East Lynne Theater Company Presents ‘Dulcy’

CAPE MAY – “This is probably the first weekend party on record that ended on Friday night,” says Dulcy’s brother William to his brother-in-law Gordon.
Dulcy is the only one who believes she’s created the perfect atmosphere in her home for a lovely weekend where her husband can make a brilliant business deal with his boss – or perhaps the boss’s rival – and the boss’s daughter can run away with the right – or wrong – man. It may be that an innocent person could go to jail and all of her plans will go awry in this zany, screwball comedy written by Pulitzer Prize-winners George S. Kaufman (1889-1961) and Marc Connelly (1890-1980).
Produced by the award-winning Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company, “Dulcy” runs from Sept. 21 through Oct. 15 every Wed. through Sat. at 8:00 p.m., except there is no show on Wed., Oct. 5, and there will be an added performance on Sun., Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m., at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May, where the company is in residence.
On opening night, Wed., Sept. 21, there is an after-show party at Aleathea’s Restaurant at The Inn of Cape May, where patrons have the opportunity to meet and talk to the cast and crew. On Fri., Sept. 30, is an after-show Q&A, and on Fri., Oct. 14 is an ASL Performance.
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.
For information and to make reservations, call 609-884-5898 or go online at www.eastlynnetheater.org.
“Dulcy’s” eleven-member cast includes ELTC favorites: Erin Callahan and Thomas Raniszewski (from last season’s “Berkeley Square”), Suzanne Dawson, Megan McDermott, and Drew Seltzer (also from “Berkeley Square” as well as the recent “The World of Dorothy Parker”); Mark Edward Lang and Alison J. Murphy (“The Guardsman”), Fred Velde (“Rain”), Dave Holyoak (“He and She”) and ELTC’s artistic director Gayle Stahlhuth, who also directs. New to ELTC is Larry Daggett who just finished performing in “The Full Monty” at Sierra Repertory Theater in Sonora, CA, and was last in Cape May in Cape May Stage’s production of “Souvenir.”
In 2008, ELTC produced “To the Ladies!,” the second play written by Kaufman and Connelly. Not only did it receive a lovely review by Terry Teachout in “The Wall Street Journal,” but Kaufman’s daughter, Anne, came to Cape May to see the show and enjoy a Q&A with the audience afterwards. She was so taken with the production that she allowed ELTC to produce the only play her father wrote without a collaborator, “The Butter and Egg Man,” which the company presented in 2009, to terrific audience and reviewer response. Anne is looking forward to coming to town again to see “Dulcy” and enjoy another Q&A, the date to be determined.
Dulcinea Smith was a character created by Franklin P. Adams, who wrote for several New York newspapers and was a member of The Algonquin Round Table, like Kaufman and Connelly. Not only did “Dulcy” establish these two journalists as playwrights, but it made a star of Lynn Fontanne, who played the title role.
Kaufman became America’s most successful playwright in the 1920s and ‘30s, collaborating with Dorothy Parker, Edna Ferber, Ring Lardner, Morrie Ryskind, and Moss Hart. His Pulitzer Prizes were for “Of Thee I Sing,” with Morrie Ryskind and Ira Gershwin, the first musical to be so honored, and with Moss Hart for “You Can’t Take It With You.”
Connelly received the Pulitzer Prize for “The Green Pastures,” written for and performed by an all-African-American cast. He was a regular contributor to “Life” and other magazines.