East Lynne Theater Presents ‘Helpful Household Hints’

CAPE MAY — The amount of time that East Lynne Theater Company’s artistic director Gayle Stahlhuth spends on researching American plays and literature is time well spent, and the rewards are various and often surprising.
For example, she commissioned Jill Dalton to write and perform a play about Lizzie Borden that ELTC premiered in Cape May in 2007. “Lizzie Borden Live” then went on the road and was the first production in the newly restored Eagle Performing Arts Center in Fall River, MA, Lizzie’s hometown, where it has become a yearly event.
At the Fall River debut, Jerry Donovan, who had recently restored the Eagle, said: “This play and its sell-out mark the beginning of a new era in the city.”
ELTC helped to further connect Fall River with its own local legend, and now the company has brought about a connection between a book and the relatives of its author.
When Gayle asked Susan Tischler to adapt “Putnam’s Household Handbook” into a comedy in 2007, neither producer nor playwright/performer had any idea that Mae Savell Croy’s family, now living in Virginia, would learn about the show – and want to see it – including Mrs. Croy’s daughter, Carol Croy Ebert.
When Susan performed “Hints” last summer at The Chalfonte Hotel, a local newspaper article was seen on the Internet by one of the Croy relatives. And now, the Croys are coming to opening night of “Helpful Hints” at The Mad Batter on Sun., Sept. 26 at 7 p.m.
The group will include two of Mae Savell Croy’s grandchildren, Hank and Dee and their spouses, and her own daughter, Carol, who is in her nineties.
“Putnam’s Household Handbook,” published in 1916, was one of the first “how-to books” and was very popular in its day. Mrs. Croy also wrote non-fiction articles for magazines and two of her plays were produced at the Pasadena Play House in California. Her husband, Homer Croy, was a successful fiction writer, particularly throughout the 1920s-40s, and, according to his daughter, “was proud of the fact that he never made a penny other than by his writing – even during the Depression.”
With Susan Tischler onstage in “Helpful Hints” is Rob LeMaire, who was in ELTC’s recent production of “The Dictator.” The comedy is directed by Karen Case Cook who has directed and performed in several ELTC productions including portraying Samantha in last season’s “The Ransom of Red Chief.”
Performers, director, staff, and board of ELTC are all very honored and excited about the Croys coming to see “Helpful Hints,” and anyone can join them just by making a reservation! It will be a special night indeed!
There are only eight performances of “Helpful Hints,” playing Sunday and Monday nights, from Sept. 26 through October 18 at 7 at The Mad Batter, at The Carroll Villa Hotel, 19 Jackson Street. Tickets for dinner and the show are $50; $45 if staying at The Carroll Villa Hotel. For those not wishing dinner, tickets are $20 and the show begins at 8:30.
To make a reservation, call ELTC at 609-884-5898 or visit the web site: www.eastlynnetheater.org , or contact The Mad Batter directly at 609-884-5970.
Meanwhile, ELTC’s production of the time-travel adventure “Berkeley Square” is performing from Sept. 22 through October 23 at The First Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St. in Cape May, where the theater is in residence.