New Jersey Theatre Alliance's The Stages Festival And East Lynne Theater Company Present THE GUARDSMAN AND THE ACTRESS

New Jersey Theatre Alliance and East Lynne Theater Company (ELTC) present a staged reading of the classic romantic comedy THE GUARDSMAN AND THE ACTRESS by Ferenc Molnar, adapted by Mark Edward Lang. Performances will be on March 30, 31 and April 1 at 8:00 PM at Cape May Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes Street in Cape May, New Jersey.

This event is part of the Alliance's Stages Festival, the state's largest annual theater festival, which provides free and discounted theater events for all ages throughout the months of March, April, and May. This event is pay-what-you will.

A real-life married actor-couple play a newlywed actor-couple in this classic romantic comedy about marriage, jealousy, fantasy and reality, adapted for two actors by Mark Edward Lang, from Ferenc Molnar's THE GUARDSMAN (1924). It was the signature piece for the famous actor couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. ELTC produced the full version in 2008 starring Lang and his wife Alison J. Murphy, who reprise their roles for this staged reading. This is a pay-what-you-will performance, sponsored by the New Jersey Theatre Alliance Stages Festival.

Lang and Murphy are a New York City based actor couple who first met on the ELTC stage in the 2001 production of the 1905 comedy THE DICTATOR by Richard Harding Davis, directed by Gayle Stahlhuth. They have co-starred in many ELTC productions over the years, most recently in AH, WILDERNESS! and last season's WHO AM I THIS TIME (AND OTHER CONDUNDRUMS OF LOVE). They have performed LUNT AND FONTANNE: THE CELESTIALS OF BROADWAY in New York and San Antonio; and last year they were honored to perform their two-person show ZELDA & SCOTT: A LIFE AFFAIR, based on the letters of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, at the Fitzgerald Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. They celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on May 3.

For more information, or to make a reservation, go to www.ELTC.info. East Lynne Theater Company is in residence at Cape May Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes Street and Decatur, Cape May, New Jersey.

The Stages Festival offers over 70 in-person and online performances, workshops, classes, and events at theatres, libraries, and other community venues throughout the state. The program was developed to encourage New Jersey's residents to attend their local professional theatres by making the experience affordable, accessible, and fun.

"The Alliance is grateful that East Lynne Theater Company is participating in the 2023 Stages Festival," said John McEwen, Executive Director of the Alliance. "For more than 25 years, The Stages Festival has provided theatrical experiences for more than 200,000 residents across New Jersey. We are thrilled that we can bring communities together through the power of theatre ".

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance 2023 Stages Festival is made possible by support from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey; OceanFirst Foundation; Fund for the New Jersey Blind; and Customers Bank.

A full calendar of events is available at www.njtheatrealliance.org/stages.

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