AN AMERICAN JOURNEY

Directed by Craig Fols

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
August 2 - September 2
Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM

Tickets: $35 General Admission, $30 Seniors
​$20 Students & Military  |  Ages 12 and under are always free
When Daisy Werthan crashes her car into a neighbor’s garage, her son hires her a driver.  So begins the unlikely friendship between Daisy, a wealthy Jewish widow, and Hoke Coleburn, a Black man who must overcome Miss Daisy's prejudices to keep his job as her chauffeur.  Set in Atlanta from 1948 to 1973 (before, during and after the Civil Rights Movement), this moving comedy is about two extraordinary people, and their enduring bond.
BIOS
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DAMON BONETTI (Boolie Werthan) is a Philly born actor, director, musician, and teacher.  Previously at East Lynne: Tales by Twain, Four by Four.  Recent Acting: Twelfth Night (Lantern Theater) A Few Good Men (BRT) The 39 Steps (also director) Montgomery Theater.  Recent Directing:  The Moors (Rutgers-Camden) They've All Gone And We'll Go Too (100th Meridian/ Edinburgh Fringe).  Damon has performed or directed at many area theaters including the Walnut Street, PTC, Exile, Passage, Eagle, Hedgerow, and Theater Horizon.   He is the Producing Artistic Director of the Philadelphia Artists’ Collective and appears on camera in commercials and films.   Damon is a professor at Rutgers-Camden and Drexel Universities.  MFA FSU/Asolo Conservatory.   www.damonbonetti.net.
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T. CAT FORD (Daisy Werthan), a native Georgian, is an actor, playwright, and oral historian. As an actor, she originated roles for several playwrights including Romulus Linney and Lanie Robertson. She appeared as Devil Woman in Linney’s GINT at the International Ibsen Festival in Oslo, Norway, and had the pleasure of playing Jessie Mae Watts in Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful at the Palace Theatre in Watford, England.  Several of Ms. Ford’s plays have had productions at the Barter Theatre, The York Theatre Company, and other venues.  A Calling, a short film she wrote and edited, recently completed production.  In 2016 she founded the Coffee County Memory Project, an oral history project focusing on the desegregation of the schools in Coffee County, Georgia, which has received the 2023 American Association of State and Local History Award of Excellence.
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ART McFARLAND (Hoke Colburn), as a native of Atlanta, is familiar with the locations and the lives portrayed in Driving Miss Daisy.  In New York, he originated the title role of Amiri Baraka’s final play, The Most Dangerous Man In America at the New Federal Theater, where he was also a member of the ensemble for the revival of Martin Duberman’s In White America.  He later performed in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None at Triad Stage in Greensboro, North Carolina.  His television acting credits include “The Equalizer”, “Bull”, “Law & Order SVU”, Amazon’s “Hunters”, “House of Cards” and “Political Animals.”  On film, he can be seen in “A Nice Girl Like You”, “Union City” and the soon to be released, “Rob Peace,” directed by Chiwetel Ejiafor.  Art returned to acting after a decades-long career as a New York TV News Reporter.
ALFRED UHRY is the only playwright ever to win the Triple Crown: an Oscar, a Tony, and a Pulitzer Prize. He began his career as a lyric writer under contract to the late Frank Loesser. In that capacity he made his Broadway debut in 1968 with HERE'S WHERE I BELONG. He then wrote the book and lyrics for THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM and was nominated for a Tony Award. He followed that with five re-created musicals at the Goodspeed Opera House. In 1987 his first play, DRIVING MISS DAISY, opened at Playwrights Horizons Theatre in New York. It was subsequently moved to the John Houseman Theatre, where it ran for over 1,300 performances. The play earned many awards, including the Outer Critics Circle Award and the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. For the film version, he won an Academy Award and the film itself was voted Best Picture of the Year.  Other films include "Mystic Pizza" and "Rich in Love." Mr. Uhry's second play, LAST NIGHT OF BALLYHOO, which was commissioned by the Cultural Olympiad for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, opened on Broadway in February 1997. It has been chosen Best Play by the American Theatre Critics Association, The Outer Critics Circle, and the Drama League, and the 1997 Tony Award. He worked on PARADE, a musical play about the Leo Frank case, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown and directed by Harold Prince. His film projects include a new adaptation of "Dodsworth" for Time Warner, "Cut Flowers" for Miramax, and "Taft," commissioned by Morgan Freeman.
CRAIG FOLS (Director) is the Artistic Director of East Lynne Theater Company.  READ MORE
KRISTINE SCHLACHTER (Production Stage Manager) is thrilled to be joining East Lynne Theater Company for her first show. Recent: Off-Broadway: Avenue Q, Emperors Nightingale (Nom. Off-Broadway Alliance Award), The Brothers Paranormal (World Premiere), Memorial (NYTimes Critics Pick) Regional: Jersey Boys, The Wizard of Oz, Holiday Inn, The Glass Menagerie, Long Days Journey Into Night, Singing In The Rain, Big River, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Magic Flute, The 39 Steps NYC: As You Like It, The Marriage of Figaro, Raisin in the Sun, The Great Society, FAME!, Cyrano De Bergerac, Caucasian Chalk Circle, Tartuffe, Allegro, The Secret Garden. BFA Syracuse University. Special thanks to my family for all your support.
GORDON VINCENT (Music)  His eclectic style has been described as “South Jersey Soul”.  He is a performing songwriter with seven albums to his credit.  Born in North Jersey, he lived in Nashville for twelve years, where he was ranked one of the top independent artists of the Southeast by Billboard Magazine.
MARY PAT COONEY (Props)  Many years as a dancer– modern dance, social dance, tap, theater; with Alwin Nikolais Co. (NYC), Washington Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus.  Dance Teacher: Swing & Texas Two-Step.  Also usher, grant researcher/ writer, real estate…  BFA, Ohio University (Dance).
KIRSTIN LOGAN (Costume Design)  grew up in CMCH and now is a resident of North Cape May. After studying Family and Consumer Sciences Education at Seton Hill University in Greensburg, PA she returned to Cape May County and quickly acquired a Fashion Design teaching position at Lower Cape May Regional High School. She looks forward to helping grow the appreciation of theater in others as she provides costumes for ELTC.
Special Thanks to Bernard Havard, Sioban Ruane and Shannon O’Brien of The Walnut Street Theatre for their support in putting together our production of DRIVING MISS DAISY.
THANK YOU to our SHOW SPONSOR, JUST FOR LAUGHS
and to our SEASON PARTNERS, The Washington Inn & La Mer Beachfront Inn