Marceline Hugot and Peter Frechette Star in A CHRISTMAS MEMORY at Park Theater

After a sold-out run in 2022, a new holiday tradition will continue when The Whale Theater, in association with Tectonic Theater Project will present the second annual production of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory & The Thanksgiving Visitor at Hudson, New York’s Park Theater (723 Warren Street) Thursday, November 30 - Thursday, December 23, 2023. Directed by Matt Joslyn and designed by David Lander, A Christmas Memory & The Thanksgiving Visitor will be presented as a live radio play featuring stars of stage and screen, Marceline Hugot, reprising her critically acclaimed performance, and Peter Frechette. Joining the actors will be a cellist performing original underscoring and a Foley artist helping to bring the story to life with sound effects. 

Marceline Hugot is best known for her work in the films Working Girl, Julie & Julia, To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar; and United 93 as well as her appearances on such television shows as “Sex and the City,” “Ed,” “The Leftovers,” and most notably playing Kathy Geiss on the hit NBC sitcom “30 Rock.” 

Peter Frechette has amassed an impressive body of work on stage and on television. He earned Tony Award nominations for his first two Broadway roles in Evening Standard and Our Country's Good. He made his film debut as a T-Bird in Grease 2 before going on to a number of television guest star roles in "Hill Street Blues," "Taxi," and the "Facts of Life" before landing high-profile roles in "L.A. Law," "Law & Order," "Picket Fences," "Profiler," and "thirtysomething," for which he won an Emmy Award nomination. 

Broadway designer David Lander (sets and lighting) will once again transform the intimate Park Theater into a decadently magical setting with Christmas trees, twinkling lights and bistro tables. Guests will be treated to mulled wine and hot cider as they enjoy The Whale Theatre’s newest holiday tradition. The creative team also includes costumes by Megan Rutherford, sound design by Brian Gross, stage management by Frank Lombardi, associate direction by Deena Pewtherer, and casting by Stephanie Yankwitt, C.S.A. 

A Christmas Memory is a story about kindness, adventure, discovery, and true friendship told in an intimate setting with all the sights, smells, and sounds of the holiday season. This year, audiences are in store for a new holiday treat with the addition of another Truman Capote story, The Thanksgiving Visitor. In this second story, we find out what happens to Buddy and his Friend's unbreakable bond when an unimaginable guest is invited to Thanksgiving dinner in this hilarious and deeply moving tale.

Truman Capote was a major American voice of the 20th Century. Perhaps best known for his true crime novel In Cold Blood, as well as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Other Voices, Other Rooms. Capote was a prolific short story writer, and his deeply personal short story, A Christmas Memory was first published in 1956. It's a lyrical story narrated by Capote about two outsiders in a big Alabama home in the early 1930s: an eight year old Truman and his best friend and distant cousin, a quirky, sprightly spinster in her 60s. Through their annual tradition of making fruitcakes together, Truman paints a vivid picture of his early life, sharing the profound need of lost souls to make a connection, even across a generational divide.

Tickets for A Christmas Memory start at $39 and are available online at AChristmasMemory.com. Performances take place Wednesday through Sunday at 7:30 PM, with matinees Saturday and Sundays at 3 PM.

For more information, please visit AChristmasMemory.com. 

ABOUT THE WHALE THEATRE

The mission of the Whale Theatre is to bring high-quality, professional theater to the entire community of Hudson, New York and beyond. We are dedicated to enriching the cultural landscape by producing and presenting theatrical productions using professional actors, designers, and artists for several shows throughout the season. We seek to provide an artistic home within the community where local youth and artists can interact with and learn from professional actors, designers, playwrights and other artists. The Whale Theatre productions will include both new and published contemporary works and reimagined classical plays with an eye toward equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

ABOUT Tectonic Theater Project

Based in New York City and guided by founder and artistic director Moisés Kaufman, Tectonic Theater Project develops new plays using the company’s trademarked theater-making method, Moment Work, and through a rigorous process of research and collaboration in a laboratory environment. Since its founding in 1991 the company has created and staged over twenty plays and musicals, including Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, The Laramie Project, Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, the Tony Award-winning 33 Variations, and the Drama Desk Award-winning Seven Deadly Sins. Tectonic Theater Project’s newest world-premiere plays, Here There Are Blueberries, recently completed a critically acclaimed run at Shakespeare Theatre Company and is set to play New York Theatre Workshop this spring and Las Aventuras de Juan Planchard is currently enjoying an acclaimed run at Miami New Drama. Sasha Velour: A Drag Spectacular will make its world-premiere at La Jolla Playhouse in July 2024. 

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