ELTC & MAC to Presents GHOSTS OF CHRISTMAS PAST

"I will go and tend my geese! I will, I will, I will!" screamed the Mayor's daughter wearing a goose-girl costume. Usually, she was a polite, pampered child, but ever since her father threw a Christmas Eve party for all of the children in the city, she behaved like the costume she was wearing. In fact, all of the children were behaving like the costumes dictated. Paupers were princes and the privileged performed farm chores.

This was the doings of a strange little Costumer who suddenly appeared several weeks before the party in "The Christmas Masquerade," by Mary Wilkins Freeman. No matter how hard parents tried to undress their children, the costumes would not be removed. Will the Mayor's daughter be forever a shepherdess and the cobbler's son a prince?

This tale is one of two stories that are part of the repertoire of the "Ghosts of Christmas Past" Trolley Rides, co-sponsored by The Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities (MAC) and the award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company. The other ghostly story is based on another Freeman classic, "The Twelfth Guest," about a stranger who suddenly appears in time for Christmas dinner. Both have been adapted for storytelling by ELTC's artistic director Gayle Stahlhuth.

Listen to these classic American ghostly tales, told in a dark trolley, while the twinkling lights of the beautifully decorated homes and streets are seen through the windows of the heated vehicle.

Most of the "spirited" thirty-minute rides begin and end at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth. Tickets are only $10 for adults and $7 for children, ages 3-12, and run several nights a week through Monday, December 30.

Once again, the main costumed storyteller is Frank Smith, who was the first person to portray Dr. Physick for MAC's tour of the Physick Estate, and has performed for ELTC in William Gillette's "Sherlock Holmes" and for "Tales of the Victorians," ELTC's popular storytelling event on the porches of B&Bs during the summer and fall.

Reservations are strongly suggested and can be made by calling MAC at 884-5404. If tickets are available the day of the tour, they will be sold at the Washington Street Mall Information Booth.

Although ELTC's 2013 mainstage season in Cape May ended on December 14, ELTC is still involved with school residencies in Wildwood and West Cape May Elementary schools, murder mysteries and playwriting workshops at The Henry Sawyer Inn, and touring productions. Season tickets for 2014 are available and make an excellent Christmas present: 4 shows for only $80 and tickets may be used in a variety of ways. To purchase, send a check to the office: 121 Fourth Ave., West Cape May, NJ 08204, or go online to www.eastlynnetheater.org, where more information about the company and the season may also be found.

Photo credit: Gayle Stahlhut

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