WESTFIELD — The Downtown Westfield Corporation (DWC) remains optimistic that Shakespeare in the Park will take place this August even if they have to be flexible in their approach.
Last week, during the DWC’s monthly board meeting, the owner of the Acting Out! theater company said the organization may be looking to pull source material from bodies of work that are over 100 years old (and therefore considered to be public domain) rather than more recently published compilations in order to avoid having to ask the town to pay for the rights.
“I’ll look into what the rights will cost. It’s a bit of a process,” Roberta Lowe said. “We want to exhaust every option before we say we cannot have it.”
Councilwoman Dawn Mackey said she thought the town would be willing to contribute a nominal amount towards the production costs.
“We are planning to hold this event in August like we did last year,” DWC Chair Jeff Kirshenbaum said, adding that more details will be released over the course of the coming months.
Meanwhile, the DWC is actively preparing for other upcoming summer season events, starting with an 80’s themed Girls’ Night Out that will be held throughout the downtown area on Thursday, May 9.
Girls’ Night Out will be a free event held from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. that will feature entertainment, specialty items, food and beverages.
Mr. Kirshenbaum also provided an update about the DWC’s new strategic plan, which was approved by the town council earlier this year.
“We’re excited to get started,” he said.
In keeping with its new approach to organization, the DWC also will provide its new and current board members with an updated set of guidelines and expectations going forward, Mr. Kirshenbaum said, in order to give people a better understanding of what their roles within the organization will be.
Also discussed in last week’s Chair report was an upcoming roundtable discussion that will be held for local hospitality groups.
“We are working closely with the hospitality consultant to collect feedback from our businesses about the topics of discussion they’d like us to include,” he said.
Executive Director Samantha Horning encouraged board members to attend two ribbon-cutting ceremonies: one for a new Vietnamese restaurant, vPho on Westfield Avenue, and another to announce a change of ownership at the Town Book Store, which will be held this Saturday, April 27.
