(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Every Thursday at 4:00pm through October 10, 2024, Classic American Tales (CAT) presents readings of stories, plays, and poetry at the historic Dormer House Bed and Breakfast, 800 Columbia Avenue in Cape May, NJ. Performances are on the front porch, weather permitting. Otherwise, they will be inside. Guests are also treated to lemonade and tasty treats. Cost is $12.00, cash or check at the door, and guests at The Dormer House and children ages 12 and under are free.
American Archetypes are highlighted on September 12: the Texas oil heiress and the New York immigrant aunt, both with the kind of chutzpah that informed the American character. Polly MacIntyre reads Grace Paley's (1922-2007) "Goodbye and Goodluck" from The Little Disturbances of Man (1959) and Carolyn Nelson reads William Goyen's (1915-1983) "The Texas Principessa" from Had I A Hundred Mouths, stories from 1947-1983. MacIntyre and Nelson, both from the Philadelphia area, have a wide range of professional credits in theater and film.
On September 19, the focus is American Fables. Frank Smith reads "A Kidnapped Santa Claus" (1904) by L. Frank Baum, who strove to give America its own fables and folklore by writing this and The Wizard of Oz. Stephanie Garrett is reading a Black fable, "You Never Know What Trouble is Until it Finds You." Both have performed on the mainstage in Cape May and read many stories on Cape May’s porches.
Tom Byrn reads stories by American Wits on September 26: Carolyn Wells (1862-1942), George Ade (1866-1944), and Ben Hecht (1894-1964). CAT's artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth, directed several plays in Cape May in which Byrn performed, including the solo show Mr. Lincoln, which also toured to Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble in PA. In 2018 and 2019, he directed Silent Sky and Summerland, produced by Stahlhuth in Cape May. Byrn has acted at various theaters in the Philadelphia area, including, People's Light & Theatre and the Delaware Theater Company, and at various other theaters in PA, NY, and OH. He is a member of Actors' Equity and the Lincoln Center Director's Lab and resides in the Susquehanna River Valley of central PA with his wife and daughter.
Reservations for "Tales" are appreciated and may be made through CAT by calling 609-884-5898 or e-mailing classicamericantales@aol.com. Details about this and other CAT events are found on their website.
Looking ahead, Michele LaRue reads Dorothy Canfield Fisher's "The Bedquilt" on October 3, and on October 10, Phil Pizzi takes on Will Rogers.
After 23 years serving as the producing artistic director of East Lynne Theater Company, Gayle Stahlhuth founded CAT to tell America's stories "one tale at a time." Through CAT she has been teaching acting and playwriting workshops, with the goal of these participants performing classic and new works in front of an audience.
