East Lynne Theater Co. Receives $14K Travel & Tourism Grant

The Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company is receiving $14,040.00 from the Cooperative Marketing Grant sponsored by the New Jersey Department of State: Division of Travel and Tourism. The award was given based on the scores of an independent evaluation and funding review committee that studied ELTC's application and marketing plan.

This is the ninth year in a row ELTC has received this prestigious grant, the funding for which must be solely used for marketing. It has been instrumental in helping ELTC to seek advertising opportunities outside of South Jersey, which has helped to make ELTC a cultural tourist destination, providing yet another reason to come to Cape May.

The combination of ELTC's unique repertoire of well-produced classic American plays and new works based on American history and literature, and its marketing efforts to attract visitors to its productions, has been paying off more and more every year. This past year saw an upswing in ticket sales, with more than half of our audience making visits to Cape May - and to ELTC - for the first time. Reviews were excellent for all shows, but starting out the season with Howard Shapiro writing and talking about ELTC's "Mr. Lincoln" on WHYY Public Television and Radio really jump-started the successful main stage productions. "Mr. Lincoln" returns to Cape May for two weeks in May 2016 before travelling to Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble in Pennsylvania.

ELTC pursues performance possibilities beyond Cape May County. Funding for these productions comes from the organizations sponsoring ELTC's touring shows and specific grants received by ELTC for touring only, yet the town of Cape May benefits because ELTC clearly states that its home is Cape May. Already, in 2016, not only is "Mr. Lincoln" going on the road, but so are "Detectives Holmes and Carter," and "Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Satire."

ELTC also attracts visitors to Cape May off-season with Murder Mystery Weekends in February, March, and April held at The Henry Sawyer Inn. Also In March, ELTC has performances and staged readings planned in Cape May.

During the whole school year, ELTC's artists-in-residence continue to teach workshops as part of Wildwood School District's after-school program, and there will be an in-school residency in March, as usual, at West Cape May Elementary School.

Shows for East Lynne Theater Company's 2016 season, its 36th year, include "Mr. Lincoln," "Rodgers' Romance," a five-person cabaret with music by Rodgers and Hart and Rodgers and Hammerstein, "Dracula" based on Bram Stoker's novel, S. N. Behrman's comedy about art and politics, "Biography," our radio-style production "Detectives Holmes and Carter," and "Yuletide Tales" for the holidays. For information about the season, touring shows, and educational outreach, call 609-884-5898 or go to www.eastlynnetheater.org.

Pictured: East Lynne Theater Company's production of "Huck Finn" with Marcia Sofley, Leon Morgan and Evan Smilyk. Photo by Gayle Stahlhuth.

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