past decade to restore NARH and cut the ribbon officially reopening the 136-year-old medical center. 
 
"This hospital under previous ownership closed its doors. It was a day that was full of tears, anger and fear in the Northern Berkshire community about where and how residents would be able to receive what should be a fundamental right for everyone — access to health care," said Darlene Rodowicz, president and CEO of Berkshire Health Systems. 
 
"Today the historic opportunity to enhance the health and wellness of Northern Berkshire community is here. And we've been waiting for this moment for 10 years. It is the key to keeping in line with our strategic plan which is to increase access and support coordinated county wide system of care." 
 
Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, under the BHS umbrella, purchased the campus and affiliated systems when Northern Berkshire Healthcare declared bankruptcy and closed on March 28, 2014. NBH had been beset by falling admissions, reductions in Medicare and Medicaid payments, and investments that had gone sour leaving it more than $30 million in debt. 
 
BMC was able to reopen the ER as an emergency satellite facility and slowly restored and enhanced medical services including outpatient surgery, imaging, dialysis, pharmacy and physician services. 
 
But it would take a slight tweak in the U.S. Health and Human Services' regulations — thank to U.S. Rep. Richie Neal — to bring back inpatient beds and resurrect North Adams Regional Hospital 
 
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