DETECTIVES HOLMES AND CARTER and More Set for East Lynne Theater's 2016 Season

The award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company announces its 2016 Cape May Mainstage Season. As usual, it includes classic gems, a NJ premiere, and a radio show. This year's theme is "Love Bites."

On March 18 and 19, and November 4 and 5, it's "Detectives Holmes and Carter," ELTC's radio-style production, with two mysteries back-to-back on the same night. In "The Adventure of the Red-Headed League," Sherlock Holmes must figure out why an eccentric man in Pennsylvania created a club in London for red-headed gentlemen. In "The Voice of Crime," the 2nd-ever Carter radio mystery from 1943, a notorious thief challenges Nick Carter to figure out the location of his next heist. In both detective tales, the same seven actors portray different characters, jumping from Holmes' Victorian England, to Carter's world of New York during World War II. Like all of ELTC's radio-style productions, it then goes on the road after the Cape May performances, along with ELTC's "Victorian Magic" and "Someone Must Wash the Dishes."

From May 11 to May 21, "Mr. Lincoln," returns by popular demand, with Tom Byrn reprising the role of the President. The Lincolns were enjoying a comedy at Ford's Theatre when John Wilkes Booth entered the President's box. In Herbert Mitgang's play, Lincoln's life flashes before him, from his early days as a lawyer, to President of the United States as Booth aims his pistol. Reviewer Howard Shapiro, for WHYY public television and radio, called Tom Byrn's performance a "tour de force" During the first performance week, there will be one matinee for schools and other groups, and on Wednesday, May 18, the performance is part of Cape May Forum's scheduling, complete with lectures and a Q&A. The show then travels to Bloomsburg Ensemble Theatre in Pennsylvania after the run in Cape May.

Next up is "Rodgers' Romance," from June 15 to July 23 created and directed by David-Michael Kenney, who originally created the show for Sellersville Theatre in 2004 and reprised it at Act II Playhouse in 2007. Four singers present twenty-four songs by Rodgers and Hart and Rodgers and Hammerstein, accompanied by a pianist. Harking back to a time before microphones, none will be used in this production, allowing the singers' voices to be heard naturally in the excellent acoustics of ELTC's performance space. The show is also a trivia competition, with the winner of the night receiving a gift certificate to a local business.

Then, from July 27 to September 3, it's "Dracula," written by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston, based on the novel by Bram Stoker. Bela Lugosi played the title role when it opened on Broadway in 1927 before he appeared in the classic 1931 film, and Frank Langella followed suit on Broadway in 1977, and starred in the 1979 film. Deane's version of "Dracula" opened in London in 1924, but before it's Broadway opening, American John L. Balderston was hired to revise it, and this version became the basis for the two films. This also led Balderston to a career in writing screenplays and he was one of the contributors to "Gone With the Wind." In 2010, ELTC produced his time-travel play, "Berkeley Square." "Dracula" is terrific fun for the whole family.

Just in time for an election year is "Biography," playing from September 21 to October 15. Written by longtime writer for "The New Yorker," playwright, and screenwriter S. N. Behrman, it centers on the fictitious Marion Froude, emancipated, worldly, and a well-known portrait painter, whose upcoming publication of her autobiography could jeopardize an old flame's bid for the United States Senate. When it opened on Broadway in 1932, Brooks Atkinson's, reviewer for "The New York Times" wrote "Mr. Behrman can write comedies that shine with the truth of character."

From November 25 to December 10, it's "Yuletide Tales," based on stories by Nathanial Hawthorne, Mark Twain, and other American writers. As usual, the holiday offering is adapted and performed by ELTC's artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth, who performs thirty-plus characters in her unique storytelling style.

ELTC is busy throughout the year with educational outreach to schools and shows on the road. On March 16, West Cape May Elementary School students perform "Aesop's Fables" for the community, under Stahlhuth's direction. On March 20, ELTC presents "Celebrating the Provincetown Players," a staged reading of several plays first produced by this prestigious acting/playwriting troupe to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of this company becoming incorporated and first performing in Greenwich Village, NY. Founded by Susan Glaspell, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and her husband George Cook on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this troupe is considered to be the first modern American theater company.

The Student Summer Workshop returns in June and July, headed by Sally Bingham, culminating in a performance, free for the community on July 5. Other events include the Silent Sunday Film Series in partnership with the Cape May Film Society, and Tales of the Victorians.

Season Tickets are $88 for four shows, and tickets may be used in several ways, including using all at one performance, or seeing four different shows. They may be purchased by sending a check to ELTC's office at 121 Fourth Ave., West Cape May, NJ 08204, through ELTC's website at www.eastlynnetheater.org, or at the box office when there is a performance. For questions, call 609-884-5898. General admission price is $32, so Season Tickets result in quite a savings, and make a great gift. They must be purchased by July 1, 2016.

Pictured: The cast from this season's "Strictly Dishonorable." Photo by Gayle Stahlhuth.