(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- The award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company's popular "Tales of the Victorians" returns for its thirtieth year!  Take tea at a lovely venue, indulge in tantalizing treats, and listen to stories by famous American authors like O. Henry, Zora Neale Hurston, and Mark Twain read by ELTC performers for only $12.00. Children are always welcome, and ages 12 and under are free. The summer schedule is 4:00pm (with the exception of 3:00pm at The Henry Sawyer Inn) on Thursdays beginning on June 20 at Kaleidoscope, 506 Washington Street Mall.

This unique women's boutique is designed to exorcise the tedious, boring and mundane, by bringing simple beauty into one's life. Popular "Tales" performers Stephanie Garrett and Lee O'Connor will be serving up the stories while the boutique serves up the treats. Garrett was in ELTC's "Lost on the Natchez Trace" and "Rain." O'Connor has been portraying Sherlock Holmes and other characters in ELTC's radio-style mysteries in October, November and March in Cape May and on the road since 2002.

Next up, is "Two Scoops and a Story" on June 27 from 3:00pm – 4:00pm.  Hosted by The Henry Sawyer Inn, 722 Columbia Avenue, ice cream will be served, and ELTC's artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth, will read excerpts from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" to commemorate the novel's recent 200thAnniversary. Adults are still $12, and ages 12 and under are $6.

There are no "Tales" on July 4, but on July 11, Garrett and O'Connor will perform at the New Jersey's Audubon Nature Center of Cape May, 1600 Delaware Ave.

The rest of the schedule is as follows: July 18: The Mission Inn, 1117 New Jersey Avenue; July 25: The Chalfonte Hotel, 301 Howard Street; Aug. 1: Twin Gables Inn, 731 Columbia Avenue; Aug. 8: Dock Mike’s Pancake House, 110 Broadway; and Aug. 15: the home of Lenore and Martin Bowne, 1014 Cape May Avenue. 

Two other popular "Tales" performers, Suzanne Longacre and Michele LaRue, will also be scheduled to read. Longacre has performed at a variety of theaters throughout the country and in TV's "Guiding Light." LaRue has been associated with ELTC since her husband, Warren Kliewer, founded the company in 1980.  She, too, has performed around the country at various theaters, and has also been touring her own one-person shows including "Someone Must Wash the Dishes" and "Gettysburg: Stories of the Red Harvest and the Aftermath." 

Returning for a fifth year is our final "Tales" just in time for Halloween, "Poe by Candlelight," on Saturday, October 19 at 8:00pm at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes Street, where ELTC is in residence.  Several ELTC actors will read their favorite stories by the master of the macabre. This popular event has quickly sold out.

Meanwhile, on ELTC's mainstage is the New Jersey premiere of the historical-fiction-mystery "Summerland," running through July 20, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30pm, except there is no show on July 4, and a show on Sunday, July 7. ELTC's Student Summer Workshop starts on June 18, and the staged reading of "The Temperamentals" is on Monday, June 24 at 8:00pm.  

For information and to make reservations for "Tales of the Victorians" and the mainstage season, call 609-884-5898 or go online to www.eastlynnetheater.org.

PHOTO: Stephanie Garrett and Lee O’Connor are two of the performers for East Lynne Theater Company's "Tales of the Victorians." Photo Credit: Gayle Stahlhuth