DULCY

Sept. 21 - Oct. 15, 2011

Erin Callahan (Angela Forbes) made her ELTC debut in You and I as Veronica Duane and was in last season’s Berkeley Square. Other credits include Shirley Talley in Fifth of July with the Michael Chechov Theater Company (NYC), Geisha and Drummer Girl in King Lear with Marin Shakespeare Co., Paris in Romeo and Juliet with Oxford Shakespeare Co., Emilia in The Two Noble Kinsmen where she performed both in NYC and London's Hyde Park, The Third Witch and Son of Macduff in the theatrical dance film/documentary of Macbeth called Tango Macbeth with New Harmony Productions, and most recently was Quince and Cobweb in Midsummer Night’s Dream with What Dreams May Com-Pany. 

 *Larry Daggett (Schuyler Van Dyck). ELTC debut. New York credits include Ragtime (original Broadway cast), Candide (New York City Opera), Red, Hot, and Cole (National Tour). Regional credits include Damn Yankees (Applegate), My Fair Lady (Doolittle/Pickering), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Quince), Follies (Benjamin Stone), Amadeus (Salieri cover), Sunset Boulevard (Max von Mayerling), A Little Night Music (Fredrick Egerman), Levant By Levant (Oscar Levant), H.M.S. Pinafore (Captain Corcoran), Oliver! (Fagin), Seussical (Cat in the Hat), Man of La Mancha (Dr. Carrasco), Annie (Rooster) at theatres which include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arkansas Repertory, Asolo Theatre, Barrington Stage, Capital Repertory, Cleveland Play House, Fulton Opera House, Goodspeed Opera House, Lyric Stage Company of Boston, Music Theatre of Connecticut, New Harmony Theatre, North Shore Music Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Sierra Repertory, Virginia Musical Theatre, among others.

*Suzanne Dawson (Henrietta) has played leading roles off-Broadway in: CBS Live, The Last Musical Comedy, The Great American Backstage Musical, and the revival of New Faces of ’52.  Her regional credits include Sylvia at Florida Studio Theatre, The Snowball and A Little Night Music at Buffalo Studio Arena, Carnival at The Alliance in Atlanta, and Rumors at Paper Mill Playhouse here in NJ.  She has toured with Rumors, and opposite Gavin Macleod in Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Suzanne was in ELTC’s To the Ladies!, Alice on the Edge, The Butter and Egg Man, Berkeley Square, and The World of Dorothy Parker.  

 Dave Holyoak (William Parker) was in ELTC’s recent He and She.  Other credits include Mark Twain's Is He Dead? (Agamemnon Buckner) and Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde (Charlie Conner) at the Civic Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan (Yes, there really is a Kalamazoo, Michigan). 

 *Mark Edward Lang (Vincent Leach) is a native and current New Yorker, but very much at home in Cape May.  Favorite roles include Captain Robert Scott in Terra Nova and Jack in The Importance of Being Earnest (Hilton Head Playhouse), The Actor in ELTC’s The Guardsman (with wife Alison J. Murphy), seven roles in the Irish comedy Stones in his Pockets (Open Stage of Harrisburg), Kosti in Welcome Home Marian Anderson (Off-Broadway & tour, including Clinton Presidential Center in Arkansas); and ELTC’s Butter and Egg Man, Why Marry?, The New York Idea, Voice of the City, Jealousy, The Dictator (2001), Four by Four and You and I (Best Actor Jacoby Award, 2007).  He’s performed Shakespeare, Moliere, and new works in NYC and 35 states on tour; as well as directing (including ELTC’s Anna Christie), corporate training and teaching workshops.  Graduate of Vassar College (Kazan Prize).

 *Megan McDermott (Dulcy Smith) Previous ELTC productions include Jean in Why Marry?, Helen in Berkeley Square, and various roles in The World of Dorothy Parker. NYC credits include: The Three Sisters, The Erpingham Camp, and Big Love. Regional credits include: The Glass Menagerie, The Importance of Being Earnest, Twelfth Night, Crimes of the Heart, Shakespeare in Hollywood, The Learned Ladies, Amadeus, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, and Spring Awakening. She has also performed at The Wilma Theater, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, EgoPo Productions, Cheltenham Art Center, The Barnstormers, and McCarter Theatre Center.

 *Alison J. Murphy (Eleanor Forbes) is delighted to return to ELTC, having performed in their past productions of The Dictator, The New York Idea, Voice of the City, Four by Four, Why Marry?, You and I and The Guardsman.  New York credits include Aurora Leigh, Mary of Shippensburg and The Wound of Love.  She has also worked with American Stage Company and Shakespeare in the Garden, in productions of Cloud Nine, Elephant Man, Extremities, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Comedy of Errors, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and Twelfth Night.  Film: The Love of My Life (Frank Faralli, director).  She performs in corporate training and events in the NYC area, and teaches acting workshops with her husband Mark Edward Lang.

Thomas Raniszewski (Tom Sterrett) graduated Rowan University (formerly Glassboro State College) with a BA in music. and is a composer and performer. His album, A Midnight at a Time, was nominated Outstanding New Recording at the 2004 Outmusic Awards, and one of the tracks, "Dreams of the Summertime," won the Stonewall Society 2004 Pride in the Arts Award. The album's Christmas track, "Through a Child's Eyes." was released as a single in partnership with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, raising funds and awareness for this organization. He co-produced the album I Hear on the Streets which benefits New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth in NYC. His music is available through iTunes, Amazon.com and CDbaby.com. Several ELTC shows include Rain and Berkeley Square. He recently received critical acclaim as Warren in the Philadelphia premier of the award-winning play The Twentieth-Century Way. 

 *Drew Seltzer (Gordon Smith) was in ELTC’s Berkeley Square, Sherlock Holmes Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle and The World of Dorothy Parker. Other stage credits include roles at Princeton Repertory Theater Company, Six Figures Theater Company at the West End, Miles Square Theater Company, Hedgerow Theater, and the Obie and Drama Desk award-winning Les Freres Corbusier where he performed in The Franklin Thesis directed by 2011 Tony-nominated Alex Timbers. The production was voted "Best of New York" by “The Village Voice.”  For four years, Drew was with the Off-Broadway production of Tony n' Tina's Wedding. Film credits include Men Who Stare at Goats, The Good Shepherd, and the lead in the upcoming feature Leaving Circadia opposite Michael Cerveris.  He received his BFA in Theater from Rutgers University (Mason Gross), has studied improv at Second City, and Shakespeare at The Globe Theater in London under the artistic direction of Mark Rylance.

 *Fred Velde (Mr. Forbes) is a native New Yorker and has been part of the New York theater scene for over thirty years. He has been a member of The Harbor Theatre since 1995 and is currently a member of The Workshop Theater. His theatre credits include The Price of Genius on Broadway, Sex by Mae West, Off-Broadway, and Traveling Souls in Moscow as a member of The Phoenix Ensemble. For ELTC, he played Dr. McPhail in Rain, Chris in Anna Christie, and Dr Watson in The Copper Beeches, The Speckled Band, and The Blue Carbuncle. As well as theater, he has appeared in film, soaps, Comedy Central and commercials. He is a member of AEA, SAG and AFTRA.

 *Gayle Stahlhuth (Miss Patterson/Artistic Director) has performed off-Broadway (Manhattan Theatre Club, etc.) in national tours (Cabaret, Fiddler, etc.), regional theater (Gateway Playhouse in Long Island, etc.), television (various soaps, etc.), radio (jingles and Voice of America), and on the Chautauqua Circuit. Since becoming ELTC’s Artistic Director in 1999, she has produced 60 different plays/musicals (some returned for another season), including 15 world premieres and 8 NJ premieres, and directed over half of them.  She’s been awarded commissions from The National Portrait Gallery, the Missouri and Illinois Humanities Councils, Theatreworks/USA and other theatres, and grants from the NJ Humanities Council, the NYS Council on the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts.  She is an Active Member of the Dramatists Guild, SAG, AFTRA, and AEA.

*Lee O’Connor (Technical Director/Stage Manager) served in Vietnam, first as a grunt, and then on stage in Saigon as part of an Army theater troupe. His NYC technical credits include: A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden Theatre, Liza Steppin’ Out at Radio City, running lights for Pageant, stage managing for Irish Repertory Theatre, The Staten Island Ballet, and Dancers Over 40 Special Events, and was prop master for Penn and Teller Rot in Hell.  Regionally, he has worked at Ivoryton Playhouse, American Stage Company, Centenary Stage, The Bickford Theater, and The Women's Theater Company.  He was road manager for CORE Ensemble, Jose Melina, and NJ Ballet. He and his wife, Gayle, live in West Cape May and Manhattan.

 Marion T. Brady (Costume Designer) is a resident of Little Falls, NJ. She has costumed many productions for ELTC including Berkeley Square, Rain, and the recent He and She, for which Terry Teachout favorably commented on her work as well as the whole production in “The Wall Street Journal.” Other theaters where she has worked include Fairleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck), Montclair Dramatic Club, Union County College Theater Project, Meadowlands Theater Company, and The Nutley Little Theatre. For her 15+ years of costuming for ELTC, Marion, along with Mark Edward Lang (for his graphic design work), was a recipient of ELTC’s 2010 New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s Applause Award.

 * Denotes Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States   

THE PLAYWRIGHTS: GEORGE S. KAUFMAN and MARC CONNELLY

     George S. Kaufman (1889-1961) was the drama editor for “The New York Times” and Marc Connelly (1890-1980) was the Broadway reporter for the “Morning Telegraph,” when they met in 1919.  Both men were born in Pennsylvania, Kaufman in Pittsburg and Connelly in McKeesport; were members of the Algonquin Round Table; had written for the stage before working together; and earned Pulitzer Prizes.  Dulcy, based on a character from Franklin P. Adams’ “New York Tribune” column, and was written for the rising star, Lynn Fontanne.  Their next comedy, two years later, To the Ladies!, was a vehicle for another up-and-coming actress, Helen Hayes.  They collaborated on six more shows through 1924: The ‘49ers, West of Pittsburgh, Merton of the Movies, Helen of Troy, New York, Beggar on Horseback and Be Yourself.  After Be Yourself, a musical, with lyrics contributed by Ira Gershwin, the two men, creatively, went their separate ways.

     Connelly continued writing plays and screenplays, but also worked as a producer, director, and actor.  His best known solo work is The Green Pastures, adapted from Ol’ Man Adam an’ His Chillun, a collection of folk tales compiled by Roark Bradford, based on the Old Testament.  The 1930 production featured an all African-American cast and garnered Connelly the Pulitzer Prize.  His last Broadway success was The Farmer Takes a Wife, written with Frank Elser.  From 1946-1950, he taught playwriting at Yale.  Connelly published two books: A Souvenir from Qam (1965) and Voices Offstage: A Book of Memoirs about the Algonquin Round Table era (1968).

     Kaufman became America’s most successful playwright in the 1920s and ‘30s. He collaborated with Dorothy Parker (Business is Business); Edna Ferber (Dinner at Eight, The Royal Family, Stage Door); Ring Lardner (June Moon); Morrie Ryskind (Animal Crackers); Moss Hart (Once in a Lifetime, The Man Who Came to Dinner); and Howard Teichmann (The Solid Gold Cadillac).  He directed many of his plays, as well as the works of others, including the original The Front Page and Guys and Dolls.   Kaufman received two Pulitzer Prizes.  In 1931, it was for Of Thee I Sing, with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin, the first musical to be so honored, and with Moss Hart in 1937 for You Can’t Take It With You.  In 2004, The Library of America, an independent nonprofit organization founded in 1979, published Kaufman and Co.: Broadway Comedies, the most comprehensive collection of his plays ever assembled.

 SPECIAL PRODUCTION NOTE:

     When Dulcy was written and first produced, the only films were silent, with some of the dialogue written out on storyboards.  One of the characters in Dulcy gives the plot for a film that is a direct spoof of what many consider to be the finest silent film ever made: D. W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916). It was also subtitled A Sun-Play of the Ages or Loves Struggles through the Ages. The first full-length talking feature was The Jazz Singer in 1927.

THE WORLD OF DOROTHY PARKER

July 27 - Sept. 3

*Suzanne Dawson, *Drew Seltzer, *Megan McDermott, *Gayle Stahlhuth, *Lee O'Connor, Marion T. Brady (see DULCY)

*John Cameron Weber (The Narrator in “The Lovely Leave,” etc.), from New Jersey, was in ELTC’s productions of The Dictator, The Butter and Egg Man, the staged reading of Henry Sawyer and the Civil War, and portrayed Dr. Reynolds in the recent He and She. He has spent the last twenty years performing in National (Damn Yankees, 1776) and European (West Side Story, Guys and Dolls) tours.  He has worked in various regional theaters and summer stock, commercials, and soaps (As the World Turns, etc.).  Recent roles, other than ELTC, include General Waverly in White Christmas and Murray the Cop in The Odd Couple.

*Mark Edward Lang and *Molly O’Neill (design work) have both performed with ELTC.  Molly was in the recent He and She and Mark is in the upcoming Dulcy. Since 2001, Mark has designed for ELTC, creating program covers, posters, rack cards, ads, and working on the website and newsletters, for which he, along with Marion T. Brady, received ELTC’s 2010 New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s prestigious Applause Award. 

Musical Note: Among the George Gershwin tunes in the pre-show and post-show music, is “Dorothy Parker” written and performed by Marilyn Harris, from her album Future Street. This CD may be purchased at ELTC’s box office for $15.  For more about this phenomenally gifted artist, check out her website at www.marilynharris.com.

     Dorothy Rothschild Parker was born on August 22, 1893 when her family was visiting the Jersey Shore town of West End (near Long Branch), and was raised in Manhattan. Not happy with school, Dorothy stopped going at age fourteen.   

     In 1915, her poem “Any Porch” was published by “Vanity Fair,” which led to a ten-dollar-a-week job writing captions at its sister publication, “Vogue.”  Soon, her poems were published regularly in “Vogue,” “Vanity Fair,” and “Life.”  She even began reviewing Broadway shows for “Vanity Fair,” and in a review about Katharine Hepburn, Dorothy wrote, “She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B.”

     In June, 1917, Dorothy married Edward Pond Parker II, a handsome stockbroker.  He went to France to serve in the First World War.  When he returned, his drinking problem had heightened, and by 1920, Dorothy and Eddie were living separate lives.  They finally divorced in 1928. 

      Alexander Woollcott, who reported for “The New York Times,” returned from France where he had worked for the military newspaper, “Stars and Stripes.”  In June 1919 to celebrate his return, thirty-five writers and publishers gathered for lunch at The Algonquin Hotel in midtown Manhattan.  Those present included another former “Star and Stripes” staffer, Harold Ross.  This was the beginning of the regularly scheduled luncheons for the group that formed The Algonquin Round Table aka the “Algonks.” Members included Robert Benchley, Robert Sherwood, Heywood Broun, Frank Adams, George S. Kaufman, Marc Connelly, Edna Ferber, and Dorothy.

     When Harold Ross started publishing “The New Yorker” in 1925, she found another home for much of her work, and from 1927-1933, was the magazine’s book reviewer, using the byline “Constant Reader.”

      Her first book, Enough Rope, released in December 1926, was a critical success.  Two more collections of her verses followed: Sunset Gun in 1928 and Death and Taxes in 1931.  “Big Blonde,” first published in Seward Collins’s “Bookman” in February 1929, won the O. Henry competition for the best short story that year.

     In 1934, Dorothy married Alan Campbell, and they moved to Hollywood to write screenplays: Campbell receiving $250 a week, and Dorothy a $1,000 a week  – and this was during The Great Depression.  They worked on such pictures as Hitchcock’s Sabateur and were nominated for two Academy Awards: A Star is Born in 1937 and Little Foxes in 1941. She continued writing fiction for “The New Yorker,” and for five years, wrote book reviews for “Esquire.”

     She died on June 7, 1967, leaving her estate of a bit more than $20,000, and all rights to her work, to Dr. Martin Luther King.  Upon the death of Dr. King, as per Dorothy’s wishes, the rights became the property of the NAACP.  In 1988, the NAACP created a memorial garden for Dorothy in which her ashes now have a home.  It is located outside the NAACP’s Baltimore headquarters.

     The first edition of The Portable Dorothy Parker, edited by Parker, appeared in 1944, and was selected by Alexander Woollcott as the fourth in a series of volumes intended for soldiers overseas.  It has never been out of print.     

 * Denotes Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States 

HE AND SHE

June 15 - July 23

*Tom Byrn (Tom Herford), last summer, performed in ELTC’s The Dictator, and the year before, The Ransom of Red Chief written by O. Henry/adapted by Gayle Stahlhuth. Recently, he directed The Living Newspaper, a new play with music about the WPA Federal Theater for Mad River Theater in Ohio; and he played Caliban/Gonzalo in The Tempest at Act II Playhouse. He has worked with many Philadelphia area theater companies, and was an ensemble member at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble for eleven years. Tom is a coeditor of Letters to the Editor: 200 Years in the Life of an American Town, published by Simon & Schuster.

Emily Cheney (Ruth Creel) played Kate Pettigrew in ELTC's Berkeley Square last season and is thrilled to return to Cape May!  Born and raised in NJ, she is a graduate of Rowan University and has performed with companies throughout the region.  She was most recently seen in the World Premiere of The Bridge Club at Society Hill Playhouse in Philadelphia.  Other credits include shows for the Walnut Street Theater, EgoPo Productions, the Delaware Shakespeare Festival, and Storybook Musical Theatre. 

Dave Holyoak (Keith McKenzie) is making his ELTC debut in He and She.  Other credits include Mark Twain's Is He Dead? (Agamemnon Buckner) and Claudia Shear's Dirty Blonde (Charlie Conner) at the Civic Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Ashley Kowzun (Daisy Herford) is thrilled to work with everyone at East Lynne Theater and to be a part of He and She. She is a graduate from Montclair State University. Some of her past credits include Cabaret (Frauline Schneider), Romeo & Juliet (Nurse), Barenaked Lads, Crucible (Mercy), Radium Girls (Mrs. Reoder),  Blues Clues (Tickety Tock), Twelfth Night, Jack & the Beanstalk, workshops with Madison’s Young Playwrights, and most recently, Enchanted April (Lady Caroline) with The Women’s Theater Company in Parsippany, NJ.

*Molly O'Neill (Anne Herford) This is Molly's first play with ELTC, and she would like to thank Gayle, Lee, and everyone for the chance to work on such a wonderful script. Molly is a recent graduate of the Brown University/Trinity Rep MFA Acting Program where she performed the roles of Yelena in Uncle Vanya, Miranda in The Tempest, and Queen Marie in Exit the King, among others. She is a founding member of Broken Box Mime Ensemble in NYC.

*John Cameron Weber (Dr. Reynolds)

Grace Wright (Millicent Herford) is a native of South Jersey and is thrilled to be making her ELTC debut.  She’s performed with local theater groups for years and has appeared in several independent films.   Recent credits include Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice) at Patrick Henry College’s Teen Camp, The Inspector General (Cinderinsky) at Sojourn Productions, and Alice in Wonderland (The Queen of Hearts) at The Absecon Academy of Performing Arts.  This past fall she was the music director for Sojourn Productions’ The Sound of Music and stage managed their Annie this past spring.  She would like to thank her acting teacher, Tony Picciotti.

*Gayle Stahlhuth (Ellen/Director)

*Lee O’Connor (Technical Director/Stage Manager)

Marion T. Brady (Costume Designer)

     Rachel Crothers played a major role in American theater as a playwright, performer, director, producer, and philanthropist.  Born in 1878 in Bloomington, Illinois, the youngest of seven children, she began writing, performing in and producing her own plays at age twelve, much to the amusement of family and friends.  Her father was a doctor, and her mother, who began studying medicine after the age of forty, became a practicing physician as well. Many of Crothers’ plays, filled with warmth, humor, and wit, involve educated, working women. Beginning with her first successful Broadway play, The Three of Us in 1906, she had a Broadway hit almost every season for the next thirty years, many of which she also directed and produced.  Several of her plays were adapted into films, including her 1936 Broadway success, Susan and God. The 1940 movie was directed by George Cukor, starring Joan Crawford and Fredric March.

     He and She was first tried out on the road during the fall of 1911. It was renamed The Herfords and began a run on February 5, 1912 at The Plymouth Theatre in Boston.  After more revisions, Crothers produced the play and played the role of Ann at the Little Theatre in New York, beginning in February, 1920, again under the title of He and She.      

     In 1917, shortly before the United States entered World War I, seven women in the theatrical profession, including Crothers, formed the Stage Women’s War Relief.  This organization created clothing and food collection centers, a canteen on Broadway for servicemen, sent entertainers to perform for the troops, and most significantly, organized speakers, trained by the organization, to sell Liberty Bonds. The Stage Women's War Relief became one of the most significant and active relief organizations in the world, raising almost seven million dollars.  After the end of the war, Crothers and her comrades continued their activities, and in 1920, men in the theater business formed a brother committee to work with the women on behalf of the civilian population still recovering from the hardships of the war.  

     On April 25, 1939, Crothers was awarded the Chi Omega sorority national achievement award by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt. This award is given “to an American woman of notable accomplishments in the professions, public affairs, art, letters, business and finance, or education.”  At the same time, the United States government asked Crothers to reactivate her committee, which she did, titling it “The American Theatre Wing.”  During the two years before the United States entered the War, the Wing gave $81,760.00 in civilian aid to Britain. The forty-three members of the executive board was a "Who's Who" of the theater community. Rachel Crothers served as president; Gertrude Lawrence, Helen Hayes and Vera Allen served as vice-presidents; and Josephine Hull was treasurer. Antoinette Perry served as both chairman of the board and secretary.  Male board members included Gilbert Miller, Brooks Atkinson, George S. Kaufman, Raymond Massey, Brock Pemberton, Billy Rose, Lee Shubert, Max Gordon and Vinton Freedley. Many of the Wing’s most famous activities included the legendary Stage Door Canteen and the selling of Liberty Bonds.  Crothers remained the Executive Director until 1950.  Today, The American Theater Wing is best known for partnering with The Broadway League in presenting the Tony Awards. 

     Rachel Crothers died in her Danbury, Connecticut home on July 5, 1958.

* Denotes Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States   

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BERKELEY SQUARE
September 22-October 23, 2010

Erin Callahan (Marjorie Frant/Lady Barbara) made her ELTC debut in You and I as Veronica Duane. Some of her Theater credits include Philomelle in The Love of the Nightingale, Rebecca Gibbs in Our Town, Angel in Angel Hopped the A Tain, and most recently Shirley Talley in a Michael Chekhov Theater Company production of Fifth of July presented at 45th Street Theater. She has many credits with an independent film company C-Squared Pictures and has recently filmed a pilot for the sci-fi channel where she played the lead (Molly Sullivan). She graduated from Adelphi University in 2007 with a BFA in theater.

Emily Cheney (Kate Pettigrew)

* Suzanne Dawson (Lady Anne Pettigrew)

Rachel Handler (Wilkins) is thrilled to make her debut with East Lynne Theatre Company. She hails from South Jersey and she is a recent graduate of Westminster Choir College in Princeton. Previous credits include; Marian in The Music Man, Laurey in Oklahoma!, Angel in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and most recently she was seen performing with Kelli O’Hara in The Best of Lerner and Loewe at Carnegie Hall.Love always to family, teachers, and friends!

* Michael Kirby (Peter Standish) Michael is proud to be making his ELTC debut. His New York Credits include: Epicene (re:Directions) Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet (Hip to Hip) Regional: The School of Night (Mark Taper Forum), The American Plan, Romeo and Juliet, Merry Wives of Windsor, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, Hamlet, Alls Well That Ends Well, Othello (Old Globe) A Tale of Charles Dickens (La Theatre Works) Romeo and Juliet (Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival), Hamlet (Curtis Theatre) Other: Chekhov x 4 (Antaeus) Spite for Spite, Don Juan (Siglo De Oro Festival with Andak Stage Company, Founding Member) Twelfth Night (The Company Rep) Film: Connected, Benevolence, Passing Normal, Chase The Slut Television: Boston Public, MTV, Education: MFA from The Old Globe/USD, BA in theatre from Cal State Fullerton, LAMDA.

Megan McDermott (Helen Pettigrew)

* Morgan Nichols (Mr. Throstle/ASM) is proud to be making his third appearance with ELTC: his first being To the Ladies!  in 2008.  He’s a NYC-based actor, who has been seen in a number of shows all around the country, as well as in film and commercial work from coast to coast. Some of his favorites roles include George in Once in a Lifetime, Eddie in Our Lady of 121st Street, Jim Morrison in 27th Heaven and Miles Horton in The Rosa Parks Story. He also has a BFA in Performance Theater from Adelphi University and an Associates Degree in film from The School for Film and Television in Manhattan.

Thomas Raniszewski (Ambassador Major Clinton) earned a BA in Music from Rowan University. His album of original compositions, A Midnight at a Time received the Stonewall Society 2004 Pride in the Arts Award as well as being nominated Outstanding New Recording by Outmusic Awards. In 2003 his Christmas single "Through a Child's Eyes" was released in partnership with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and its seasonal broadcast continues to raise awareness. In June 2010, he co-produced the album I Hear on the Streets to benefit New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth in New York City. This is his 6th season with ELTC, having appeared in The Butter and Egg Man, Rain, Why Marry?, The Leach Diaries, The Guardsman and Helpful Hints. He reports for the Cape May Gazette newspapers and also writes the column “Sights & Sounds” for Cape May Magazine.

* Drew Seltzer (Tom Pettigrew)

* Gayle Stahlhuth (Duchess/Barwick/Director)

* Lee O’Connor (Technical Director/Stage Manager)

Marion T. Brady(Costume Designer)

Jordan Cramer (Intern) is currently a high school junior from Cape May Court House.  She fell in love with acting at a very young age.  As soon as Jordan was able to talk, she asked her mom, "How can I be on t.v. with 'Baw-ne?' "  Since then she has performed continuously with various community theater groups ~ most recently, "The Inspector General" with Sojourn Productions.  Her internship with East Lynne Theater Company has been a fantastic learning experience.  She is very grateful to be able to help the cast and crew put on such a wonderful production as Berkeley Square.  Break a leg guys!

* Denotes Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

THE DICTATOR
July 28-September 4

*John K. Alvarez (Capt. Codman/Gen. Campos) for nearly two decades, has had a professional career in the theater, much to the amazement of his family and friends. For 17 seasons, John worked at Cape May Stage in the capacity of stage manager, actor, techie, associate producer and whatever other title he was given in lieu of payment. He is also a published playwright as well as columnist for The Cape May Star & Wave, where he writes under his name as well as his non de plumb, “Johnny Wawa.” In the past six months, John started teaching Theatre History and Acting at Atlantic County Community College; wrote, directed and performed in the play Sherlock Holmes and the Case of The Demon in the Padded Room, and is writing his first novel. Not bad for a man who has reportedly retired.

*Tom Byrn (Charley Hyne)

*Brad Heikes (Brooke Travers aka Steve) is a Cape May and ELTC first-timer. He is very excited to be here and incredibly grateful to Gayle and Lee and the whole company for this opportunity. Broadway: Pygmalion (w/ Claire Danes and Jefferson Mays). Other New York credits include: Mister Roberts (w/ Alec Baldwin and Robert Sean Leonard) at Roundabout and The Battle at Nong Son at The Actors Studio. Some Regional credits: Buddy's Tavern and Glimmerglass world premieres at SBT; Magnetic North at Act II Playhouse; Noises Off! at Cohoes Music Hall (Frederick Fellowes). Brad made a short film about being involved in Pygmalion called Above Broadway; check it out at www.bradheikes.com! Thanks to mom, dad, and Duggy. Te amo, Florkowski. Mitakuye Oyasin.

Robert LeMaire (Duffy) has appeared in ELTC’s productions of Sherlock Holmes, Three Miraculous Soldiers, Anna Christie, You and I, Helpful Hints, To the Ladies!, The Ransom of Red Chief and the radio-style productions of Sherlock Holmes: Adventure of the Speckled Band and Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, and was in the ELTC 2001 production of The Dictator. Other performance work includes Herr Drosselmeyer in Cape May Stage's Nutcracker and in Vistas of Democracy, from NJ Network Public Television's Educational NJ Legacy Series. You may catch his shoulder in the History Channel’s Civil War Terror.

Tiffany-Leigh Moskow (Lucy Sheridan) played Jane Weston in ELTC’s The Butter and Egg Man and Elsie Beebe in ELTC’s To the Ladies! She graduated from Syracuse University with a BFA in Acting. International credit: Embedded at the Fringe Festival in Scotland. Regional: Chemical Imbalance; A Jekyll And Hyde Play (twins Calliope and Penelope Throckmortonshire) and Concertina's Rainbow (Concertina) at Caldwell Theatre Company, and Hunchback of Notre Dame (Esmerelda) at Hollywood Playhouse. Tours: The Red Sun and The Green Moon with Syracuse Stage. She would like to thank Gayle and Lee for giving her this opportunity, Frank, and her amazing friends and family for their continual love and support. www.tiffanyleighmoskow.com

*Alison J. Murphy (Julia Bowie) is delighted to return to ELTC, having performed in its past productions of The Butter and Egg Man, The Dictator (2001), The New York Idea, Voice of the City, Four by Four, Why Marry?, You and I, The Guardsman and Alice on the Edge. New York credits include Aurora Leigh, Mary of Shippensburg and The Wound of Love. She has also worked with American Stage Company and Shakespeare in the Garden, in productions of Cloud Nine, Elephant Man, Extremities, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Comedy of Errors, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest and Twelfth Night. Film:The Love of My Life (Frank Faralli, director). She performs in corporate training and events in the NYC area with Executive Development Concepts, and teaches acting workshops with her husband Mark Edward Lang. For LSB.

*Clifford Rivera (Vasquez) lives and works out of New York City and is a veteran of the US Navy. Off Broadway: DeNovo, Lil Silent, Tony and Tina's Wedding, FireHouse. Off-Off Broadway: Boots, A Gown for his Mistress, Arms and the Man. Regional: MacBeth, Hamlet, Into the Woods, Desire Under the Elms, How I learned to Drive. Television credits include: Rescue Me, Mercy, Kings, Lipstick Jungle, All My Children. Training: University Central Florida (BFA), American Academy of Dramatic Arts, The New York Conservatory, Royal Shakespeare Company (Classical). Thank you ELTC for a great cast and production; Cape May for being so welcoming; and of course Rose and Angel (Mom ‘n Dad) and Lauren.

Thomas Raniszewski (Rev. Bostick/Ltd. Perry)

*Gayle Stahlhuth (Director/Juanita)

*John Cameron Weber (Col. John Bowie)

*Lee O’Connor (Technical Director/Stage Manager)

Marion T. Brady (Costume Designer)

Richard Harding Davis (1864-1916) dined with Ethel Barrymore; fished with Joseph Jefferson; and Charles Dana Gibson sketched him alongside his “Gibson” girls. He was the son of two writers. His mother, Rebecca Harding Davis, wrote the first book on the evils of the iron mills, and his father, Lemuel Clark Davis, was a journalist and editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Richard himself was a well-known journalist and is even referred to in the 1928 Broadway comedy The Front Page. He covered everything from the Johnstown Flood to World War I, and it was his account of the Battle of San Juan Hill that helped Theodore Roosevelt to the Presidency. He wrote short stories, books, and more than a dozen Broadway plays, The Dictator being the most successful. Like many of his stories and plays, it was adapted into a silent film, and in 1939 was slated to be turned into a talkie at the same time Charlie Chaplin’s The Dictator began filming. Harding’s Dictator was not made after all, but Chaplin renamed his film The Great Dictator so as not to cause too much confusion if the two were released at the same time. When Gayle Stahlhuth first produced The Dictator in 2001, it had not been staged in 76 years.

* Denotes Members of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States




EMMA GOLDMAN: MY LIFE
June 16-July 10 at 8:30 PM

Lorna Lable* (playwright/performer Emma Goldman) was a professional modern dancer with the well-known Ruth Currier and Eleo Pomare Dance Companies, and for four years managed her own troupe, The Lorna Lable Dance Company. As a dancer, she performed in such venues as Lincoln Center and City Center in NYC. As an actor, she performed her one-woman show, The Door is Mine, a positive look at divorce, along the East Coast from Vermont to Pennsylvania. Her film credits include The Wiz and Keeping the Faith with Ben Stiller. Her commercials run the gamut from selling hams to phones. Lorna’s enjoyed working on all NYC-based soaps from Edge of Night to All My Children and all the versions of Law & Order. You might have seen her as Helga in Grandma Sylvia’s Funeral in NYC at the Soho Theatre or Mrs. Bendle in Not in Our Town at Manhattan Theatre Club, or other shows in NYC and in regional theater.

Karen Case Cook* (Director/Dramaturge Emma Goldman) is grateful to be working with East Lynne Theater Company. Previously with ELTC: Director: The Guardsman, Alice on the Edge and Helpful Hints. Actor: You and I (Nancy White), Ransom of Red Chief (Samantha, A Thief) and Two Headed (Lavinia)--a co-production with the Women's Theater Company of New Jersey, for which Karen received the Jacoby (Jacob Schaad) Outstanding Performance Award as well as a citation from The Daily Record for Most Acting Range. Karen is very proud of her most recent role with Women's Theater Company of NJ--Sister Aloysius (Doubt). Additional Acting Favorites: Dr. Vivian Bearing/Wit (Women's Theater Company of NJ which garnered a NJ Theatre Statewide Best Actress Nomination), Emelia/Othello (Arkansas Rep), Mrs. Malaprop/The Rivals (Jean Cocteau Rep), Lubov Andreyevna/The Cherry Orchard (Oasis Theater Company), Edith/Blithe Spirit (Barter Theater). Other Directing Highlights: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Peking University, Beijing, China), On the Verge and A Lovely Sunday for Creve Couer (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble), An Evening with Eddy-Shadows of Poe, Mass Appeal and Ghosts (DJM Productions/The Glines). Karen is a NJ Rep Company Member as well as Theater Breaking Through Barriers formally known as Theater By The Blind. She serves on the Board of East Lynne Theater Company, is a Society of Directors and Choreographers Associate Member and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association.

Lee O’Connor* (Technical Director/Stage Manager)

Tiffany-Leigh Moskow (Production Assistant)

Marion T. Brady (Costume Designer for Emma)

Emma Goldman (1869-1940) was born in Kovno, Russia. At age 16 she emigrated to the United States and worked in a clothing factory in Rochester, NY. When she read about the Haymarket Riots in Chicago in 1889, she knew she had to be active in the union movement and moved to NYC. Here she met Johann Most and Alexander Berkman. In 1906 she founded the monthly magazine, “Mother Earth,” devoted to social justice. An opponent of the draft during World War I, Emma was imprisoned for advocating a person’s right to choose to fight or not. Alexander M. Palmer, the Attorney General and his special assistant, John Edgar Hoover, organized a plan to deport anti-draft, union organizers. On Nov. 7, 1919, the second anniversary of the Russian Revolution, over 10,000 suspected communists and anarchists were arrested in 23 different cities. Emma was among them. She held high hopes for a successful Russian Revolution, but when she was once more living in Russia, she was repelled by the Bolshevik dictatorship. Her books My Disillusionment in Russia (1923) and My Further Disillusionment in Russia (1924) helped to turn many socialists against the Bolshevik government. Her marriage to an old friend, James Colton, a Welch miner, gave her British citizenship which afforded her more mobility. She rented a cottage in St. Tropez, France, and with the help of Peggy Guggenheim and others, was able to purchase her new home. In 1930, H. L. Menken petitioned the United States government for Emma’s return to her “homeland of choice,” but to no avail. In 1931, her autobiography, Living My Life, was published. In 1933, she and Paul Robeson spoke at the same luncheon in London. During the Spanish Civil War, Emma visited Spain, and in 1937, joined Rebecca West and Sybil Thorndike in their effort to establish the Committee to Aid Homeless Spanish Women and Children. Emma died in Toronto. The United States government granted permission to have her body buried in Chicago, next to the Haymarket victims – a wish she had requested.

PAUL ROBESON THROUGH HIS WORDS AND MUSIC
July 14-July 24 at 8:30 PM

Derrick McQueen (performer Paul Robeson), due to a Dodge Foundation Grant, was the Playwright in Residence at South Jersey Regional Theatre, where his play I Have Been Said to Possess was produced. Also a songwriter, his songs have appeared in such works as Cape May Stage’s The Trial of Blackbeard the Pirate. As a performer, he was the Narrator in Joseph and His Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Garcin in No Exit, and Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar, and has performed with New York Theatre Workshop, Mabou Mines, Totem Pole Playhouse, and Cape May’s Jazz Festival. The characterizations and concerts that he has created based on historical African-Americans, include the journalist Alfred P. Smith, Congressman George White, and abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Derrick took part in the Culture Project's X-IMPACT on the GULF production of Voices of the Storm, life stories from the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana from hurricane Katrina. Currently he is studying for ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). He is a Ph. D. student at Union Theological Seminary where he is focusing on "Rhetoric and its Performance on Community".

Paul Robeson Through His Words and Music is one of ELTC’s popular touring productions. Gayle Stahlhuth received a commission by Theaterworks/USA to write the piece originally for Don Oliver who toured the show throughout the country in the 1980s. Derrick first performed it in Cape May as a special ELTC event in 2000, and since then has performed it in a variety of settings including Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick, the prestigious Puffin Foundation, the Wildwood Convention Center for an NAACP Fundraising event, and in 2006 it was part of ELTC's Mainstage Season for 4 performances.

Gayle Stahlhuth* (Dramaturge Emma/playwright Paul Robeson)

Lee O’Connor* (Technical Director/Stage Manager)

Paul Robeson (1898-1976), a successful scholar, athlete, performer, and activist, was born to a former slave, the Rev. William Robeson. At Rutgers University he was a twelve-letter athlete, excelling in baseball, basketball, football, and track, and graduated valedictorian in 1919. After receiving his law degree at Columbia University, he worked briefly as a law clerk. While in NYC at Columbia he came in contact with people in the theater, which led to leads in plays written by Eugene O’Neill and a career on stage and in film. His theatrical and concert tours took him to England, Ireland, Germany, Russia, and France. Robeson believed in the universality of music and that by performing African-American spirituals and other cultures’ folk songs, he could promote intercultural understanding. Members of the FBI, headed by J. Edgar Hoover, went to his home in 1950 to take his passport.

STAFF

Gayle Stahlhuth, Artistic Director, is an actress, playwright, producer, and director who is a member of AEA, SAG, AFTRA, and the Dramatists Guild. As such, she has appeared in off-Broadway and in regional theater, television, and on radio; and her plays have been performed at such places as the NYC International Fringe Festival, The Samuel French One-Act Festival, Manhattan Theatre Club, Arvada Center in Denver, the Pennsylvania Stage Company, and the Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis. In the mid-‘70s she helped to manage a chain of twelve dinner theaters operating out of Charlotte, NC and in 1979 accepted the offer to start a dinner theater in Billings, MT. She performed with ELTC, and from 1987-1997, was on the Board, filling the duties at various times of President, Secretary, and Treasurer. She also acted in several ELTC productions, and founder and artistic director Warren Kliewer directed several of her plays. After Mr. Kliewer’s death in 1998, Gayle accepted the Board of Trustees’ offer, in 1999, to become the next artistic director. As such, she has directed most of ELTC’s productions, including Four by Four, where she combined four one-acts written between 1847-1913 by Louisa May Alcott, William Dean Howells, William Gillette, and Elmer Rice. She tours her own one-woman plays based on Louisa May Alcott, Catharine Beecher, Dorothea Dix, Edna Ferber, “Edna” from The Awakening, “Eve” from the writings of Mark Twain, and her own autobiographical Goin’ Home. She’s been awarded commissions from The National Portrait Gallery, the Missouri Humanities Council, Theatreworks/USA and other theatres, and grants from the New Jersey Humanities Council and the Mid- Atlantic Foundation for the Arts. In the early 1980s, she was a pioneer in the artist-in-residence movement, being one of the first theater professionals to receive a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts in this “new” program designed to put art back into public schools. She is now on The Arts in Education rosters for New York, New Jersey, Utah, and Wyoming. For her work, she was selected to be one of two hundred artists of different disciplines listed in the "Directory of Community Artists" published by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Lee O’Connor, Technical Director, served in Vietnam, first in the field, and then on stage in Saigon as part of an Army theater troupe. Back in the States he worked in management for IBM and The American Institute of Banking, before once more returning to the stage, where he’s worked as an actor, stage manager, lighting and set designer; and on construction crews. A member of Actors’ Equity, he began stage managing for The East Lynne Theater Company in the mid-‘80s. NYC credits include: A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden Theatre, a workshop production of an event for Radio City Music Hall, Liza Steppin’ Out at Radio City, running lights for Pageant, stage managing for Irish Repertory Theatre and The Staten Island Ballet, and prop master for Penn and Teller Rot in Hell. Regionally, he has worked at Ivoryton Playhouse, American Stage Company, Centenary Stage, The Bickford Theater, and The Women's Theater Company. He was road manager for CORE Ensemble, Jose Melina, and NJ Ballet.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Frank Smith, President of The Board, has been an ELTC Board member since 1994, serving mostly as President during this time. He's a retired Philadelphia Police Detective (1962-1990), and a member of the Fraternal Order of Police. From 1962-1971, he also served on the Pennsylvania National Guard, and from 1975-1980, owned a retail furniture store. He was co-founder of the Pennsylvania Automobile Crime Investigators Association, and developed the Training Programs for Police Agencies from around the Mid-Atlantic Region and the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. In 1990, he purchased The White Dove Cottage B&B in Cape May, which he owned until 2002. He served on the Board of Directors for The Chamber of Commerce of Greater Cape May from 1990-2002 (as Treasurer from 1990-1992) and served as Treasurer and President of Historic Accommodations of Cape May from 1990-2002. In 2002, The Cape May County Chamber of Commerce presented him with an award for all of his good works that have helped to the positive growth of Cape May, NJ.

Patti Chambers is an Equity actress and playwright, who has appeared on tv, film and stage in NYC, and regional theater. For eight years, she taught theater workshops, in schools and during the summer, with the nonprofit Community Outreach Dance Network in Cape May.

Karen Case Cook's first love is the Theater. She is a director and an actor whose work encompasses both New York and regional theaters as well as Beijing, China. Karen earned a BA Degree in Bacteriology from Ohio Wesleyan University and worked with Medical Research teams in Connecticut and New York.

Peg Curran taught school in Pennsylvania and was a museum teacher at Historic Cherry Hill in Albany, NY. Currently she manages and develops rental property in Sea Isle City and Avalon, NJ.

Marilyn Foster holds a degree in Liberal Arts and Teaching. Currently retired, she taught special needs children, specializing in those with dyslexia., and was an accountant for Beckman Instruments, an organization that made equipment for NASA. She has organized and run many fund raisers for schools and charities, and has been a motivational speaker at various programs. Now living in Barnegat, NJ, Marilyn grew up in Middle Township and has memories of her first live theater experience at the Cape May Playhouse, which she frequented until it burned down.

Mark Edward Lang is a director, actor and graphic/web designer based in New York City. He is also a partner in the Laughingstock Company, which does corporate training and entertainment; an Artistic Associate of the Harbor Theatre Company, which developed new plays; and a B.A. Honors graduate of Vassar College. He conducts theater workshops for ages high school students on up.

Alison J. Murphy is a New York and New Jersey-based actor who has experience with working with students with special needs.

Lee O'Connor (see above)

Joann Oxley, retired, holds an MA in community relations from Glassboro State College and has had over 20 years experience in the public relations field, including 15 years as director of community relations at Burdette Tomlin Memorial Hospital and a year in Tehran, Iran doing a company newsletter for American Bell International. In her far past, she taught school and did secretarial work.

THE BOARD OF ADVISORS

Stephanie Garrett worked as a Sociologist and Human Resources manager during her career in Federal Government. Upon early retirement, she received the Meritorious Service Award, the highest award given by the Department of Navy to a civilian employee. Stephanie is a member of the Greater Cape May Historical Society and served as President. She is also a storyteller, specializing in African-American tales.

James V. Hatch is a noted theater historian, particularly in the field of African-American artists. His publications include "Sorrow Is the Only Faithful One: The Life of Owen Dodson," and "Black Theater USA."

Clare Juechter is currently the Museum Store Manager at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May County, and previously was a regional administrator with Federated Department Stores.

Michele LaRue is an actress, writer, and editor. She has performed Off-Broadway and with ELTC as well as other regional theaters. As a well- respected theatre writer and editor, she is a member of Drama Desk, an organization of New York drama critics. Michele was married to and collaborated with Warren Kliewer, the founder and first artistic director of ELTC, onstage and off, for more than 25 years.

Walter J. Meserve is a respected theater historian who was one of the editors of the "American Lost Plays" series published by the Indiana University Press, and co-author of "The Musical Theatre Cookbook: Recipes from Best-Loved Musicals."

Gayle Stahlhuth (see above)

Don B. Wilmeth is Emeritus Professor of Theatre and English at Brown University, who, with Chris Bigsby, edited the three-volume "Cambridge History of American Theatre," the only history of its kind. It received a number of book awards when originally published in 1998-2001 - a publication also co-edited by Don. He also just completed writing/compiling a new edition of the "Cambridge Guide to American Theatre."

VOLUNTEERING & BOARD MEMBERSHIP
Should you wish to be a member of the Board of Trustees, let us know! We're always looking for people with new ideas! Meetings are held in Cape May, NJ at least six times a year. If you wish to help the company by volunteering to help with box office, ushering, marketing, etc., let us know that, too! See the "Get involved" page for details

For information regarding Board Membership, Donations, Activities, and Volunteers: Through e-mail at Eastlynneco@aol.com or by mail at 121 Fourth Ave., West Cape May, NJ 08204  or by phone at 609-884-5898