LENOX, Mass. — The great-great-grandson of the literary legend Charles Dickens, British actor Gerald Charles Dickens returns to Ventfort Hall this time to present his one-man theatrical performance of his ancestor's classic works in "Mr. Dickens Is Coming!" on Sunday, Sept. 21 in both a matinee at 2 pm and an evening performance at 7 pm.
A tea will follow the matinee performance.
This is a one-man show written and performed by Gerald Charles Dickens, the great-great grandson of Charles Dickens.
The show features Gerald Dickens embodying his ancestor and bringing to life characters and excerpts from Charles Dickens' works, as well as offering a 21st-century perspective. Inspired by Charles Dickens' own readings of his works, particularly A Christmas Carol, this performance includes excerpts from novels, characters, letters, and diary entries, all delivered with a unique flair by this gifted storyteller. The show often aims to recreate the atmosphere of Charles Dickens's original performances, transporting audiences back in time to experience his stories in a period setting.
Gerald Dickens has been performing one-man stage shows based on the life and works of his ancestor for over twenty years, undertaking major tours of both the UK and America each year. In 1993 he created his first one-man show, a theatrical performance of "A Christmas Carol" inspired by Charles' own energetic readings of the 1860s. A fascination with the life and works of his great-great grandfather led him to write and direct further one-man shows including "Mr. Dickens is Coming!," "Nicholas Nickleby" and "Sketches by Boz." He regularly performs in major theatres and arts centers as well as at hotels and stately homes. He has appeared at several arts and literary festivals in the UK and has been entertaining cruise ship passengers worldwide since 2007.
Tickets for the matinee at 2 pm, which includes a tea following the performance, are $75. Tickets for the evening performance at 7 pm are $50. Reservations are required and can be made on our website at https://gildedage.org/pages/calendar or by calling (413) 637-3206. Note that all tickets are nonrefundable and non-exchangeable. Payment is required to make a reservation for an event. The historical mansion is located at 104 Walker Street in Lenox.
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A Boutique Hotel is Bringing Guests a Luxury Stay in Lenox
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
LENOX, Mass. — A new Inn is bringing a boutique-style stay for visitors and locals to enjoy.
Owners, Sullivan Capital LLC, purchased the property, located on 135 Main Street, in 2024. After a year or renovations, Garden Gables Inn is open for business.
"Garden Gables started off as one of the many Berkshire cottages, 1790 was the date on that, and it's always operated as an inn," said Hospitality Manager Yvonne Walton. "It's just a great gathering place and relaxation spot for people to come and get the feel of Lenox, and just slow down and enjoy the nature and the surrounding area...get culture and art and see some great concerts. I think it'll be a wonderful place, definitely does more of the upper-scale hospitality."
Owners Niko Giallouis and Eric Sullivan bought the property from the former owner. Sullivan had his eye on Lenox since attending a wedding almost 10 years ago.
"I came to a wedding in Lenox, probably six or seven years ago. Personally, just kind of fell in love with the area, and I guess that's kind of how it got on my radar. So you know from that perspective, as we got into the hotel business out towards an area, it was a place I was kind of monitoring and waiting for the right property to show up."
After purchasing the two underwent a full renovation, a project that cost around $1.5 million. The building, first built in 1780, required some TLC. Sullivan's wife, Jessica, who owns Jessica Sullivan Design, designed the inn.
Sullivan said they installed a new roof, repainted everything, renovated the bathrooms, installed new floors, a new HVAC system, and new plumbing.
"We really touched everything from the outside...I mean, all the aesthetics and layouts changed a bit," he said. "As I said, put about a million and a half into it. All new furniture, fixtures, everything. The design's completely different. It wasn't a full gut, but it was a heavy, heavy renovation."
The two like to collaborate with local businesses, and they make a point to direct visitors to local restaurants, businesses, and attractions.
"If guests are asking for recommendations, our customer service team, our guest services team, will relay that kind of information. Even if we can call and make a reservation for somebody, happy to do it," he said. "We aren't doing breakfast, but what we do is we have partnerships with a lot of the breakfast places downtown. We actually purchase a gift certificates for each person each day, so that they can use that to go downtown."
Sullivan hopes that guests don't see their inn as just a place to sleep and dump their bags, but make it an experience for anyone who stays.
"We really focus on kind of the experience side of things, so again, we want to give you the best experience you can have here...and we want that not just to be the place you put your bag and go do things. It's important to think of everything," he said.
Sullivan said partnerships are important to their business and are a way to connect with locals.
"The local partnerships, I can't stress that enough, because no matter how much and how great the room is, people are still going to want to go do other things," he said. "So, I think it just benefits everybody if we're all working together and so forth, and supporting the community, being neighborly too, because we are surrounded by residential homes...But we really try to put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, a lot of love into the building, all the details, really care about the senses," Sullivan said.
The Inn's check-in and reservations are completely online. When guests arrive, all they have to do is check in online and receive their code that they will use to enter their room. Sullivan hopes this helps create less stress for guests and gets them to their room as fast as possible, especially after a long trip.
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