ELTC's Student Workshop Production of STORYBOOK THEATER Set for 7/2

Several animals leave home to make a living on the stage; several actors leave the stage to work for the devil; and a flounder grants wishes to a fisherman. It's all part of the fun of "Storybook Theater: Old Tales with a New Twist," consisting of the classic tales, "The Bremen Town Musicians," "The Three Travelers," and "The Fisherman and His Wife."

     East Lynne Theater Company's much anticipated Student Workshop Production is back!

     After nine, three-hour sessions, ten students, ages 11-17, will perform "Storybook Theater" on Monday, July 2, at 8:00p.m. at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May, where the company is in residence. This marks ELTC's 6^th Summer Student Workshop Production, and the past five years it's been standing room only. Admission is free and families are welcome. 

     The 2012 theme for this award-winning Equity professional theater company is "Spinning Tales." This student production involves the deceptively simple use of storytelling with the imagination to create different characters and locals, just like several of our mainstage productions.  A particular pleasure for the actors and audience in "Storybook Theater" is when the invisible becomes visible.

     The workshop leader is once more artistic director Gayle Stahlhuth, assisted once again by Lee O'Connor, ELTC's technical director who has also worked at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden Theatre, Primary Stages, and Irish Rep, as well as theaters outside of NYC.  As a performer for ELTC, he has played the title role in the Sherlock Holmes radio-style productions and is a favorite at ELTC's popular "Tales of the Victorians," where stories are read at various Cape May locations during tea time.

ELTC is thrilled that two new members are joining the Workshop team: Kathleen D. Gaynor and Gabrielle Wilson.

Kathleen, a state certified Teacher of Theater in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, is the Senior Academy Theatre Teacher at Mariana Bracetti Academy in North Philadelphia. She has created and managed workshops including "Drama in the Classroom" for Bucks County Intermediate Unit #22, and a week-long residential camp for students, including those with special needs, for the Bristol Township School District. In 2011, she received the Barrymore Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and Community Outreach.

Gabrielle is a Theatre Performance major and Arts Administration minor at Rider University, and is a production assistant for ELTC through August. She is involved in the national theater fraternity Alpha Psi Omega and is a part of the Rider Dance Team and the Arts Administration Association.

Meanwhile, ELTC's "Ruth Draper's Company of Character," where Karen Case Cook and SuzAnne Dawson take on eight different roles, while mingling with one-hundred different imaginary characters, runs Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30p.m. only through July 21. 

For information about the workshop, mainstage season, touring shows, and educational outreach, and to make reservations, call 609-884-5898, or go online at www.eastlynnetheater.org.