East Lynne Theater Company's ALICE Provides Opportunity To Meet The Cast 6/26

Where else have the actors performed? Where do they live when they are not in Cape May? How do they get hired? What made them want to be actors? And who is Alice Gerstenberg?

Audience members will get the opportunity to ask these and other questions of the five-member cast of "Alice on The Edge" on Friday, June 26 immediately after seeing the Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company's delightful production of Alice Gerstenberg's one-act plays directed by Karen Case Cook.

As usual with ELTC productions, all the actors are passionate about theater, and most call Manhattan home. Here is just a sampling of information about the talented cast.

Shelley McPherson is not only an actress, but also a singer and writer. She'll be busy in the fall getting a musical she co-wrote with The Breithaupt Brothers, up on its feet for a full production. The show, "Seeing Stars," was jury-selected to be one of 12 "Next Link" musicals in the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Although now living in Manhattan, she was born in raised in Canada.

Also originally from Canada, now living in Galloway, NJ, is SuzAnne Dawson, who has performed at many venues including Buffalo Studio Arena and Paper Mill Playhouse here in NJ, and she toured opposite Gavin MacLeod in "Last of the Red Hot Lovers." Suzanne and Shelley just met, but their ancestors are from the same small area in Canada and these two may actually be related. They are working on trying to figure out the "family trees."

Last summer, Alison J. Murphy and Mark Edward Lang took the roles originally played by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne on Broadway, in ELTC's production of "The Guardsman." Inspired by the lives of this famous acting duo, Alison and Mark recently took a trip to Ten Chimneys, the Lunts' home-museum in Wisconsin. They will back at the Avalon Library in June and July teaching their "Improv and Shakespeare" acting classes, which are free and open to the public.

Rounding out the cast is Gayle Stahlhuth, who is entering her eleventh year as artistic director of the company. On June 23 she begins directing the Student Theater Workshop production of "Hans Brinker," followed closely with the world premiere of her adaptation of "The Ransom of Red Chief."

Playwright Alice Gerstenberg, herself, is worthy of discussion. She wrote forty-some plays including "Alice in Wonderland," based on Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through the Looking Glass" that was produced on Broadway in 1915.

"Alice on The Edge" can be seen June 17 through July 25 at 8:30p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays, where the company is in residence at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May. There will be no performance on Saturday July 4, but an added performance on Sunday July 5.

Tickets are $28 general admission; $23 for seniors and those with disabilities and their support companions; and $13 for full-time students. Children ages 12 and under are always free. Season tickets are still available through June 30: 5 shows for only $90. Checks may be mailed to the office, 121 Fourth Ave., West Cape May, NJ 08204, or through the website, www.eastlynnetheater.org. For information and reservations, call 609-884-5898 or visit the website. To make a reservation using a credit card, call 866-280-9211.

The twentieth year of "Tales of the Victorians," the popular reading series, continues, with a performance at The Mad Batter, 19 Jackson St. on June 25 at 4:00p.m. Tickets are only $10 and ages 12 and under are free.

The production of "Alice on The Edge" would not be possible without season sponsors Curran Investment Management, Aleathea's Restaurant, La Mer Beachfront Inn, and funding received through a grant from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism, as well as this show's sponsor, The Henry Sawyer Inn, and the generosity of many patrons.

Photo: Mark Edward Lang and SuzAnne Dawson

 

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