East Lynne Theater Announces Free & Discounted Shows in March

Just because East Lynne Theater Company isn't currently producing weekly shows in Cape May doesn't mean the company is idle. During the winter, there are Murder Mystery Weekends at The Henry Sawyer Inn, touring shows on the road, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's (NJTA) "Stages Festival" in March.

"The Stages Festival" offers dozens of performances, workshops, classes, and events at the state's professional theaters, performing arts centers, libraries, schools, senior centers, and other community venues. The program was developed to encourage New Jersey's residents to attend their local professional theaters by making the experience affordable, accessible, and fun. Since its inception 19 years ago, the program has served over 190,000 people.

Founded in 1981, NJTA is the first statewide organization for professional, not-for-profit theater companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that foster collaboration, cooperation, and audience development. ELTC is a proud member of NJTA and ELTC's artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth, is a member of the board. For more information about this innovative company, visit www.njtheatrealliance.org. For an up-to-the-minute "Stages Festival" schedule, visit www.stagesfestival.org.

As usual, ELTC provides performances both in and out of Cape May County for "The Stages Festival." More information may found at www.eastlynnetheater.org, by e-mailing eastlynneco@aol.com, or by calling ELTC at 609-884-5898.

ELTC's first "Stages Festival" event in Cape May is on Wednesday, March 16 at 7:00p.m. at West Cape May Elementary School, 301 Moore St., in West Cape May, when students perform "Aesop Fables," under the direction of Gayle Stahlhuth, assisted by Sally Bingham and Lee O'Connor. There are only six eighty-minute rehearsals before the show goes up, with lines learned, blocking complete, props in place and costumes finished. Fables include "The Birds and the Beast," "The Ants and the Grasshopper," and "The Tortoise and Hare." This marks ELTC's twelfth residency at West Cape May Elementary School. Admission is free.

Before television and the Internet, people sat eagerly by the radio to hear the latest dramas, comedies and news. ELTC invites you to be part of our radio audience on Friday, March 18 and Saturday, March 19 at 8:00p.m., when we present two mysteries with two different detectives, performed by the same cast-of-seven going from Holmes' Victorian England, to Carter's Manhattan during World War II. The adventures are "Sherlock Holmes Adventure of the Red-Headed League" and "Nick Carter and the Voice of Crime," the 2nd-ever Carter radio mystery from 1943, used with permission by Conde Nast. The location is the First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., where ELTC is in residence. Tickets are $27 general admission; $17 for students and military (retired/active); and ages 12 and under are free. A few discount tickets are available through NJArtstix.org at NJTA's website, mentioned above.

On Sunday, March 20 at 8:00p.m., it's "Celebrating the Provincetown Players," a staged reading of several one-act plays first produced by this prestigious acting/playwriting troupe to honor the 100th Anniversary of this company becoming incorporated and first performing in Greenwich Village, NY. Founded by Susan Glaspell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and her husband George Cram Cook on Cape Cod, MA, this troupe is considered to be the first modern American theater company. The plays include "The Web" and "Before Breakfast" by Eugene O'Neill, and "Trifles" and "Suppressed Desires" by Susan Glaspell, performed by a cast of seven. Tickets are $5 and the location is the First Presbyterian Church.

ELTC shows on the road funded through "The Stages Festival" are three performances of "Victorian Magic" with Robert Aberdeen and a performance of "Detectives Holmes and Carter" on Monday, March 21 at 6:30p.m. at the Long Beach Island Library in Surf City, NJ. Admission is free.

"Victorian Magic" is on March 13 at 2:00p.m. at the Mahwah Public Library; March 21 at 7:00p.m. at the Beachwood Library in Ocean City; and March 23 at 3:30 p.m. at the Woodbury Public Library. Broadway and film veteran Robert Aberdeen delights audiences of all ages with his sleight-of-hand. These shows are all located in New Jersey and admission is free.

Not part of "The Stages Festival," but still another of ELTC's touring shows, is "Someone Must Wash the Dishes: an Anti-Suffrage Satire" starring Michele LaRue on March 3 at 6:00p.m. at Mays Landing Public Library; March 5 at 2:00p.m. at Barnegat Branch, Ocean County Public Library; and at The Evergreens Continuing Care Retirement Community in Moorestown, NJ. All performances are free.

Meanwhile, there is an opportunity to support the nonprofit ELTC by coming to Fins Bar and Grille, 142 Decatur St. on the Washington Street Mall in Cape May on Sunday, March 13 from 10:30a.m. to 2:30p.m. Guests can make their own Bloody Marys and Mimosas, enjoy live music, and indulge in a tasty brunch, with a percentage of the proceeds going to ELTC.

"The Stages Festival" is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; Bank of America; and The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey. Additional program support is provided by The Smart Family Foundation, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Prudential Foundation, F.M. Kirby Foundation, and The George A. Ohl, Jr. Trust Foundation.

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