5 Star Review on TripAdvisor by TravelingAmos on Nov. 6, 2017 when the play opened in November, 2017
While a play consisting of actors speaking into microphones as if performing for radio may sound boring, this was far from it. We were here during Sherlock Holmes Weekend in November, and we added this to the overall experience. The quality of the acting here was first-rate!
We were captivated throughout the roughly one-hour long performance. The sound engineer was perhaps the most interesting part as he simulated sounds for fire, wind, water, and other various sounds right in front of us as the actors spoke into the microphone.
If you come to Cape May for Sherlock Holmes Weekend in the spring or fall, a visit here is a must!
While a play consisting of actors speaking into microphones as if performing for radio may sound boring, this was far from it. We were here during Sherlock Holmes Weekend in November, and we added this to the overall experience. The quality of the acting here was first-rate!
We were captivated throughout the roughly one-hour long performance. The sound engineer was perhaps the most interesting part as he simulated sounds for fire, wind, water, and other various sounds right in front of us as the actors spoke into the microphone.
If you come to Cape May for Sherlock Holmes Weekend in the spring or fall, a visit here is a must!
Lee O'Connor, Marty McDonough, Susan Tischler, Fred Velde, Gayle Stahlhuth, and Rob LeMaire in SHERLOCK HOLMES ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND
"The question is the sequence of events leading from the rare gem, the Blue Carbuncle, at one end, to the stomach of a goose at the other,” says Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson as they begin an investigation that might save an innocent man from prison.
ELTC invites you to be part of our "radio audience" when we perform this famous mystery with live sound effects and commercials, and actors portraying several roles to make the tale come to life. Before television and the Internet, people sat eagerly by the radio to hear the latest dramas, comedies, and news. Many radio shows were performed in front of live audiences at the same time they were sent across the "airways."
This radio-style production is based on the story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Craig Wichman, Founder and Producer of Quicksilver Radio Theater.
The first time a Sherlock Holmes adventure was heard on the airways was October 20, 1930. The Holmes’ tale was The Speckled Band, adapted by Edith Meiser. Meiser proposed the idea for a Holmes’ radio show to NBC. At first they passed on the idea for lack of a sponsor, so Meiser found one: G. Washington Coffee. Doyle died during the summer of 1930, but his estate entrusted the development of the series to Meiser and NBC. Meiser, also an actress, wrote the series single-handedly for a dozen years, and with help through most of the 1940's. No audiences were allowed during the early broadcasts. Famous actor/playwright William Gillette, at age 77, starred in the radio show’s premiere. It was he who had created the first stage adaptation of the writings of Doyle in 1899, under the title Sherlock Holmes. Although he’d played the role over 1,000 times, he was uncomfortable with the radio format. Clive Brook replaced him for the next two performances. Richard Gordon played the role from November 10, 1930 through May of 1933, and again in 1936. Leigh Lovell and Harry West played Dr. Watson. From 1939 to 1946, Holmes and Watson were played by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. At the same time, they played these roles in 16 films. The Sherlock Holmes radio series continued through 1950.
Casting is not complete, but here's who's in it so far . . . .
ELTC invites you to be part of our "radio audience" when we perform this famous mystery with live sound effects and commercials, and actors portraying several roles to make the tale come to life. Before television and the Internet, people sat eagerly by the radio to hear the latest dramas, comedies, and news. Many radio shows were performed in front of live audiences at the same time they were sent across the "airways."
This radio-style production is based on the story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Craig Wichman, Founder and Producer of Quicksilver Radio Theater.
The first time a Sherlock Holmes adventure was heard on the airways was October 20, 1930. The Holmes’ tale was The Speckled Band, adapted by Edith Meiser. Meiser proposed the idea for a Holmes’ radio show to NBC. At first they passed on the idea for lack of a sponsor, so Meiser found one: G. Washington Coffee. Doyle died during the summer of 1930, but his estate entrusted the development of the series to Meiser and NBC. Meiser, also an actress, wrote the series single-handedly for a dozen years, and with help through most of the 1940's. No audiences were allowed during the early broadcasts. Famous actor/playwright William Gillette, at age 77, starred in the radio show’s premiere. It was he who had created the first stage adaptation of the writings of Doyle in 1899, under the title Sherlock Holmes. Although he’d played the role over 1,000 times, he was uncomfortable with the radio format. Clive Brook replaced him for the next two performances. Richard Gordon played the role from November 10, 1930 through May of 1933, and again in 1936. Leigh Lovell and Harry West played Dr. Watson. From 1939 to 1946, Holmes and Watson were played by Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. At the same time, they played these roles in 16 films. The Sherlock Holmes radio series continued through 1950.
Casting is not complete, but here's who's in it so far . . . .
Robert LeMaire (Sound Effects, etc.) recently played "Teddy" in ELTC's Arsenic and Old Lace and was the Assistant Director. Currently, he's the director for ELTC's Summer Student Workshop and was recently honored, along with others who work with youth in theater, at the New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s annual gala. He’s performed in several ELTC productions including Ah! Wilderness, Dracula, The Late Christopher Bean, To the Ladies, You and I, The Dictator (2001 & 2010), and The Ransom of Red Chief. He’s worked sound effects and performed in ELTC’s Sherlock Holmes and Nick Carter Detective radio-style shows since 2008. His directing work for the Ocean City High School Drama Guild include Addams Family: A New Musical, Stage Door, Spamalot, Footloose: The Musical, Stage Door, and currently, he’s directing Pride and Prejudice. Other performance work includes Vistas of Democracy, a video series in NJ Network Public Television's Educational NJ Legacy Series. You may catch his shoulder in the History Channel's Civil War Terror.
Lee O'Connor (Sherlock Holmes) portrayed Holmes in ELTC’s William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes in 2002, and has portrayed Holmes in most of ELTC's NBC radio-style adventures. He also appeared in ELTC’s The Leach Diaries, The Dictator, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Dick Spindler’s Family Christmas, the staged readings of Henry Sawyer and the Civil War and Our American Cousin, and is a storyteller for ELTC’s “Tales of the Victorians.” Other performing work includes The Odd Couple in Saigon while serving in Vietnam, and traveling throughout the country with his wife, Gayle Stahlhuth, in a two-hander written by Stahlhuth, Not Above A Whisper. Commissioned by The National Portrait Gallery, it was about Dorothea Lynde Dix, who fought for the rights of the indigent mentally ill. Aside from being ELTC’s Technical Director since 1999, he has worked at a variety of regional theaters, and his work in NYC includes Radio City Music Hall, Irish Rep, Primary Stages, all ten years of A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden Theater, and special events for Dancers Over 40. Member AEA.
Gayle Stahlhuth (Director, Mrs. Hudson, etc.) recently received an excellent review from Terry Teachout in “The Wall Street Journal” for playing Martha and directing ELTC’s Arsenic and Old Lace. She’s performed off-Broadway (Manhattan Theatre Club, etc.), in national tours (Cabaret, Fiddler, etc.), regional theater (Gateway Playhouse in Long Island, etc.), television, and radio. Other work involves directing cabaret shows in NYC, starting a dinner theater in Billings, MT, and creating a Medieval Festival at The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. A Year in the Trenches (2017), marked her 100th production for ELTC since becoming the company’s artistic director in 1999. She’s been awarded commissions from The National Portrait Gallery, the Missouri and Illinois Humanities Councils, and grants from the NJ Humanities Council, the NYS Council on the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts. For several years, she was a judge for the Emmy Awards in the field of broadcast news. In 2016, she was honored for her work in theater by The National Association of Professional Women (NAPW). Member: AEA, SAG-AFTRA, Dramatists Guild, and NAPW.
Fred Velde (Dr. Watson) is a native New Yorker and has been part of the New York theater scene for over forty 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, Mr. Forbes in Dulcy, Detective Dupin in The Poe Mysteries, 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 and SAG-AFTRA.
Craig Wichman (Adapter) studied with Stella Adler, and has since worked in all media. Off-Broadway: The Flashing Stream, Julius Caesar, The Bardy Bunch. Regional: Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes, Twelve Angry Men, Tecumseh! Film: The Devil You Know (Best Actor nominee, Chicago Horror Film Festival), The Adventures of Paul And Marian.TV: One Life to Live, Law & Order. Online: AMC SciFi Dept., Unemployed Philosophers' Guild. Audio: Founder of QUICKSILVER RADIO THEATER (Ebenezer Scrooge, Count Dracula, Abraham Lincoln; last Halloween in NYC, Frankenstein's Monster.) Also appearances on The Twilight Zone Radio Series, and with Golden Age veterans at the FRIENDS OF OLD TIME RADIO conventions. Just last month, Seven Keys To Baldpate, with WWOW. Happy to return to ELTC – switching from last fall's Great Detective, back to the despicable Dr. Roylott! Author of Standing In The Spirit At Your Elbow, the history of Dickens’ Christmas Carol as radio/audio drama. Soli Deo Gloria. (AEA/SAG-AFTRA). QuicksilverRT@aol.com
