LANCASTER—Chesapeake historian and author Kate Livie will present “Saltwater Showmen: The James Adams Floating Theater, 1914-1941” at 4 p.m. October 18 at Historic Christ Church & Museum.
The event will feature an opening reception with fresh oysters, shrimp and handcrafted cocktails. A light supper will the presentation.
According to Livie, from 1914 to 1941 the James Adams Floating Theater enchanted riverside small towns and cities throughout the Chesapeake’s tributaries with theater productions, musicals and other entertainment. Long after its circuit was abandoned for motion pictures, the legacy of the magical little showboat lived on in the memories of its audiences.
Livie will share images, stories and history about the Floating Theater, its national impact and the ways it shaped life in the Chesapeake for almost 30 years, reported executive director Robert Teagle.
Tickets are $100 per person or $175 per couple and may be purchased at ChristChurch1735.org or at the HCC&M office, 420 Christ Church Road, Weems. Funds benefit preservation and education programs at Historic Christ Church, Lancaster County’s only National Historic Landmark.
Livie’s presentation is this year’s John H. Hunt II Chesapeake History Forum, a program that debuted in 2022 and honors longtime Foundation for Historic Christ Church volunteer and board member John Hunt, an avid mariner who with his wife Page spent decades exploring the bay before his passing in 2021.
