Cape May Stage to Present A CAPE MAY CHRISTMAS, Opening 11/27

Cape May history comes to life at Cape May Stage this holiday season at the world premiere of 'A Cape May Christmas,' opening Friday, November 27. Cape May Stage is located at 405 Lafayette Street in Cape May. On Saturday, November 28, Cape May Stage will also present 'The Twelve Dates of Christmas' at Congress Hall, 200 Congress Place, Cape May. Both plays were created by women playwrights, the sixth and seventh productions in a season of all-female playwrights in 2015.

In 'A Cape May Christmas,'written by Marlena Lustik and directed by Roy Steinberg, Santa and Mrs. Claus take the audience on a family-friendly journey through local history, during which they converse with the ghosts and spirits of many of the historic characters who spent past Christmases here. Among them are Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, the seventeenth century Dutch explorer who surveyed the cape, Colonel Henry Sawyer, the Civil War hero who built Cape May's Chalfonte Hotel in 1876, and Harriet Tubman, the African-American abolitionist and pre-Civil War conductor of the Underground Railroad who worked in Cape May as a cook and laundress.

"In one sense, it's a traditional, sentimental Christmas play, and you'll hear some of the best-known carols and Christmas poetry, and references to Charles Dickens," said Lustik. "But I wanted to add elements that were less familiar, perhaps, and which have their own kind of magic. People who live here or who visit Cape May know it's an old place with a lot of history, and they've heard the ghost stories. So I wanted to see what might happen if you brought those spirits to the stage."

Two veteran actors will play Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the ghosts will haunt the stage via the wonder of sound-and-lighting special effects. Playing Santa Claus is David Tabish, whose lengthy stage and screen career includes numerous Shakespeare plays and performances in 'Our Town,' 'The Fantasticks,' and 'Fiddler on the Roof' at regional theaters, along with roles in such films as 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Foxcatcher.' "He bears an uncanny resemblance to everyone's image of what Santa ought to look like," said Steinberg.

Kathy Robinson, who plays Mrs. Claus, has performed in Off-Broadway, regional and local theaters and enjoyed success singing in cabaret-style shows from New Jersey and Pennsylvania to Key West and Moscow. Among her Off-Broadway credits is 'Philco Blues' with Judith Ivey, and she's done national theater tours with roles in 'Funny Girl,' 'The Music Man,' 'Sweet Charity,' and 'Pippin.' Along with various television appearances, she also performed in Nine at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse.

"This is a delightful play that ought to be seen by anyone who's familiar with local history and the fascinating people who've made Cape May their home over the centuries," said Steinberg, Cape May Stage's artistic director. "It's fast-paced and funny, and it puts our history in a joyful holiday context. I can't imagine anything better to add to your itinerary if you're going to be in our lovely Victorian village during the Christmas season."

'A Cape May Christmas' runs through Saturday, January 2, with a half-price holiday special scheduled for Tuesday, December 22. There's also a half-price senior matinee on Saturday, December 12 and a pay-what-you-wish performance on Friday, December 18. Ticket prices range from $18 for students/military to $33 for seniors and $38 for adults. Opening night tickets - which include an after-party with the cast, the director and the playwright - are $53. For tickets visit www.CapeMayStage.org or call (609) 770-8311.

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