(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- "Mr. Holmes, I am under such a strain that I shall go mad if it continues. Do you think that your powers could shed a little light in the darkness which surrounds me?" asks Enid Stonor. And with these words, Holmes and Watson find themselves in a race against time to stop the bizarre murders in an eerie country manor.
Step back in time, on Friday, March 15 and Saturday March 16 at 8:00pm, when the award-winning East Lynne Theater Company presents Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes' Adventure of the Speckled Band" in the style of a radio broadcast, complete with live sound effects and commercials, just like the Sherlock Holmes' radio series on NBC that premiered in 1930.
"The Speckled Band," based on one of Doyle's personal favorites and his rarely produced play "The Stonor Case," is adapted by Craig Wichman with the permission of Dame Jean Conan Doyle. Craig is Founder and Producer of the nationally acclaimed Quicksilver Radio Theater and this script received the National Federation of Community Broadcasters' "Gold Reel" for Radio Drama Award.
Portraying Holmes and Watson are once again Lee O'Connor and Fred Velde, with Craig Wichman as Dr. Roylott, Sydia Cedeño as Enid Stoner, and Gayle Stahlhuth playing multiple roles, along with Rob LeMaire, who also operates the sound effects.
Lee first portrayed Holmes in ELTC's William Gillette's "Sherlock Holmes" and has become one of the main storytellers for the company's "Tales of the Victorians." Fred, who was in ELTC's "Anna Christie" and "Rain," has appeared in over fifty shows in NYC, including the off-Broadway revival of Mae West's "Sex."
Craig has performed in several Off-Broadway productions, and appeared in television's "Law and Order." Rob, ELTC's Education Director, is currently directing "The Wizard of Oz" at Ocean City High School. He has performed in several shows for ELTC, including "Arsenic and Old Lace," in which he also served as assistant director. The show was so successful for ELTC that its returning in the fall of 2019. Gayle, now in her 20th year of serving ELTC as artistic director, directed "The Speckled Band."
New to ELTC is Sydia Cedeño, who recently was in the New York Musical Festival at Playwrights Horizon with the premiere of "Errol and Fidel," receiving the Outstanding Individual Performance Award 2018 at the Festival. She was a reader for the "All Write" Selected Shorts program with Symphony Space in NYC for many years, recorded for NPR.
The performances are at The First Presbyterian Church of Cape May, 500 Hughes Street, where the company is in residence. Tickets are $28 for general admission, $20 for full-time students and military (active/retired/veteran), and, as always, anyone age 12 and under is free. For information and reservations, call 609-884-5898 or visit www.eastlynnetheater.org. "Adventure of the Speckled Band" is part of Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts and Humanities' "Sherlock Holmes' Weekend." For other Holmes' events, call 609-884-5404 or visit www.capemaymac.org.
As usual, ELTC's radio-style shows go on the road in March, courtesy of New Jersey Theatre Alliance's "Stages Festival." This year, "Adventure of the Speckled Band," and another popular touring show, "Victorian Magic" with Robert Aberdeen, will be at libraries in Bergen and Ocean Counties. Visit ELTC’s web site, www.eastlynnetheater.org under "News," for details about these admission-free performances. For information about the "Stages Festival," go to www.stagesfestival.
March 17 is ELTC's Sunday Social Brunch at Fins Bar & Grille, 142 Decatur Street, on the Washington Mall. Fifty percent of all income earned at Fins from 10:30am – 2:30pm, will be given to ELTC.
PHOTO: Rob LeMaire operating the sound effects in East Lynne Theater Company's "Sherlock Holmes' Adventure of the Speckled Band" Photo credit: Gayle Stahlhuth
