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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.

If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

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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