(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- To honor the 159th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address, East Lynne Theater Company presents "Gettysburg: One Woman’s War," two stories read by Michèle LaRue from Elsie Singmaster's moving 1913 classic book, "Gettysburg: Stories of the Red Harvest and the Aftermath." The performance takes place on the actual day, November 19, that President Lincoln delivered his famous speech.
This is the final reading in ELTC's "Tales of the Victorians" series for 2022, and like the other presentations, it will be outside, at 4:00pm, and light refreshments will be served. Instead of the usual Thursday, this presentation is on a Saturday. Cost is $12 cash at the door and, as usual with ELTC events, ages 12 and under are free. Reservations may be made by calling 609-884-5898 or emailing [email protected]. The Cape May location will be revealed when the reservation is made.
This is the 33rd year of "Tales of the Victorians," in which ELTC actors read American short stories, famous speeches, and one-act plays, while guests enjoy tea and homemade treats, at different Cape May locations. During the pandemic, ELTC's "Tales" was one of first live cultural events in New Jersey, presenting 21 different "Tales" outside, in 2020 alone, much to the happiness of visitors and locals alike.
Michèle LaRue (shown at the top) is no stranger to ELTC. With this company, she performed in William Dean Howells' "Bride Roses," Susan Glaspell's "Suppressed Desires," and Gayle Stahlhuth's adaptation of Henry James' "The Beast in the Jungle" – all directed by her late husband: ELTC's founder and first producing artistic director, Warren Kliewer. She was also in Langdon Mitchell's "The New York Idea" and William Dean Howells' "The Mouse-Trap," directed by current producing artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth. For over 25 years, LaRue has performed throughout the country in one-woman shows, including "Someone Must Wash the Dishes: An Anti-Suffrage Satire," written by Marie Jenney Howe in 1912, and directed by Kliewer. She was one of the first to read on porches as part of ELTC's "Tales of the Victorians." Now, under her own title, "Tales Well Told," she reads works of Kate Chopin, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, O. Henry, Dorothy Canfield Fisher, and other American writers, in various venues nationwide. LaRue is a member of the two performers' unions—Actors' Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA—and of multiple literature organizations. As a theater editor-writer, she has collaborated on numerous notable publications.
Next up, for Christmas, is Gayle Stahlhuth performing "Christmas Presents from the Past," in which she performs over 30 characters, and Amanda Brinlee, performing on the "Ghosts of Christmas Past Trolley Rides" in partnership with Cape May MAC.
