Meet the cast of ELTC's "He and She"

(CAPE MAY, NJ) -- Where else have these actors performed and how did they become part of "He and She?" How does ELTC's artistic director Gayle Stahlhuth choose a show and a season?  How and why do actors even do what they do?  And who is playwright Rachel Crothers?   

     Audience members have the opportunity to ask these and other questions of the talented eight-member cast and the company's artistic director, Gayle Stahlhuth (who also has a small role in the play) on Friday, June 24, immediately after seeing the award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company's production of "He and She." As usual, ELTC seeks out rarely produced American plays that speak to today's audiences, and this play is no exception.  When ELTC first produced this provocative play in 1997, "The Newark Star-Ledger" awarded it "The Best Play of the New Jersey Season."  Patrons have asked for its return, and ELTC is proud to revive it.

     The cast includes several ELTC favorites: Tom Byrn, Emily Cheney, and John Cameron Weber, and new to ELTC: Molly O' Neill, Grace Wright, Ashley Kowzun and Dave Holyoak.

     Tom Byrn portrayed the wisecracking telegraph operator and John Cameron Weber, the scheming American Ambassador, in last season's "The Dictator," cited in "The Philadelphia Inquirer" for its terrific ensemble acting. Tom has worked with several Philadelphia area companies, and, for twelve years, acted and directed at Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble in Bloomsburg, PA. John played Michael Husted in CBS's "As the World Turns," and has worked at Cortland Rep in New York and Arrow Rock in Missouri. Emily Cheney played Kate Petigrew in ELTC's time-travel adventure, "Berkeley Square."  She has worked at EgoPo Productions and The Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia.

     Molly O'Neill most recently performed at Trinity Rep in Provincetown, RI where she was in  "Our Country's Good" and "The Tempest." Dave Holyoak has worked recently at the Kalamazoo Civic Theatre in "Is He Dead" and "Dirty Blonde." Ashley Kowzun played Lady Caroline in "Enchanted April" at Women's Theater Company in Parsippany, NJ this past spring. Grace Wright, from Cape May County, has had leading roles in local productions of "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" and "Twelfth Night."

     Playwright Rachel Crothers, beginning with her first Broadway success in 1906, "The Sum of Us," and continuing through "Susan and God" in 1936, had a Broadway hit almost every year.  Most of her themes involve smart, working women with families, and "He and She" is no exception.

     "He and She" runs from June 15 through July 23, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:30p.m. at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May, where the company is in residence. Tickets are $30 for general admission; $25 for seniors and those with disabilities and their support companions; $15 for students; and anyone age twelve and under is free. Season tickets are available through June 30.  For information and to make reservations, call 609-884-5898 or go online at www.eastlynnetheater.org.

     The production of "He and She" would not be possible without show sponsor The Henry Sawyer Inn; season sponsors Curran Investment Management, Aleathea's Restaurant, and La Mer Beachfront Inn; funding received through grants from the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the generosity of many patrons.