The Moby Dick Blues – June 5-22

ABOUT

Playwright Michael Gorman’s epic new opera The Moby Dick Blues begs the question “What was Ahab, but an addict really, and what was Moby Dick but an allusion to opium, and heroin, its contemporary scourge?”

In a tale that stretches across generations and ancients—lost mariners, lost souls, lost lives—this iconoclastic working-class opera about a New England fishing community’s daunting quest for survival and transformation in the face of the opiate crisis calls for a reevaluation of Ahab’s vengeful obsession with the White Whale, and our own destructive relationship with nature, the environment, and ourselves.

Told through lyrics and live music that span the spectrum from blues, spoken word, rap, and rock, this enthralling theatrical experience and environmental installation takes us down to “the crossroads” where the past and future collide in a dramatic struggle for the soul of a community.

 

CAST

CREDITS

Michael Gorman (Playwright /Producer/Experimental Theater Artist/Advocate)

Michael Gorman and his production company—The Forty Hour Club—are long-time residents of La MaMa Experimental Theater Club in New York City, where Mike has a long-standing history and has produced many of his plays over the past 25 years. As an artist, advocate, and tradesman, Gorman embraces the collaborative spirit of the job-site to tackle major issues and bring an authentic working-world perspective to the stage. His work focuses on the social, environmental, economic, and systemic challenges facing working communities, and the paramount issue of sustainability.
Through his art & advocacy theatrical model—“Chasing The New White Whale—Harpooning Addiction”, and through his with work with the addiction/recovery and reentry communities, Gorman has been able to directly address the opioid crisis taking place in fishing and working communities in his home State of Maine, and beyond. His latest epic work—“The Moby Dick Blues”—is the product of a seven-year developmental journey deep into the heart of the opiate epidemic in New England.

Creatives / Production Team

WRITTEN & CREATED BY: Michael Gorman

PRODUCED BY: The Forty Hour Club
Michael Gorman/Donna Daly

DIRECTED BY: Joe John Battista

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR: Mari Tompkins

MUSIC DIRECTOR: Kavi Gaspar

SONG LYRICS BY: Michael Gorman

SET INSTALLATION & DESIGN:
Donald Eastman / The Forty Hour Club

LIGHTING DESIGN: Christopher Akerlind
(Tony & Obie Award Winner)

COSTUME DESIGN: Angela Wendt (RENT, Multiple Award Winner)

ASSOC. COSTUME DESIGN: Sarah Boyden

CHOREOGRAPHER:
MacKenna Goodrich

SOUND DESIGN:  Iaan Fine

STAGE MANAGER: Sara Gierc

PRODUCTION MANAGER:
Donna Daly

COLLABORATING ARTIST: Gregory De La Haba

 

BAND

LEAD GUITAR: Joe John Battista

KEYBOARD: Kavi Gaspar

BASS/PEDAL STEEL & LAP STEEL GUITAR: Ron Raymond

RHYTHM GUITAR Charles Jourdan

DRUMS: Zianni Orange