In A Blue Moon

In A Blue Moon

A Heartwarming World Premiere

August 12 – August 28
Firehall Theatre

"You’re not nowhere. You’re home."

 

 

 

By Lucia Frangione
Produced in association with Western Canada Theatre, Kamloops, BC
and Arts Club Theatre Company, Vancouver, BC
Directed by Daryl Cloran

  • The Playhouse is thrilled to present the World Premiere of this beautiful story of love and family.

    After her dad dies, six-year-old Frankie and her mom move to an old cottage where they meet Frankie’s Uncle Will, a freelance photographer. Over time, a tender and unlikely love story emerges as the three discover a new understanding of family. Poignant and touching, heartfelt and hilarious, IN A BLUE MOON is a brand new play that you won’t soon forget.

    "...Blue Moon is tender and touching and telling."
    - W. Baird Blackstone, Broken Leg Reviews, 2016


    Read the entire review by Baird Blackstone from Broken Leg Reviews CLICK HERE

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  • Firehall Theatre Logo

    Playing at the Firehall Theatre
    from August 12 – August 28

    Firehall Theatre Performance Times
    All Tuesday performances start at 7:30 pm
    Wednesday to Sunday at 8:00 pm
    Matinees Friday and Saturday at 2:30 pm (starting the Friday after opening)

    Running Time: 2 hours (including intermission)

  • Cast

    Brett Christopher - Will
    Emma Tow - Frankie & Choreographer
    Anita Wittenberg - Ava

    Creative

    Director - Daryl Cloran
    Set Designer - Drew Facey
    Costume Designer - Marian Truscott
    Lighting & Projection Designer - Conor Moore
    Sound Designer - John Gzowski
    Stage Manager - Michael Barrs
    Apprentice Stage Manager - Meghan Froebelius



    MICHAEL BARRS 
    STAGE MANAGER

    For the Playhouse:     Assistant Stage Manager of A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Stage Manager of Bed and Breakfast.
    Elsewhere: Eight seasons with the Canadian Opera Company; the Toronto premieres of Arrabal (BASE/Marquis Entertainment); Queen for a Day (April 30th Entertainment); Rock of Ages, The Sound of Music (Mirvish Productions); Jersey Boys, The Toxic Avenger (Dancap Productions); Damn Yankees, 9 to 5: The Musical, The Wizard of Oz (Drayton Entertainment); Just For Laughs.
    Upcoming: The Magic Flute (Canadian Opera Company).

    Michael holds a BFA in Theatre Production and Design from York University.

    BRETT CHRISTOPHER
    WILL

    For the Playhouse: The Importance of Being Earnest, Boeing Boeing, The Clockmaker. 
    Elsewhere: In a Blue Moon (Arts Club/Western Canada Theatre); Vigil (Theatre Kingston); I Am My Own Wife, Dangerous Liaisons (Segal Theatre, Montreal); The Gladstone Variations, Autoshow (Convergence Theatre); Antony & Cleopatra (Shakespeare in the Rough); Much Ado About Nothing (CanStage); Family Stories: Belgrade, The Sea (ARC); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo & Juliet, As You Like It (Theatre by the Bay); Mary’s Wedding (Theatre & Co.); The Importance of Being Earnest (Port Hope); Henry & Pierre, the watch for sunrise (Buddies in Bad Times). 
    Upcoming: In September, Brett will be directing a site specific adaptation of the historical fiction Bottle & Glass in a variety of locations in downtown Kingston. 

    Brett was recognized with a Masques Award and a Mecca Award for his performance in the one-person show I Am My Own Wife. He is the Artistic Producer of Theatre Kingston, founder of the Kingston Theatre Alliance, the Kick & Push Festival, and the Storefront Festival. 

    Twitter: @KingstonBrett   Instagram: @brett.christopher

    DARYL CLORAN 
    DIRECTOR

    For the Playhouse: A Closer Walk with Patsy Cline, Closer Than Ever, The Importance of Being Earnest, Boeing Boeing, Till it Hurts, Hockey Mom, Hockey Dad. 
    Elsewhere: Love’s Labour’s Lost (Bard on the Beach); Liberation Days (Theatre Calgary); Tribes (Canadian Stage/Theatrefront); Afterplay (Shaw Festival); All for Love (National Arts Centre); Generous (Tarragon); This is How it Goes (Neptune); The Last Five Years (Manitoba Theatre Centre); Mary Poppins, Peter & the Starcatcher, Les Misérables (Western Canada Theatre); Ubuntu (The Cape Town Project); Return (The Sarajevo Project); The Mill (Theatrefront); Time Stands Still (Theatre Aquarius).
    Upcoming: The premiere of Daryl’s stage adaptation of The Cure for Death by Lightning (WCT).

    Daryl has received the Canada Council’s John Hirsch Prize for Outstanding Emerging Director, the Toronto Theatre Emerging Artist Award, and Halifax’s Merritt Award for Outstanding Direction. He is currently the Artistic Director of Western Canada Theatre in Kamloops, British Columbia. In September he becomes the Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton.

    Daryl is so happy to be back in Gananoque with Ashlie and all the great folks at Thousand Islands Playhouse!

    MEGHAN FROEBELIUS
    APPRENTICE STAGE MANAGER 

    For the Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: (Selected) Assistant Stage Manager: Orlando (The National Theatre School). Apprentice Stage Manager: The Things We Do For Love (Odyssey Theatre). Stage Manager: Rare (BOX Productions). She also spent two summers performing and having too much fun with ‘The Barefoot Players’. 

    Meghan is a proud graduate of the Queen’s University Drama Department and is currently training in production at The National Theatre School of Canada.  Thanks Mom and Dad, always. 

    JOHN GZOWSKI 
    SOUND DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: The Ugly One, Salt-Water Moon, Bed and Breakfast.
    Upcoming: A Woman of No Importance, The Adventures of the Black Girl in her Search of God (Shaw Festival).

    Composer, sound designer, musician, occasional foley artist and instrument-maker John Gzowski has played banjo for opera in Banff, studied Carnatic classical music in India, and played oud and guitar in jazz and folk festivals across Canada and Europe. His theatre work has won him six Dora Mavor Moore Awards for companies like Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival, Luminato Festival, Mirvish Productions, National Arts Centre, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Arts Club Theatre Company, Canadian Stage, Soulpepper, Dancemakers, Tarragon Theatre, Factory Theatre and Young People’s Theatre in about 200 productions. Gzowski has played on numerous CDs, including recent releases with Patricia O’Callghan, Tasa, and Autorickshaw, as well as a Juno Award nomination with Maza Meze. 

    CONOR MOORE
    LIGHTING & PROJECTION DESIGNER 

    For the Playhouse: Debut 
    Elsewhere: Peter and the Starcatcher, 4000 Miles, Armstrong’s War, The Patron Saint of Stanley Park (Arts Club Theatre); La Bohème (Vancouver Opera); Senora Carrara’s Rifles, Fourplay (Shaw Festival); Gunmetal Blues (Vancouver Playhouse); Hamlet, Falstaff, Henry VI, Richard III (Bard on the Beach); Waiting for Godot (Blackbird Theatre); Penelope, Indian Arm, Tremors (Rumble Theatre);The Competition is Fierce (Itsazoo); Romeo and Juliet, MK Woyzeck, The Madwoman of Chaillot (UBC Theatre); Into the Woods Jr. (Brooklyn Acting Lab); Students Bodies (Flea Theatre); Poema de Andalucia  (Flamenco Vivo). 
    Upcoming: Conor will be designing the world premiere of Baby Fat, a punk rock opera written by Ben Weasel.

    Conor Moore is a Vancouver and New York City-based lighting, set, and projection designer with an MFA in design from UBC. He is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada. 

    www.conormooredesign.ca

    EMMA TOW
    FRANKIE & CHOREOGRAPHER

    For the Playhouse: Debut
    Elsewhere: In a Blue Moon, Fiddler on the Roof, A Christmas Carol (Western Canada Theatre); In a Blue Moon (Arts Club); The Parton Saint of Stanley Park (Theatre Northwest); Fantastic Mr.Fox (Project X); Miracle on 34th Street (Chemainus Theatre Festival).

    Emma is very excited to be in Gananoque for the final leg of what has been an amazing journey! Thanks to Lucia and Daryl.

    MARIAN TRUSCOTT
    COSTUME DESIGNER

    For the Playhouse: Debut 
    Elsewhere: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (LunchBox Theatre Calgary); Girl in a Goldfish Bowl, Bemused (Theatre NorthWest Prince George); Yesteryear, Merlin, My Fair Lady, Silent Chap, The 39 Steps (Western Canada Theatre Kamloops); Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, James and the Giant Peach, The Rocky Horror Show (Project X Theatre/ X-Fest, Kamloops).
    Upcoming: Alice in Wonderland (TNW Prince George, BC); The Liar (Thompson Rivers University Theatre Dept- Kamloops, BC).

    For Ezz…my inspiration en pointe! 

    ANITA WITTENBERG
    AVA    

    For the Playhouse: Blithe Spirit, Waiting for the Parade, Boeing Boeing.
    Elsewhere: (Selected) In A Blue Moon, Circle Mirror Transformation (Arts Club); Noises Off!, A Christmas Story, Wit (Western Canada Theatre); The Heiress, Hay Fever, Candida, Enchanted April, Lost in Yonkers (Chemainus Theatre Festival); Ethan Claymore (The Belfry); Patron Saint of Stanley Park (Theatre Northwest); Mourning Dove, Agnes of God (Pacific Theatre).
    Upcoming: Another Lucia Frangione play for Pacific Theatre, Vancouver this December.

    Anita is grateful for the experience of doing this new play with her daughter and so many amazing people.

  • Photos

    Photos by David Cooper.

    [nggallery id=63]

    Videos

    Click image to watch video!

    [embed width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA3wOxR255I[/embed]

    [embed width="640" height="360"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0wiZ3-wtMY[/embed]

     

  •  

    Press

    In A Blue Moon : love lost, love found in family (review of ACT's production)
    Broken Leg Reviews. January 16, 2016
    A dad dies young. Just 40, from diabetes complications largely self-inflicted. With his passing, Mom and daughter can't afford Vancouver anymore… Read More
     
    Once in A Blue Moon and I Moved this Much
    Theatre is Voice. August 15, 2016
    In a Blue Moon, by Lucia Frangione a new Canadian play, opened at the Thousand Islands Playhouse this past weekend. It is a rare piece of theatre that can touch the… Read More
     
    WWNYTV 7 NEWS/FOX 28. August 17, 2016
    The Thousand Islands Playhouse in Gananoque has made a concerted effort to produce original Canadian plays. In a Blue Moon is a drama by West Coast… Read More
     
    The Kingston Whig-Standard. August 18, 2016
    While it’s normal to mourn someone’s death, it’s the rift that develops in a family after that death that is at the heart of the Thousand Islands Playhouse’s newest… Read More
     

    The Gananoque Reporter. August 18, 2016
    Love returns to the modern age as In A Blue Moon comes to the Firehall Theatre. Starring Bret Christopher as Will, Emma Tow as Frankie and Anita Wittenberg… Read More     

    Theatre Review: "In a Blue Moon" in the Firehall at the 1000 Islands Playhouse
    North North Country Public Radio. August 19, 2016 
    The world premiere of Canadian playwright Lucia Frangione’s new play “In a Blue Moon” is definitely worth a trip to Gananoque. It tells the… Read More
     
    Capital Critics' Circle. August 20, 2016
    The world premiere of Canadian playwright Lucia Frangione’s new play “In a Blue Moon” is definitely worth a trip to Gananoque. It tells the story of Ava, a widow… Read More
     

     

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