(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- The award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company's popular "Tales of the Victorians" returns for its twenty-ninth 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 and friends, for only $12.00. Children are always welcome, and ages 12 and under are free.  

The summer schedule is 4:00p.m. on most Thursdays beginning on June 14 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 November and March in Cape May and on the road since 2002.

 The next "Tales" is on June 21 at The Mission Inn, 1117 New Jersey Avenue, also with O'Connor and Garrett.

Next up, on a different day and time, is "Two Scoops and a Story" on Tuesday, June 26 from 3:00p.m. – 4:00p.m.  Hosted by The Henry Sawyer Inn, 722 Columbia Avenue, ice cream will be served, and ELTC's artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth, will read one of Mary Wilkins Freeman's horror stories. Adults are still $12, and ages 12 and under are $6.

The rest of the schedule is back to Thursdays at 4:00pm, with ages 12 and under free. 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."  

The schedule is as follows: July 5: The Twin Gables Inn, 731 Columbia Avenue; July 12 and 19: The Inn of Cape May, 7 Ocean Street; July 26: The Chalfonte Hotel, 301 Howard Street; August 2: The Twin Gables Inn, 731 Columbia Avenue; and August 9 at The Blue Rose Inn & Restaurant, 653 Washington Street.  

Returning for a fourth year is our final "Tales" just in time for Halloween, "Poe by Candlelight," on Saturday, October 20 at 8:00p.m. 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, and this year, a selection from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," to commemorate the novel's 200th birthday. This popular event has quickly sold out.

Meanwhile, on ELTC's mainstage is the world premiere musical revue featuring the lyrics of the incomparable Dorothy Fields, "On the Sunny Side of the Street,"'running through July 21, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30p.m., except there is no show on July 4, and a show on Sunday, July 8.

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