As I sit in front of this computer, the temperature outside has passed 80 degrees, which for May in the Berkshires, is early.    And probably temporary.   It will make our Memorial Day guests ask about our covered pool.    Two nights ago, it was 31, so that is not quite fair.    However, it is always our goal to  have it  open by now.

But this year, our pool operator is running behind getting peoples' pools open.   There is a new federal law mandating a pump shutoff function on pool drains.    That caught  me by surprise, although I  do remember now that someone  in Congress had pushed this through when his granddaughter had been pinned under the water by a pool drain.    Fixing this potential problem is important, although it will cost us $1,000 for the new drain plus labor.   The larger issue is that installing these new drains caught us by surprise, and we would have made sure that we were higher in the queue with our pool guy.   Now he has to open the pool, wait for the chemicals to make the water safe, and for the pool heater to raise the temperature to a point where  he can go underwater to the drain, and make the change.    Then he has to wait for the health department to inspect the new system before they will issue the certificate for the pool to open  this year.    So this weekends' guests will be disappointed.    Unless the temperature goes back down to 30.

Hampton Terrace is one of the few Berkshire or Lenox inns with an outdoor heated pool.   We typically keep it open through September.

Planning on sticking close to home this summer and want to save up to 30% as well?   Stay multiple nights at Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast during the summer between Sunday through Thursday, and pay our off-season rate of $190/night per room.   We include full breakfast and we have an outdoor heated pool.     Hampton Terrace Inn is rated #1 by Trip Advisor, so a discounted stay does not mean a discounted experience.

During the week, you will have access to the same great attractions:   Berkshire Theatre Festival, Williamstown Theater Festival, Shakespeare & Company, Jacob's Pillow, Barrington Stage Company, The Mount, Ventfort Hall, The Clark Art Institute, Norman Rockwell Museum, Tanglewood shows in Ozawa Hall, Hancock Shaker Village, summer activities at Jiminy Peak, the Berkshire Museum, Mass MoCA., and all of the Berkshires' great restaurants and shops.   Call 800-203-0656 for availability.

Compared to our July-October "season," save 30% at Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Lenox between now and June 25.   Most of our rooms feature fireplaces and Jacuzzis.   Kings and queens.    Full breakfast.    All rooms have private baths.

We are very fortunate to be rated #1 by Trip Advisor in Lenox, which is the vortex for Berkshire inns, representing about 50% of the entire Berkshires.   Our Romantic Weekend Special includes a $30 Gift Certiticate to Nejaimes our local wine/gourmet food shop.    Eery Saturday, Nejaimes features all-day wine-tasting event…..and ultimately, we are paying for your choice!

Call us at 800-203-0656 for availability and a quote.

NEWLY CREATED
BERKSHIRE MUSICAL THEATER WORKSHIP KICKS OFF INAUGURAL SEASON WITH STAGED READING OF
MUSICAL ADAPTATION OF JANE AUSTEN’S SENSE & SENSIBILTY SATURDAY, MAY 9 AT SHAKESPEARE & COMPANY
LENOX, MASSACHUSETTS

(The Berkshires, MA) — The Berkshire Musical Theater Workshop, BMTW, will present its inaugural staged reading of the new musical, Sense & Sensibility, at Shakespeare & Company’s Elayne P. Bernstein Theater, 70 Kemble Street,
Lenox, MA on Saturday, May 9, at 2 P.M and 7:30 P.M.   Sense & Sensibility, with music by Neal Hampton (The Chimes, Mona Lisa Smile) and book and lyrics by Jeffrey Haddow (Scrambled Feet, Chekhov in Yalta), has been
developed in the prestigious BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in New York, which has nurtured Broadway shows such as Avenue Q, Ragtime, and A Chorus Line.

The presentation is free to the public, however, reservations are required and can be made by emailing tix@bmtw.org, or by calling (413) 637-3353. For further information or to make a tax-deductible donation to BMTW, please email
info@bmtw.org, or visit www.bmtw.org. Sense & Sensibility is a work in progress, and at this time, is not open to review, however, members of the media are welcome to attend.

Deborah Grausman, producer, and founder of BMTW, has assembled an all-star creative team for the organization’s inaugural production. They include director, Sam Scalamoni (Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Lestat), Boston based conductor and music director, Amy Lieberman (New England Conservatory of Music), New York based production
stage manager, Kat West (New York City Opera, The Public Theater, Prospect Theater Company), and New York casting director, Bob Cline (National Tours: Hairspray, Annie, Drowsy Chaperone). The cast will be comprised of Broadway veteran actors as well as local Berkshire actors.

Berkshire Musical Theater Workshop is an organization founded to help new musicals make the leap from page to stage. Its mission is to provide the writers of new musicals with a creative, supportive, and serene environment in which to collaborate with actors and directors to breathe life into their work. The weeklong workshop culminates in
two staged readings with an opportunity for audience feedback so that the writers can further develop their work. Sense & Sensibility tells the story of the Dashwood sisters, Elinor and Marianne, who are as different as can be. Elinor is reserved, self-possessed, and rational to a fault, and Marianne is wildly romantic, emotionally uninhibited,
and disdainful of half-measures. They struggle to cope with reduced circumstances and the pressure to marry well. Ecstasy, deception, dashed hopes, and near-tragedy lead them to discover profound truths that bring them closer together and ultimately put them within reach of true and lasting happiness. The lush, romantic score brings alive
the repressed feelings, soaring emotions, and signature wit of Jane Austen in a totally new and exciting way."I am so excited to be launching this workshop with such a treasured story," says BTMW producer Deborah Grausman, who discovered the piece in New York. "Collaborating with artists in an environment conducive to creativity is exactly what this process is all about, and I look forward to working with the talented creative team and brilliant cast to further develop this winning show!” "This story has all the perfect elements to musicalize," says Sam Scalamoni who is directing this staged reading for BMTW. "The passion of these characters is clear and the romance sincere."

Jeffrey Haddow received an LA Drama Critics Award for his play, Chekhov in Yalta, and his musical revue, Scrambled Feet, ran for two years Off-Broadway. The Legend of the Yellow Rose, a new opera for which he wrote the libretto, will debut at The Living Opera Company in Dallas, Texas this July. Mr. Haddow and Mr. Scalamoni are currently collaborating on Summer Stock, a musical based on the MGM film. Mr. Haddow is also developing At the Back of the North Wind, a family musical based on the classic novel.

Neal Hampton's music has been heard on A&E and The Discovery Channel. His adaptation of Charles Dickens’ The Chimes (book, music, lyrics) was featured at the 2004 Birth of a Musical Festival in Boston and his choral arrangements can be heard in the Columbia Pictures release of Mona Lisa Smile. Recent guest conducting
engagements include concerts with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and the Springfield (MA) Symphony. Mr. Hampton has served as the assistant conductor for the Young Artist's orchestra at Tanglewood and is on faculty at Brandeis University and Wellesley College where he is the conductor of the Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra.
Sam Scalamoni associate directed the Broadway productions of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Lestat, and has supervised the National and the UK International Tours of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Recently, he directed the last two readings of Alan Menken's and Glen Slater's new musical, Leap of Faith, as well as the debut workshop of
Mulan Jr. for Disney Theatrical Productions. In addition, Mr. Scalamoni is a founding member and the Managing Artistic Director of The Skyline Theatre Company in Bergen County, New Jersey.

Amy Lieberman is the Director of Choral Activities at the New England Conservatory of Music, and has taught piano, voice, and musical theater at Belvoir Terrace (Lenox, MA). She is currently a doctoral candidate in Choral and Orchestral conducting at Boston University and holds additional degrees from Stanford University and Yale
University. Ms. Lieberman is the artistic director of ArtsAhimsa, an international performance series that explores the connection between the power of the arts and non-violent causes.

Deborah Grausman, a New York based actor/singer/voice-over artist met Mr. Hampton and Mr. Haddow two years ago when she was recommended to present their material at the BMI workshop and to sing on the Sense & Sensibility demo. She has appeared Off-Broadway and regionally in many musicals (A Stoop on Orchard Street, Peter Pan, The Flood), and her voice can be heard on national commercials and video games. She has spent many summers in the Berkshires at Tanglewood (Boston University Tanglewood Institute), Berkshire Theater Festival, and Belvoir Terrace. Bob Cline has been a casting director in New York for 17 years. In addition to his commercial and film casting, he has cast over 50 National Tours and hundreds of regional theater productions. Most recently, Mr. Cline cast the National Tours of Hairspray, The Wedding Singer, Annie, Altar Boyz, and The Drowsy Chaperone.

Kat West has stage managed productions including La Bohème, Cavalleria Rusticana, and I Paggilacci at New York City Opera and Little Flower of East Orange at The Public Theater/LABrynith Theater Company. Ms. West is also the resident production stage manager at Prospect Theater Company in New York.

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility has had other successful adaptations including the 1995 Columbia Pictures release starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman among others, and the BBC Television series that aired in 2008.

Casting for BMTW’s production of Sense & Sensibility has been announced. Early ticket reservations are strongly encouraged as public seating is limited.

The producers have chosen Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast in Lenox as a home base for this production due to its proximinity to Shakespeare & Company, and in large part because of the reviews it received when it hosted the cast, producers and director of David Black's "An Impossible Life" last year.    These reviews of the inn from cast members, including Peter Reigert, Lori Singer, David Black and others can be read on this website.   Hampton Terrace is the #1 rated Lenox inn according to Trip Advisor reviews and features a Romantic Weekend Special.    Our king suites have been held open for the period when the above-mentioned cast will be in residence, for guests who would like to share in what will certainly be an interesting and congenial week.

Let's face it.     There is more to do in the Berkshires than a couple can even imagine.     This is one of the reasons that Susan and I still consider ourselves tourists in our home town (of 13 years)!    A real exploration of our Concierge Page would take literally all day.

But one experience that should be considered is a balloon ride over the Berkshire hills.   Our guests have LOVED IT, and one couple even got engaged during their ride.    Pilot Paul Sena has been taking people aloft for over 15 years, and his balloon, Thunderbuster, is familiar to most Berkshire residents, who at some point or other have seen it hanging in the sky.  

So combine an exciting new experience with a relaxing stay at Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast, the #1 rated Lenox inn according to Trip Advisor reviewers.     Most of our rooms feature fireplaces and Jacuzzis, and an off-season weekend stay includes a $30 gift certificate to Nejaimes, or local wine and gourmet food shop.      Full breakfast included.

Hampton Terrace is considered one of the "Berkshire Cottages" and its owners were part of the Lenox social scene for more than half a century.     But Hampton Terrace was modest in scale to the mansions built by the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Westinghouses, et al.    Many of those homes are so vast in scale that they have become destination resorts such as Cranwell, Wheatleigh, and Canyon Ranch.    One such mansion has become the "Museum to the Gilded Age" and luckily it is located virtually across the street from us.

Susan and I attended a reception there last Friday evening to hear some exciting planned events and also learn of  long-term goals for yet-unrestored portions of the mansion and the grounds.

Firstly, Ventfort Hall is unique among the restored "cottages" currently on tour (Naumkeag, The Mount, Chesterwood and others), in that it stays open during the winter, seven days per week.    It only closes on a limited number of holidays.   It also is a work in progress…..quite exciting to see the old, the new (perfectly replicated to blend with and match original detailing) and  the "projected."    I personally was on the board in the early part of the decade when work was still underway in the main hallway, porch, staircase and dining room.     Since then, restoration has included the back porch, the billiard room, the west exterior wall and the library.     Shortly, several rooms on the second floor will be open to the public.

And that is especially exciting because portions of a temporary exhibit Les Petites Dames de Mode will be moved to permanent display in two rooms on the second floor, along with some additions: Something Old, Something New:  200 Years of Berkshire Brides, a collection of historic wedding gowns, and replicas of the wedding dresses designed for two Presidents' daughters and the Duchess of York's wedding dress designed by John Burbidge.

There are lectures and special activities all up and down the calendar at Ventfort Hall.    For a listing, www.gildedage.org.   To stay at the closest possible location to the museum, pick Hampton Terrace.

Another example this weekend.    A couple spent Saturday night here and attended an all-day session at Kripalu.     Our Saturday night charge was $189 and included full breakfast.   They had a private bath and a fireplace.

At breakfast we were talking, and they said they have been to Kripalu many times in the past, and have paid between $300 and $500/night for a private bedroom at Kripalu, which is not a king, does not have a fireplace, and is spartan in its comforts.   They wondered why most people do not stay at local inns and pay the $50 day pass to go to Kripalu (which includes 3 meals).     I told them that we do get a fair number of people who know they can do that, but most people do not know they have options.

Most of the people who stay here would have done the "standard" option, which is a dormitory room of at least six people with a bathroom at the end of the hall.   That option is also more expensive than our $189 rooms.

So to attempt to attract more Kripalu guests to stay here, with a multiple night stay, we offer any queen/fireplace/Jacuzzi room for $140/night…..which means we are paying your $50 daily fee for you (which includes your meals).    That $50 would normally be absorbed into your room rate at Kripalu, so we are paying it for you.

Hampton Terrace is located approximately one mile from Kripalu and is rated #1 in Lenox by Trip Advisor.

Occasionally, it is important to stop the world for a moment just to take stock.   What is important?

There are a million large and small details that go into running a bed and breakfast.  You don't want to know.   But whittle away all the other stuff and it boils down to this:   people want a good mattress and they want to smell great coffee in the morning.   We took care of the mattresses when we bought the place.   The numerous positive comments on our website and Trip Advisor support that decision.

So let's talk about coffee.   We have prepared breakfasts on more than 3,000 mornings for about 35,000 guests.   We have had ample opportunity to get feedback on our coffee and we have ended up with Single Origin Hawaiian Kauai.    It is imported and roasted locally by Barrington Coffee Roasters.     You can tell it is great when you first snip open the air-tight bag.    The aroma of the ground beans alone can overwhelm the room.   Amazing.    "Delicate and Refined" is the description on the bag.    We make it strong.

Just like our Sealy Posturpedic mattresses, it is an investment.    This coffee costs us about $20/pound….compared to about $7/pound for average grocery store brands.   Over the years we have tried alternates.    Consumer Reports likes "8 O'Clock" brand.   It is much cheaper, but did not make the cut.   Breakfast Blend from Dunkin Donuts is passable but not memorable.    Starbuck's tastes burned.   We have gotten good feedback on Peet's.   Not as good as the Hawaiian.

Last Spring we were lucky to be able to spend a week in Kona, where the Kona Coffee is as plentiful as water.   Literally free samples everywhere and hundreds of choices.    It was great.    So when we came back to Lenox we inquired with Barrington Coffee Roasters if they also imported Kona.    They do.  It is private reserve and they do not serve it in their local coffee shops but will roast it to order.   Instead of $20/pound, it costs about $30.   So we bought a 5 pound bag and alternated Kona and Kauai, querying our guests whether they could tell the difference.   It was fun….kind of like a wine tasting event each morning.   Bottom line, they liked both equally and could not identify one over the other.     So Kauai it is.   Why pay 5 times as much when you can pay 3 times as much?

But I make too big of a deal about the price.    In context, the Hawaiian coffee costs us about a quarter a cup.   Maxwell House might be a dime per cup.   Our guests are paying between $175 and $345/night to stay at Hampton Terrace.   Give the people some good coffee!    Jeez.    That is what I mean about boiling things down to what is important.

Tonight on SCI FI: Watch Shakespeare & Company Artists on "Ghost Hunters"

Turn on your TV or set your TiVo for SCI FI Channel's popular "Ghost Hunters" tonight at 9/8c. Tonight, they uncover the mysteries of Shakespeare & Company’s former home, The Mount, during their Wednesday, March 25th broadcast at 9 PM EST. Company members Dennis Krausnick, Kevin Coleman and Elizabeth Aspenlieder were all interviewed for the show.

The Mount, former home of author, Edith Wharton, housed Shakespeare & Company for twenty years.  They took over the abandoned mansion and based their growing theater company in its main rooms and surrounding acreage until renovations of the mansion itself were almost complete.   They have moved since to a new property, and The Mount is now run by a not-for-profit that exists for its continued renovation and maintenance.   Meanwhile, many stories have been collected over the years about this historic house, and no one better to tell them than Shakespearean actors.

Both Shakespeare & Company and The Mount are located in Lenox, Massachusetts, literally less than two minutes from Hampton Terrace Bed and Breakfast Inn.   Both are worthy of a trip to the Berkshires, so consider Hampton Terrace as your home base while exploring what Lenox has to offer.