OUR TOWN Comes to Fort Salem Theater in November

Fort Salem Theater has announced the cast and creative team for their upcoming production of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "Our Town," running November 8-10, 2024. This classic play explores the beauty and fragility of ordinary life in the fictional New England town of Grover’s Corners. This production features an intimate cast of 14 actors, who will portray all 27 characters of the close-knit community, including one local family who will make their Fort Salem debuts together. 

Bill Crawford, the pastor at Hebron United Presbyterian Church and co-star of the award-winning cable TV program, "The Reverend and the Rabbi: Faith and Eggs at the Diner," will portray Mr. Webb, the town's beloved newspaper editor. Crawford’s daughter, Mari Crawford, stars as Emily Webb, the young woman at the heart of the play. Mari is the creator and star of the one-woman show "Bipolar Badass," which has garnered national acclaim and won her the Bounce Emerging Artist Award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Mari trained at the British American Drama Academy and Bard College, and has been featured on BBC, NPR, and WNYC, plus stand-up comedy appearances in New York City's Broadway Comedy Club and the West End Comedy Club. Rounding out the family, Julie Faith Parker (wife to Bill and mother to Mari), will play Mrs. Webb. Julie is a published author and ordained minister with a Ph.D. in Old Testament from Yale who brings both her academic and theatrical experience to the role. Her previous stage credits include performances in "Cabaret," "You Can’t Take It With You," and "The Children’s Hour." 

Also leading the “Our Town” cast as Stage Manager is David Dubov, a 40-year theater veteran who recently starred as Bottom in Fort Salem Theater’s "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Dubov’s theater career included acting, directing, and playwriting across the US and England. David trained at both Bennington College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, and currently serves as the Co-Artistic Director of Bennington Theater.

Directing the production, Sarah Murphy, who is also the director of the Greenwich Free Library, returns to Fort Salem Theater after appearing in “Pride and Prejudice” and directing last season’s well-received production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." In this production, Murphy also appears in the role of Mrs. Gibbs. 

The returning FST cast members include Matt DeMarco as Dr. Gibbs, Liam Reynolds as Wally Webb and the Belligerent Man in the Auditorium, Emily Jenkins as Rebecca Gibbs and the Lady in the Box, Donna Orlyk as Mrs. Soames, and Neeley as the Woman in the Balcony, Constable Warren, and a Man Among the Dead. Making their Fort Salem Theater debuts are Clyde Williams as George Gibbs, Michael Giordano as Joe Crowell, Si Crowell, a Baseball Player, and Sam Craig, Vincent Panetta as Howie Newsome, a Baseball Player, and a Man Among the Dead, and Tom Ferguson as Professor Willard, Simon Stimson, and Joe Stoddard.

The creative team includes Courtnie Harrington as production stage manager and lighting designer, Jared West as vocal coach, Gina Kowalski as Costume Designer, Charles J. I. Krawczyk as scenic designer, and Kyle West as producer.

This powerful production of "Our Town" will run November 8-10, 2024, on the Fort Salem Theater mainstage. Additional upcoming events include "Whispering Bones: Ghost Stories" on Friday, October 25, and "The Singing Anchors" featuring Jerry Gretzinger, Benita Zahn, Jessica Layton, and Jay Kerr on piano on Sunday, November 24.

Tickets for "Our Town" and all upcoming events are available online at www.FortSalem.com or by calling 518-854-9200.

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