Edgar Allan Poe performances will bring after-hours history programming to Garfield site

James A. Garfield National Historic Site will shift from daytime tours to live theater Sept. 24-26, when David Keltz performs as Edgar Allan Poe in An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe, a six-show after-hours run at 8095 Mentor Ave. in Mentor.

The National Park Service listed the three-night run as sold out on Sept. 10. Online ticket sales had opened Aug. 15, according to a Tour Lake County event listing.

Each $40 ticket includes refreshments and an open-house tour of the Garfield home. The program is limited to guests age 16 and older, and tickets were sold online only.

Two shows each night

Keltz will give two different programs each evening. At 6 p.m., he will perform The Pit and the Pendulum followed by The Raven. Doors open at 5:55 p.m.

At 8 p.m., Keltz will perform Hop Frog followed by The Raven. Doors open at 7:55 p.m.

Both shows begin after regular visitor-center hours. From June 1 through Oct. 31, the center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the final free public tour leaving between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m.

Poe at the Garfield home

The setting has its own connection to the writer: Several works by Poe are part of James and Lucretia Garfield’s book collection. The site’s special-events schedule describes Poe as a leading American writer of macabre literature.

A 2023 NPS announcement noted that Keltz began appearing as Poe at the Garfield site in 2010, creating a recurring performance tradition in Mentor. The site also presented An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe over three consecutive nights in October 2023, with two programs each night, refreshments and open-house tours of the home.

The Garfield Trail and The Garfield Alliance sponsor this year’s program.

A full day Sept. 26

The final night coincides with National Public Lands Day activities at the historic site, scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 26.

That Saturday will carry the site from a full day of public programming to its usual 5 p.m. closing — and then, at 5:55 p.m., the doors will open for Poe.