WHO WE ARE
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Frank Smith (President) was a detective with the Philadelphia Police Department before he bought The White Dove Cottage Bed and Breakfast on Hughes Street in Cape May. From 1990 until he sold it in 2002, he greeted guests and even helped plan events such as family reunions and weddings. From 2003-2007, he was a travel consultant for the Cape May County Chamber of Commerce, and from 2007-2013, a host at Aleathea’s Restaurant at The Inn of Cape May. He was the assistant manager at The Henry Sawyer Inn from 2014 until 2020, when the inn was sold and converted to a private home. He also conducted Murder Mystery Weekends at the Inn, like he did when he ran The White Dove. From 1992-1997, as a volunteer for Cape May MAC, he portrayed “Dr. Physick.”
Frank joined ELTC’s board in 1993 and served off-and-on as president from 1996-2016. He also was ELTC’s storyteller on “The Ghosts of Christmas Past Trolley Rides,” co-sponsored with MAC, from 2007-2017. Off-and-on from 1996 through 2022, he worked the ELTC box office and was the Volunteer Liaison who scheduled volunteers for house managing and ushering duties at performances, interacting with visitors at ELTC's tables at local fairs, distributing posters, and helping with fundraisers.
Frank joined ELTC’s board in 1993 and served off-and-on as president from 1996-2016. He also was ELTC’s storyteller on “The Ghosts of Christmas Past Trolley Rides,” co-sponsored with MAC, from 2007-2017. Off-and-on from 1996 through 2022, he worked the ELTC box office and was the Volunteer Liaison who scheduled volunteers for house managing and ushering duties at performances, interacting with visitors at ELTC's tables at local fairs, distributing posters, and helping with fundraisers.
Barbara Morris (Secretary) is a professor at St. John’s University in Queens, NY where she teaches 20th Century American Drama, Zora Neale Hurston: Harlem Renaissance, Orientation – Hospitality Management, and Creating and Operating a B&B Inn. While visiting Cape May, NJ, Barbara and her mother, Mary, fell so in love with this seaside town, that in 1992 they purchased an 1877 Victorian home. After lengthy renovations, it became The Henry Sawyer Inn, one of the town’s most popular B&Bs. With East Lynne Theater Company and Frank Smith, Barbara ran Murder Mystery Weekends at the Inn, garnering the honor of one of four top-rated such weekends in the country by "AM Magazine" in NYC. In 2021, she sold the Inn, which is now a private home.
Kathy Mottola (Treasurer) received her degree from Wesley College. Her varied career has offered her many interesting avenues of employment - Gimbels Department Store (Advertising), Philadelphia Flyers (Marketing/Sales) Publisher, Convention Coordinator Charles B. Slack, Inc. (Conference/Events Coordinator) and KYW-TV where she spent 17 years behind the scenes in Creative Services, Public Relations and as Office Administrator to the VP/GM. From 2010-2019, she was the secretary at the Cape May Presbyterian Church and was East Lynne Theater Company's (ELTC) office assistant from 2018 through 2022. Kathy's interests include reading, bridge, mahjong, singing and attending the theater. Her son, Michael, worked box office and helped with set-ups and strikes for ELTC from 2016 through 2022.
Jennifer Swain is a strategy consultant with experience supporting complex projects in the financial and insurance, government, technology and healthcare sectors. She brings a background in nonprofit fundraising and community engagement, along with leadership roles in arts and cultural initiatives. She created and managed End of the Road Theater, home to a variety of performing events and films, in North Cape May from 2021-2025. She joins the Classic American Tales board to advance strategic growth and expand the organization’s reach across Cape May and beyond.
Gayle Stahlhuth (see below)
ADVISORS TO THE BOARD
Stephanie Garrett (Advisor to the Board and Storyteller and Lecturer) played Mary in East Lynne Theater Company's NJ premiere of Jan Buttram's Lost on the Natchez Trace and other plays directed by Gayle Stahlhuth in Cape May. She performed regularly for the company’s popular Tales of the Victorians and now is a popular storyteller and lecturer for CAT. Over fifteen years ago, at Historic Cold Spring Village, she was a storyteller, specializing in early 19th Century Cape May County African American History. Stephanie has a BA and MA in Sociology and worked as a Sociologist and Human Resources Manager during her career in Federal Government. Upon early retirement she received the Meritorious Service Award, the highest award given by the Department of Navy to a civilian employee. She is past President of the Greater Cape May Historical Society.
Amanda Sykes (see below)
STAFF
Liberty Ero (Tales at The Dormer House Assistant), whose first name is actually Eleftheria, translated to “Liberty” in English from Greek, is semi-fluent in the Greek language. Raised in Wildwood Crest, NJ, she’s worked in several local restaurants, including her godparents’ George’s Place in Cape May, as a waiter, cashier or hostess. Liberty is adept at transcribing videos relating to video-game series, some scripted and episodic, others more improvisational. Writing on her own for twelve years, she recently joined the Jersey Cape Writers Group where participants read their work and critique each other. She has neither acting nor performing experience, but always wanted to be involved in theater “even if it’s just from afar or backstage,” and started attending Tales at the Dormer House not only because she wanted to attend more live performances, but also because she’s “trying to prioritize reading more classic literature.” CAT’s Artistic Director and the Board of Trustees are thrilled that she’ll be with the company no longer as a paying guest, but as an employee working behind the scenes to help make Tales happen.
Amanda Sykes (Graphic Designer and Board Advisor) is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University, a small business owner, stage manager, and performer. After receiving her Bachelors of Arts in Acting in 2020, Gayle Stahlhuth (when she ran East Lynne Theater Company) hired her to perform in a virtual reading of Something to Vote For; work backstage and onstage in Vaudeville Variety, Tales in the Backyard and Poe by Candlelight; assistantant stage manage Dorothy Parker: A Certain Woman, assistant direct The 2021 Summer Student Workshop’s The Reluctant Dragon, and stage manage Who Am I This Time? (and Other Conundrums of Love and Possessing Harriet in 2022. She was also the storyteller for Cape May MAC's Ghosts of Christmas Past Trolley Rides. When she is not working in theater, she is running her small business on Etsy and raising her daughter with her husband, Zach. She is a member of Actors' Equity Associaton.
Robert LeMaire (Artist-in-Residence Theater Instructor) served in the U. S. Navy from 1988-1992. After service, he attended Richard Stockton University, majoring in History.
For over thirty years, he's worked with children and young adults. During the 1990’s he coordinated Education Programs, including running the Junior Apprenticeship Program at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May County. In 1997, he received special recognition from Partners in Distance Learning for his creative and engaging virtual field trips. From 2001 until he retired in 2025, he worked as an Educational Computer Specialist for the Ocean City (NJ) School District, assisting students and teachers in use of technology.
From 2001 through 2022, Rob performed almost yearly in East Lynne Theater Company (ELTC) productions in Cape May, where he was directed by Gayle Stahlhuth in shows including Ah, Wilderness!, The Dictator, The Ransom of Red Chief, The Late Christopher Bean, and Dracula. For ELTC's Arsenic and Old Lace, he played Teddy and was Stahlhuth's assistant director.
Starting out as assistant director for the Ocean City High School Drama Guild, he took over as director from 2016-2025, where he directed Footloose: The Musical, Spamalot, Pride and Prejudice, Stage Door, and other shows. From 2017-2022, he directed ELTC’s Student Summer Theater Workshop, which included students performing in plays for the community.
Rob served as President of the Board of Trustees for the Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point, NJ and on the Board of Trustees for ELTC. In 2018, along with others involved in teaching theater to school-age students, he was honored by ELTC and The New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Rob now works part time for the Sea Isle City Department of Recreation focused on stage and film programs. He lives in Sea Isle City.
For over thirty years, he's worked with children and young adults. During the 1990’s he coordinated Education Programs, including running the Junior Apprenticeship Program at Historic Cold Spring Village in Cape May County. In 1997, he received special recognition from Partners in Distance Learning for his creative and engaging virtual field trips. From 2001 until he retired in 2025, he worked as an Educational Computer Specialist for the Ocean City (NJ) School District, assisting students and teachers in use of technology.
From 2001 through 2022, Rob performed almost yearly in East Lynne Theater Company (ELTC) productions in Cape May, where he was directed by Gayle Stahlhuth in shows including Ah, Wilderness!, The Dictator, The Ransom of Red Chief, The Late Christopher Bean, and Dracula. For ELTC's Arsenic and Old Lace, he played Teddy and was Stahlhuth's assistant director.
Starting out as assistant director for the Ocean City High School Drama Guild, he took over as director from 2016-2025, where he directed Footloose: The Musical, Spamalot, Pride and Prejudice, Stage Door, and other shows. From 2017-2022, he directed ELTC’s Student Summer Theater Workshop, which included students performing in plays for the community.
Rob served as President of the Board of Trustees for the Chartertech High School for the Performing Arts in Somers Point, NJ and on the Board of Trustees for ELTC. In 2018, along with others involved in teaching theater to school-age students, he was honored by ELTC and The New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Rob now works part time for the Sea Isle City Department of Recreation focused on stage and film programs. He lives in Sea Isle City.
Gayle Stahlhuth (Founder and Producing Artistic Director and Board Member) is an actor, director, playwright, producer, storyteller, and teacher. From 1999 through 2022 she helmed 125 shows and directed most of them as the producing artistic director of the nonprofit Equity professional East Lynne Theater Company (ELTC) in Cape May, NJ, and currently is the founding artistic director of another nonprofit theater, Classic American Tales. She has performed off-Broadway (Manhattan Theatre Club, etc.) in national tours (Cabaret, Oliver, etc.), regional theater (Gateway Playhouse in Long Island, etc.), television (various soaps, etc.), radio (commercials and Voice of America), and on the Chautauqua Circuit. Her plays have been performed at such places as the NYC International Fringe Festival, The Samuel French One-Act Festival, Arvada Center in Denver, Pennsylvania Stage Company, the Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis, ELTC, and at several universities. Her work has been praised in “The Philadelphia Inquirer,” “The Newark Star-Ledger,” “The New York Times,” and “The Wall Street Journal.”
For her writing and/or performing, she’s been awarded commissions from The Smithsonian Institution, the Missouri and Illinois Humanities Councils, Theatreworks/USA and other theaters, and grants from the NJ Humanities Council, the NYS Council on the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts. Solo shows she's created and toured (many bookings through Arthur Shafman International) include Lou: The Remarkable Miss Alcott, The Awakening adapted from Kate Chopin, Eve's Diary from Mark Twain, and A Trunk Without a Label
about Catharine Beecher, and the two-person Not Above a Whisper about Dorothea Lynde Dix. From 2007 through 2022, she presented ELTC's Christmas productions, adapting and performing stories by famous writers, bringing to life thirty-plus characters in her memorized, unique storytelling style.
Her personal monologue, Goin’ Home, about cleaning out her mother’s Indiana home, has been included in theaters’ solo festivals. A selection from another personal piece, One Step at a Time about caregiving for her husband, was presented at Premiere Stages in April 2024, and Gayle presented the full monologue at Cape May Stage in October 2024. When she submitted the script to the International Auto/Biography Association of the Americas, she was invited to be part of its bi-annual conference in 2025.
Participating in REVNJ, a statewide celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Gayle has written a solo show about the early days of the Revolution which she begins to tour in 2026. Edna Ferber’s great-niece is helping her find venues for her Fabulous Ferber. She is also teaching playwriting and acting workshops, lecturing, performing, and producing for Classic American Tales.
In the early 1980’s, Gayle was a pioneer in the artist-in-residence (AIR) movement to put art back into public schools, and is on the AIR rosters for NY, NJ, UT, and WY. She also conducted residencies through Plays for Living and Theater for a New Audience in NYC and started ELTC’s Summer Theater Workshop in 2007. For her work, she was selected as one of 200 artists from all arts disciplines to be listed in The Directory of Community Artists published by the National Endowment for the Arts.
She has directed-stage managed-designed/set lights-designed/built sets-designed/built costumes for off-off Broadway, cabarets, festivals and regional theaters; hired to start a dinner theater in Billings, MT and to produce a Medieval Festival at The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore; made elephant blankets for Ringling Brothers Circus, and was an Emmy Awards’ judge in the field of broadcast news.
While still active as a performer, Gayle worked for the Sol Hurok Organization, setting up interviews and itineraries for artists such as Isaac Stern; was the accountant for Sha-Na-Na and other musicians; and worked undercover for white collar crime for a NYC detective agency.
She served on the board of ELTC from 1987-1997. From 1990-2002 she was a Council Member of The Episcopal Actors’ Guild, an organization that helps actors, regardless of religious affiliations. Since 2010, she has served on the board of the NJ Theatre Alliance, a service organization for theaters in the Garden State.
Gayle is a member of the Dramatists Guild, SAG-AFTRA, and Actors’ Equity Association. The International Association of Women honored her in 2016 for her work as a theater professional and she is listed in the newest edition of The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre (2008).
Gayle enjoys her homes in West Cape May, NJ and Manhattan.
For her writing and/or performing, she’s been awarded commissions from The Smithsonian Institution, the Missouri and Illinois Humanities Councils, Theatreworks/USA and other theaters, and grants from the NJ Humanities Council, the NYS Council on the Arts, and the Mid-Atlantic Foundation for the Arts. Solo shows she's created and toured (many bookings through Arthur Shafman International) include Lou: The Remarkable Miss Alcott, The Awakening adapted from Kate Chopin, Eve's Diary from Mark Twain, and A Trunk Without a Label
about Catharine Beecher, and the two-person Not Above a Whisper about Dorothea Lynde Dix. From 2007 through 2022, she presented ELTC's Christmas productions, adapting and performing stories by famous writers, bringing to life thirty-plus characters in her memorized, unique storytelling style.
Her personal monologue, Goin’ Home, about cleaning out her mother’s Indiana home, has been included in theaters’ solo festivals. A selection from another personal piece, One Step at a Time about caregiving for her husband, was presented at Premiere Stages in April 2024, and Gayle presented the full monologue at Cape May Stage in October 2024. When she submitted the script to the International Auto/Biography Association of the Americas, she was invited to be part of its bi-annual conference in 2025.
Participating in REVNJ, a statewide celebration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, Gayle has written a solo show about the early days of the Revolution which she begins to tour in 2026. Edna Ferber’s great-niece is helping her find venues for her Fabulous Ferber. She is also teaching playwriting and acting workshops, lecturing, performing, and producing for Classic American Tales.
In the early 1980’s, Gayle was a pioneer in the artist-in-residence (AIR) movement to put art back into public schools, and is on the AIR rosters for NY, NJ, UT, and WY. She also conducted residencies through Plays for Living and Theater for a New Audience in NYC and started ELTC’s Summer Theater Workshop in 2007. For her work, she was selected as one of 200 artists from all arts disciplines to be listed in The Directory of Community Artists published by the National Endowment for the Arts.
She has directed-stage managed-designed/set lights-designed/built sets-designed/built costumes for off-off Broadway, cabarets, festivals and regional theaters; hired to start a dinner theater in Billings, MT and to produce a Medieval Festival at The Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore; made elephant blankets for Ringling Brothers Circus, and was an Emmy Awards’ judge in the field of broadcast news.
While still active as a performer, Gayle worked for the Sol Hurok Organization, setting up interviews and itineraries for artists such as Isaac Stern; was the accountant for Sha-Na-Na and other musicians; and worked undercover for white collar crime for a NYC detective agency.
She served on the board of ELTC from 1987-1997. From 1990-2002 she was a Council Member of The Episcopal Actors’ Guild, an organization that helps actors, regardless of religious affiliations. Since 2010, she has served on the board of the NJ Theatre Alliance, a service organization for theaters in the Garden State.
Gayle is a member of the Dramatists Guild, SAG-AFTRA, and Actors’ Equity Association. The International Association of Women honored her in 2016 for her work as a theater professional and she is listed in the newest edition of The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre (2008).
Gayle enjoys her homes in West Cape May, NJ and Manhattan.
