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1988-1989 | 1990-1992 | 1993-1994 | 1995-1997
1998-2000 | 2001-2003 | 2004-2005 | 2006-2008

History of Our Building

Cape Island Presbyterian Church (1850)
By John Bailey

In 1844, the Trustees of the historic Cold Spring Presbyterian Church built a church on the north side of Washington Street east of the bend (location of the present 1st Methodist Church) Contributions from summer visitors largely financed the structure, so they called it the “Visitors’ Church.” Since they had a building and quite a few members, the Cape Island Presbyterians decided to form their own congregation. However, the Mother Church at Cold Spring did not agree to the maverick Cape Islanders’ plans and rejected their offers to purchase the church.

In January of 1853, the trustees of the Cape Island Presbyterian Church ( James Mecray, Benjamin Bellange, William Stites, and Joseph Church) purchased a lot on the north side of Lafayette Street, at the corner of what is now Bank Street. Local builder, Peter Hand, designed and built their church, completing it by July with dedication services on July 17th. For the rest of that summer Cape Islanders and visitors alike thronged the beautiful new church. Mr. Hand designed a Georgian-vernacular style building with an oddly graceful onion-curved, mosque-like, cupola. The “Visitors’ Church” on Washington Street languished as the Presbyterians all attended the new vital church on Lafayette Street in droves. In the fall of 1853, the Cold Spring trustees sold it to the Methodists.

Cape May’s Civil War hero, Colonel Henry Washington Sawyer, was a member of the congregation at the time of his capture at the Battle of Brandy Station June 9, 1863. He languished in the Confederacy’s infamous Libby Prison until his release in a prisoner exchange that involved the nephew of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. In letters to his wife from prison, Sawyer often mentioned the church and how he longed to accompany her there on Sunday mornings. The Colonel gave away his daughter in marriage on the alter of the church.

The church served the congregation until 1898 when they moved to their new church at Hughes and Decatur Streets. The trustees sold the old church to Annie Knight. She bought it for the local Episcopalians, who had no building.

In the mid 50s, one of the City’s proposed solutions to the increasing automobile parking problem was to tear down the old Cape Island Presbyterian Church and an old fire station next to it on the corner of Lafayette and Bank Streets to create a parking lot. The City purchased the church for $2,000 from the Church of the Advent Episcopalians, and began demolition plans. However, an early Cape Island preservationist, Tom Harris, intervened to save the building.

Tom met with Mayor Sam Eldredge and the City Commissioners, and convinced them that the building was worth saving. He pointed out that Cape May did not have a much needed Central Community House. The Mayor and Commissioners agreed to support Tom’s effort. Nathan C. Staller, Counselor at law for Cape May drew up Incorporation papers for the Historical and Community Center of Cape May (HCC), Inc. The City demolished the old fire station on the corner to provide parking for the building.

They invited the Episcopal Bishop to officially deconsecrate the building. They painted the inside an attractive moss green with a white ceiling. They set up a kitchen that could service affairs of up to 150 people. Various people donated furniture, fixtures, cooking and serving utensils, and a piano. The Board declared the building available for art exhibitions, dances, plays, meetings of associations. banquets, etc.

After running the Center for seventeen years, Tom grew tired of the job and its responsibilities. So, in 1973 Mayor Minnix suggested that the City take over running the Center. The City converted its primary use into a Visitor Welcome Center, though it still served for meetings, plays, and such. They installed Connie Costen, as director of the Welcome Center and she ran it well for many years.

One of the City’s greatest problems with the building was pigeons in the attic. The birds entered the attic through an open vent. The Chief of Police, Harry Stotz came up with the idea of shooting the pigeons, then closing up their access hole. It took a lot of money to repair the holes in the tin roof but he did kill maybe a half-dozen pigeons.1

The former church now has a new life as the Robert Shackleton Playhouse, home of Cape May Stage. The building is rated key in the Historic District of Cape May, a National Historic Landmark. The building has been considered so important architecturally that the Historic American Building Survey has created measured architectural plans, which are preserved in the Library of Congress. Cape May Stage launched its capital campaign in 2004, Project Encore, to fully restore the building to its original splendor and install a state-of-the-art auditorium.

1988 Cape May Stage was founded by Cape May County resident, Michael Laird, a graduate in Theatre Arts from The Richard Stockton College. In the same year, it was incorporated as a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation.

1989 The first official performance was “Sea Marks” directed by John Gulley and starring Tom McCarthy and Jeannie Waters. The show was staged at the Chalfonte Hotel and Cold Spring Village.

1990-1992 Three shows were performed in each of these years with superb critical reviews. Performance venues included the Chalfonte Hotel, Cape May Institute, the Art League and Congress Hall. John Alvarez makes his Cape May Stage debut as Stage Manager. Volunteer “Buddies” group is formed to help at the shows.

1993-1994 Ambitious seven-month season is launched. Among the firsts for Cape May Stage at this time were: Board of Trustees (six members) were installed; Cabaret shows were inaugurated at the Chalfonte; Outreach Programs were launched including workshops, performances and theatre classes at area schools and community college.

1995–1997 Following the use of the city’s Welcome Center at Lafayette and Bank Streets for some shows in 1993/94, Cape May Stage obtained a three-year lease from the city in 1995. Grant funding was awarded from the NJ State Council on the Arts in 1996. During this time two campaigns were initiated: an Annual Giving, and a Capital Campaign for new seating and lights. Canyon Allen joined the staff as Technical Director and Michael Carleton (our current Artistic Director) made his first appearance in Cape May directing “The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged.”

1998-2000 Theatre programming expanded to an eig ht-month/six shows season which Cape May Stage has retained ever since. Michael Laird expanded programming to include film shorts and Cape May Stage and Film becomes an unofficial new name. In May, 2000 two of the theatre industry's great stars, Estelle Parsons and Robert Prosky, kicked off a spectacular production year for Cape May Stage with their memorable performance of “Love Letters”. The rest of the season didn't disappoint, particularly the staging of “Patsy Cline, A Portrait in Song” written by Laird and Joe Stinson and the highly acclaimed “Art” with Paul Bernardo, Chris Dolman and Mark Rector. Cape May Stage was one of the first regional theatres in the country to produce this popular new drama by Yazmina Reza. Michael is found to have cancer in July 2000.

2001-2003 Cape May Stage loses its beloved founder on January 6, 2001 as the cancer takes his life. The Board of Trustees selects Michael Carleton as its new Artistic Director. The 2001, 2002, & 2003 seasons bring remarkable audience growth as Michael Carleton demonstrates a similar versatility as our founder in his skills with acting, directing, playwriting, play selection etc. The hiring of retired business executive, Joe Pannullo as our first Managing Director, allowed Cape May Stage to focus on marketing, administrative and fiscal procedures, and expansion of Grant funding for the theatre.

2004-2005 Marketing and Development programs, financed by new grant funds, were formalized and implemented. Audience continues to grow as a result, at the pace of 20% plus per year. The season-opening Flying Solo Festival‚ is inaugurated. Board membership reaches the level of eighteen Trustees. The theatre signs a long term lease with the city of Cape May for their production space at the corner of Bank and Lafayette Streets, and undertakes a $1.2 million capital campaign to restore the building and create a Modern theatre inside over a period of three years.

2006-2008 Cape May Stage soared to great heights in 2006-2008. Most notable was Project Encore - a multi-year restoration and renovation of the Equity theatre's historic home at Bank & Lafayette Streets. In the winter/spring of 2006, the exterior of the old church was fully restored and a new dressing room was added on to the building. In 2007 the box office area and bathrooms were renovated and the outside piazza built. In 2008, the interior of the building was restored, including the installation of comfortable stadium seats on risers. This work was all accomplished due to the generosity of the people of Cape May who donated over $1 million to the capital campaign. Box office records continued to be broken with sold out performances to such notable shows as "The Price" featuring Robert Prosky, "The Big-Bang" and "This Wonderful Life".