originally published: 11/24/2014 (CAPE MAY, NJ) -- "I wish't I knew someone to have a Christmas tree with," says Calliope Marsh to Mrs. Sykes in the small town of Friendship Village. At first, even Calliope doesn't know what she means by what she just said, but then her ideas take shape in the form of how to get the big tree in the center of town lit with electric lights for Christmas Eve.

During another Christmas, folks in a post office figure out how to get a seven-year-old boy to his mother who's in a hospital in a neighboring town.

Calliope Marsh is the storyteller of both tales, "The Great Tree" and "Human" in Zona Gales' "Neighborhood Stories." This book was first published in 1912, with its last publication date of 1914, shortly after the start of World War I. ELTC's artistic director Gayle Stahlhuth realized the only way she could obtain a copy was to contact The University of Michigan where Gale's archives are kept. The University, for a fee, made a copy of the book and mailed it to Stahlhuth.

Zona Gale (1874-1938) was born in the small town of Portage, Wisconsin, and earned a Masters Degree at the University of Wisconsin before spending six years as a journalist in Milwaukee and New York. In 1903, she paid a visit to Portage, discovering that the material she needed for her writing was all here. A year later, she moved back to her hometown to focus her work on fiction. In 1908, Gale received national attention for her book of short stories, titled "Friendship Village." Although the town's name was fictional, the basis for the stories came from Portage. She received a Pulitzer Prize in 1922 for the Broadway play "Miss Lulu Bett" that she had adapted from her novel.

Not only did Stahlhuth adapt the works of Zona Gale, but she is also performing them, as Calliope Marsh. For the past seven years, she has been performing Christmas stories in Cape May based on works by L. Frank Baum, Mary Wilkins Freeman, Mark Twain, Edward Everett Hale, Louisa May Alcott, Bret Harte and O. Henry, much to the delight of local residents and visitors. In each show, she interprets over thirty-some characters in which the shrug of a shoulder and a change in her voice, brings a character to life. For many patrons, these original performances have become part of their seasonal tradition.

Stahlhuth is finishing up her sixteenth year as ELTC's artistic director, where she has produced 75 different shows (some returned for another season), including 18 world premieres and 9 New Jersey premieres, and directed 46 of them. As a published and produced playwright, she is an Active Member of the Dramatists Guild, and for her work in film, television, and radio, a member of SAG-AFTRA. She joined Actors' Equity, the union for professional actors, forty-two years ago, when she was hired for a tour of "Cabaret."

The dates for "Christmas in Wisconsin: Tales by Zona Gale" are Friday and Saturday, Nov. 28 and 29; Sunday, Dec. 7; Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 11, 12, 13 at 8:00p.m., with a Saturday, December 13, 2:00p.m. matinee. The location is The First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, 500 Hughes St., where the company is in residence. As usual with ELTC's Christmas shows, the company reduces its regular ticket price as an early holiday gift to its audience. Tickets are $25 for general admission; $15 for full-time students, and as always with ELTC productions, those ages twelve and under are free. Season tickets are also available for 2015. For information and reservations, call 609-884-5898, e-mail eastlynneco@aol.com, or go online to www.eastlynnetheater.org.

ELTC's production season would not be possible without season sponsors Curran Investment Management, Aleathea's Restaurant, La Mer Beachfront Inn, The Henry Sawyer Inn, and The Washington Inn; The NJ Dept. of State, Division of Travel and Tourism; NJ State Council on the Arts/Dept. of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the generosity of many patrons.

 

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