Classic American Tales To Host Two Solo Events This Spring

Classic American Tales presents two one-person shows, admission-free, in Cape May and Wildwood Crest. 

Derrick McQueen returns to Cape May to perform Paul Robeson through His Words and Music at The Cape May Public Library. This performance will take place on Thursday, May 28 at 6:00 p.m., at The Cape May Public Library, 720 Franklin Street. Admission is free but reservations can be made at the Cape May County Library website.

Written by Gayle Stahlhuth, it is an interweaving of two dozen songs that were sung by New Jersey native, Paul Robeson, with a narrative of his life as an actor, singer, activist, and humanitarian. Derrick has performed it at venues including Crossroads Theater, Newark PAC, the Wildwood Convention Center for an NAACP fundraiser, The Puffin Foundation, and as a fundraiser at North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville. 

Due to a Dodge Foundation Grant, Derrick was the Playwright in Residence at South Jersey Regional Theatre, where his play I Have Been Said to Possess was produced. He's acted with the New York Theater Workshop, Mabou Mines, Totem Pole Playhouse, and sung at the Cape May 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 NYC's Culture Project's X-Impact on the Gulf production of Voices of the Storm, life stories from the Mississippi Delta and Louisiana from those impacted by hurricane Katrina. He earned his B.A. in Theater Arts from Drew University, a M.Div. in Theology and the Arts, and his Ph. D. in Homiletics and New Testament, the latter both from Union Theological Seminary. Derrick is currently serving as the pastor of the historic St. James Presbyterian church in Harlem. 

Margaret’s Diary During a Revolution, on Friday, June 5 at 2:00 p.m., hosted by the Wildwood Historical Society with Partners in Preservation will be at the Wildwood Crest Art Pavillion, 6301 Ocean Avenue, Wildwood Crest. Written and performed by Gayle Stahlhuth, it is based on the diary of Margaret Morris written in December 1776 when tensions were escalating between the Hessians and the patriots in and around Burlington, NJ during the American Revolution. Light refreshments will be served. This event is free, but donations are appreciated. For questions, contact  PartnersInPreservation@yahoo.com or 609-214-2253; Wildwood Historical Society: 609-523-0277. 

Gayle, founder and artistic director of Classic American Tales is not only an actor and playwright, but also a director, producer, lecturer, and teacher, who, for twenty-three years helmed East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May.  She’s appeared in off-Broadway, regional theater and touring productions, and her various one-person shows have toured the country, including performances at The Smithsonian.