LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth

In Brief

In their day, Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence were theater royalty. He was a playwright, screen writer, song writer, director, actor, producer, raconteur, comedian and TV personality during a life that spanned 74 years from 1899 to 1973. He penned such classics as Private Lives and Blithe Spirit. Ms. Lawrence was a celebrated actress who triumphed on stage in pieces that included Lady in the Dark and The King and I. Together they formed an incredible team, and their friendship forms the inspiration for a delightful musical review devised by Sheridan Morley, Noel and Gertie.

HTP will present Noel and Gertie on July 14, 15, 16 at Cape Henlopen High School at 8:00 p.m. Directed by local director Ken Skrzesz, and starring Carl Randolph (who was a hit in the MetroStage of Alexandria, Virginia's production of Noel and Gertie in December 2003), Joanna Parson, a seasoned New York actress whose recent credits include The Audience, Thicker Than Water, and I Claudius Live!, and Doug Yetter (a 30 year veteran of musical theater), this show offers a lovely overview of a decades long friendship, and a survey of Coward's words and music. It focuses on musical numbers and dramatic scenes from several of his more popular plays, including Tonight at 8:30 and Private Lives, and follows the loving lifelong relationship between Coward and Ms. Lawrence from the time they met as child actors until Coward learned of Ms. Lawrence's death from cancer in the mid 1950s.

Some have called their relationship symbiotic, since it was an ongoing tradeoff between Coward's genius ability to create great commercial material for Ms. Lawrence's talent and incredible star power. But, it was also a relationship which always remained close and affectionate.

Noel and Gertie premiered in 1982 at the Hong Kong Theater Festival, and went on to more than 30 worldwide performances in such cities as Monte Carlo, Capetown, Honolulu, Vienna, Sydney and Toronto. It was a smash hit in London's West End, and enjoyed a very successful run in New York, with Twiggy starring as Gertie. This HTP production will be the first presentation of Noel and Gertie in the Cape region.

Tickets are available by calling 302-226-4103.

Donate your old wireless phoneit could save a life. The Donate-A-Phone project is a national wireless phone collection drive designed to provide domestic violence victims with a powerful toola wireless phone. The program is a partnership between the Wireless Foundation, the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Motorola who have worked together since 1996 to provide free phones to victims of domestic violence through the CALL to PROTECT program.

Phones may be dropped off at CAMP Rehoboth, 37 Baltimore Ave., in Rehoboth Beach.

Tickets on Sale for Vagina Monologues

Tickets are printed and the phone is ringing at CAMP Rehoboth for reservations for the encore presentation of The Vagina Monologues for August 12 and 13 at the Henlopen Hotel. The show will be in town for two performances only in a small venue, so tickets are limited.

For this encore of the Fay J. Productions presentation of the show, 25% of the proceeds will come to the CAMP Rehoboth Founders' Circle. Tickets are $20 each.

On Friday Aug. 12 and Saturday Aug.13 at 8 p.m., actresses Jane Bruns, Stacey Fearheiley and Eloise Ullman will be back for an evening of laughter and tears in Eve Ensler's award winning play. In January, 900 people saw the show, directed by Fay Jacobs. The diverse audiences, men and women, gay and straight, young and not so young, gave standing ovations to the production.

Along with the performances, Salero Restaurant has planned a pre-show dinner special. After purchasing your tickets at 302-227-5620, you can call Salero directly at 302-227-8630 if you would like to have reservations for the special pre-show dinner.

Gather your friends, family members (including the men!), who missed the show last winter, but heard so much about it, and plan to see The Vagina Monologues on either Aug. 12 or 13. Or, come see it again! We may have a few new surprises in store. With only 125 seats each night, the show is sure to be a sell-out! Call 302-227-5620 now to reserve your tickets.

Arizona Artist at Lighthouse B&B

Arizona artist Wendy Fallon returns for her second annual Arizona Artist Paints the Beach, 2005 exhibit of her oil and watercolor paintings at the Lighthouse Inn Bed & Breakfast, 20 Delaware Ave. in Rehoboth Beach from July 6-14. Lighthouse Innkeepers Jerry Sipes and Matt Turlinski will host a reception for the artist from 2 to 5 p.m., Wednesday, July 6. Light refreshments will be served, and the public is invited to meet the artist and see her work.

Fallon, a former New Jersey resident and longtime Rehoboth Beach visitor, will be exhibiting oil and watercolor paintings of the Rehoboth beachfront along with several landscapes of the Phoenix, Arizona area where she lives. As an artist by nature, she not only paints nature scenes but also enjoys incorporating shells, sea glass, and stones into stained glass boxes and frames.

Fallon's artwork will remain on display at the Lighthouse Inn B&B through July 14. For information, call 302-226-0407.

Duncan and Eberle At Peninsula Gallery

Building on the success of "Double Take" two years ago when friends and fellow watercolorists, Aubre Duncan and Howard Eberle, collaborated to produce a visually stunning exhibit of local scenes painted from different perspectives but in very contrasting styles, they are back. The idea is the same. Two artists, two styles, one subject, but this time the same perspective.

Both artists paint in transparent watercolor and favor simple, uncluttered subjects, particularly those which have architectural overtones. Here the resemblance stops. Duncan's work is bold and colorful while Eberle's is stark and understated. Duncan's palette is vibrant in blues, reds and yellows often using rainbow ombre to detail touches in her pieces. Her paintings make you smile and wish you were in them. Eberle is a master of composition using negative space and limited color to achieve a style he defines as "realism with a touch of abstract." Viewers find themselves drawn into the beauty of their simplicity.

Once again both artists photographed in the local area in preparation for this show. Then they pooled the results in order to determine which subjects to paint. Then each returned to their studio to work from the same set of photographs, one to Bethany and the other to Charlotte, N.C. Their paintings include a variety of coastal objects, local landmarks and architecturally interesting buildings or parts of buildings, some well known, others not, some whimsical, others masterly in their composition, some vibrant in color and others almost monochromatic. The perspectives are the same but each artist's rendering is different. Add to that a little artistic license here and there, and you have work of tremendous contrast. Typical are two paintings of the old Dewey Beach Life Saving Station before it was moved to Shipcarpenter Square in Lewes to become a private residence

A reception to meet both artists will be held in the gallery on Saturday, July 2 from 5-7 p.m. The gallery, located just across the canal bridge on Savannah Rd in Lewes, is open 7 days a week.

The exhibit may be previewed on the web at www.peninsula-gallery.com. The show runs through August 3. Call 302-645-0551 for further information.

Halliday Exhibit at Packard Reath

Internationally known photographer David Halliday returns to Lewes for a major exhibition of his newest work. Halliday's work will be on display from July 8th through August 3rd. An opening reception will be held for the artist on Saturday, July 9th from 5 to 7 pm. The public is welcome to attend the opening and meet the artist.

David Halliday is charmed, intrigued, excited and amused by all that surrounds him. He uses his camera to artfully record those objects and moments that capture his attention. The still lives that are part of this show have a pronounced timeless quality. His style is minimalist and strictly ordered; classic in their simplicity, sense of order and restraint. Halliday produces all of his photographs in the darkroom creating delicate sepia toned silver gelatin prints. His use of this highly traditional hand- process reflects his desire to reclaim the past as well as cherish the present in the form of soft, tranquil, intimate moments in time. His work is also marked by strong compositional design and a whimsical sense of juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated objects.

The Packard Reath Gallery is located at 122 Market Street in Lewes. For information, call 302-644-7513 or visit www.packardreathgallery.com.

Letters Takes a Holiday While touring Egypt's Great Pyramids, Mike Lobb and Mark McFarland took a break to catch up on all the beach news in Letters from CAMP Rehoboth.

Love Is in the Air Love Chair Bill Alldredge and Sandra Skidmore are two of the many volunteers spreading love throughout Rehoboth over the July 4th weekend.

AIDS Testing Day at CAMP Rehoboth Community Center Michael Muller, Diana Layfield, Gary Webb, and Kim Schoenle were on duty at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center for National AIDS Testing Day on Monday, June 27th. Call CAMP Rehoboth, 302-227-5620, for testing schedules.

LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 15, No. 8 July 1, 2005