Page 64 - 2023 Southern NJ Vacationer

GET READY TO BE ENTERTAINED
Two on the aisle
East Lynne Theater Company
AMERICAN SCENIC, lighting, and costume designer Robert Edmond Jones said “a stage setting is not a background; it is an environment.” How true this is about the entertainment stages here in New Jersey’s Southern Shore Region. From world premiere stage productions, music festivals on the beach, local concerts under the stars and headliners at Atlantic City casinos, the entertainment scene in Atlantic, Cape May and Cumberland counties is bursting with talent and surprises. Buy a ticket, grab a lawn chair, wiggle into that poodle skirt or pull on those cowboy boots and get ready to be entertained!
Cape May Stage opens the 2023 season at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse in June with the celebrated one-woman play Shirley Valentine. A Liverpool housewife’s best friend wins a competition for a trip for two to Greece and she embarks on a travel adventure that transforms her life. The laughs continue, July 19 to Aug. 27, with a comedic play entitled Art by Yasmina Reza. Set in Paris, this Tony Award-winning play focuses on the meaning of art and the meaning of friendship. The art in question is a solid white painting, and the friendships put to the test are between the man who bought the painting and his two friends who come to see it.
The Garbologists, Sept. 13 to Oct. 22, is an unconventional buddy comedy that follows first-time sanitation worker Marlowe and lifer Danny in the cab of a nineteen-ton garbage truck in New York City. Tasked with picking up what the world has discarded, they learn there’s more that binds them than just picking up the trash.
A Tuna Christmas beginning Nov. 15, invites audience members to spend the holidays in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas! With twenty-two different characters, dozens of costume changes, and just two actors, this play is a fun-filled, satirical look inside the workings of a small town at Christmas. The 2023 Broadway series promises to be sensational, featuring one night only performances by vocalist Carole J. Bufford, cabaret singer Anthony Murphy and cabaret performer Amanda McBroom. Cape May Stage, 405 Lafayette St.; 609-770-8311; www.capemaystage.org
East Lynne Theater Company: Get ready for the 2023 mainstage season of East Lynne Theater Company (ELTC), which includes a world premiere and two well-known favorites beginning with “A Tale of Two Cities Cobbled Together by the Brothers Lovejoy”, written and directed by new Artistic Director Craig Fols, runs June 14 to July 15. In this theatrical comedy, two men play out their own version of Dickens’ classic, arguing as they go: “How should they best tell the story?” “Why does it even matter?” “And what does it mean to audiences today?”
Next up is “Driving Miss Daisy” by Alfred Uhry, runs Aug. 2 to Sept. 2. This Pulitzer- Prize winner tells the story of a unique friendship. When Daisy crashes her car into a neighbor’s garage, her son hires her a driver, Hoke Coleburn, a Black man who must overcome Miss Daisy’s prejudices to keep his job as her chauffeur.
A.R. Gurney’s extremely popular “Love Letters” comes to Cape May with a twist – a
rotating cast of real-life couples. Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III, friends from childhood who share a lifetime of correspondence, beginning with birthday party thank-you notes and ending with a heartfelt goodbye. This funny, yet poignant, portrait of love and friendship, runs Sept. 6 to Oct. 14.
ELTC is in residence at Cape May Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May. More information about performance times, days, and ticket reservations, visit EastLynneTheater.org.609-884-5898; www.eastlynnetheater.org
In Cumberland County, the Levoy Theatre traces its history to the silent film era and is a vibrant center of entertainment for Millville and surrounding areas, the Levoy has a full schedule of concerts, children’s plays, and special performances. 126-130 N. High St.; 856-327-6400; www.levoy.net
In the heart of Vineland, the Landis Theater hosts live music and theater in a historic Deco styled venue. 830 E Landis Ave, Vineland, NJ 08360. www.thelandistheater.com
The Gateway Playhouse continues to provide year-round theater for Somers Point and nearby communities with musicals, plays and concerts scheduled for the 2023 season. 738 Bay Ave.; 609-653-0553; www.gatewaybythebay.org
The Cumberland Players perform at The Little Theater on E. Sherman Avenue in Vineland with a great line-up this season. 856-692-5626; www.cumberlandplayers.com
TheEagleTheatreinHammonton offersa variety of productions this season. 208 Vine St.; 609-704-5012; www.eagletheatre.org G
The Levoy Theatre
62 SOUTHERN NEW JERSEY VACATIONER