The Chatham Community Players is excited to present “Under The Velvet Elvis” by Lynn A. Langone as a part of their successful Play Reading Series. One Night ONLY on Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 7:00 PM (Doors Open at 6:30 PM) at the Chatham Playhouse, 23 North Passaic Avenue, in Chatham. Tickets are Pay-What-You-Can ($10 suggested donation). Tickets will also be available at the door and we supply the snacks – BYOB.
“Under The Velvet Elvis” by Lynn A. Langone is a darkly comic and deeply emotional play about a daughter, Carole, coming to terms with her turbulent relationship with her mother, Dean. Told through flashbacks and storytelling, it captures Dean’s larger-than-life personality—funny, blunt, and unpredictable—shaped by undiagnosed bipolar disorder and alcoholism. What begins with laugh-out-loud moments, like Dean calling 911 after getting stuck in her jeggings, gradually unfolds into a portrait of a woman battling inner demons while trying to love her family the only way she knows how. Through scenes of family chaos, heartbreak, and humor, Carole relives her childhood filled with both affection and trauma. In adulthood, she struggles to care for Dean as her mother’s mind and body deteriorate, while raising her own daughter with steadiness and compassion. Ultimately, the play is about forgiveness, resilience, and the enduring love between mothers and daughters—no matter how flawed.
Producers - Leslie Williams Ellis and Gus Ibranyi
Patrons are encouraged to BYOB & Snacks.
Funding has been made possible in part by funds from Morris Arts through the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.