Press Release for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

7/11/25

FIRST FLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY  

TO PERFORM MARK TWAIN’S “THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER”

AT NEW JERSEY’S THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM ON JULY 26 & 27, 2025

First Flight Theatre Company presents two performances of Mark Twain's THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER adapted by Frank Farrell and directed by Ferdinand Alvaro on Saturday, July 26 at 7pm & Sunday, July 27 at 6pm. This is an outdoor production on the grounds of the Hermitage Museum, 335 Franklin Turnpike in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ.  The play will move indoors in case of rain or extreme heat.  Admission is $20. For tickets visit www.thehermitage.org/events/   For further information email firstflight2018@gmail.com or visit https://www.firstflighttheatreco.com. By phone: 773-307-4586.

The cast of eight actors directed by Ferdinand Alvaro are Aidan Carlson, Roman Davidson, Julie Dunic, Kay Koch, Charles B. Kramer, Pamela Molinari, Michael Rovito, Peggy K. Schunk, and Siddhran Sen.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, first published in 1876, is a child's adventure story; it is also, however, the story of a young boy's transition into a young man. It is one of America's best-loved tales. In his preface to the first edition, Twain wrote, "Although my book is intended mainly for the entertainment of boys and girls, part of my plan has been to pleasantly remind adults of what they once were themselves and what they felt and thought." Thus, the novel is a combination of the past and the present; of the well-remembered events from childhood told in such a way as to evoke remembrances in the adult mind. Frank Farrell has adapted Twain's tale arranging the book's narrative and dialogue in a story theater format where actors at times speak directly to the audience. 

FIRST FLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY is a not-for-profit founded by Frank Farrell in 2018 devoted to presenting the plays of 20th century American playwright Maxwell Anderson as well as other playwrights who instill poetry in their writing. The company has performed live staged readings of Anderson’s plays in New Jersey, New York City and Chicago including Valley Forge, Elizabeth the Queen, Mary of Scotland, Sea-Wife, The Masque of Queens, White Desert, The Eve of St. Mark, Saturday’s Children and What Price Glory. During the pandemic First Flight presented play readings on Zoom for the public. Post pandemic the company presented at The Hermitage in New Jersey outdoor productions of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Maxwell Anderson’s Valley Forge. Last year at the Hermitage FFTC presented Little Women, Poe: An Evening of Mystery and the Macabre and Dickens Presents A Christmas Carol. For Earth Day in 2023 the First Flight Theatre Company presented streaming performances of In the Garden of Live Flowers, a play about Rachel Carson, which went on to be a winner at the Green Academy Award Film Festival. That same year it presented the double bill Shakespeare’s Ladies at Tea and Shakespeare’s Deaths as part of FRIGID’s Little Shakespeare Festival in New York City. In October of that year, it presented the one-woman show Mina based on Dracula at the Hermitage and at the UNDER St. Mark’s Theater in New Tork City. In addition, the company and the Instant Shakespeare Company joined forces presenting play readings at New York City’s various public libraries of Anderson’s White Desert, Sea-Wife and his 1924 play What Price Glory. The company’s Chicago branch has presented play readings for the public of Maxwell Anderson’s plays White Desert in 2019 and Saturday’s Children in 2023 and that same year Little Women and Dickens Presents A Christmas Carol in 2024.

The History of The Hermitage is one of great interest and variety. It documents vast socio-economic changes, advances and declines. It tells the story of an exciting period during the birth of our nation. The changing fortunes of one family over more than a century and a half can be read in the exhibitions of clothing, personal items and ephemera in the restored home. The Hermitage Museum and National Monument provides a view into the history of this site and all those who helped contribute to its development and posterity. https://www.thehermitage.org 

WHO’S WHO IN THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

FERDINAND ALVARO (Director)

AIDAN CARLSON (Tom Sawyer) has been an active part of the New Jersey community theater scene since 2022, when he appeared in the Studio Playhouse production of Miracle on 34th Street.  He would be nominated for a Perry for his performance as the Head Elf of Macy’s Department Store.  He would later appear in such productions as The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and A Fairy Tale Christmas Carol.  He also will begin playing the baritone with the prestigious Nutley High School Marching Band.  He is excited to be playing such an iconic character here at the Hermitage and sends his love out to his supportive parents and beloved beagle, Herbie.

ROMAN DAVIDSON (Huckleberry Finn) His theater credits include various roles in A Sketch of NY and Reverend Gumbo in The Little Mermaid at the Producers Club in New York City. He has appeared in various films and music videos.

JULIE DUNIC (Becky Thatcher & Potter’s Lawyer) is beyond excited to return to the stage after being away for quite a while! This will be her first outdoor production which she is also thrilled about. Back in High School and College she was in many shows such as Legally Blonde as Whitney, and The Sound of Music as Frau Schmidt. In the meantime, she occasionally performs in a shadowcast of Rocky Horror Picture Show as multiple characters. She hopes you enjoy this new imagining of a classic story! 

FRANK FARRELL (Adaptor & Artistic Director of the First Flight Theatre Company) in 2024 produced and directed Little Women, Poe: An Evening of Mystery and the Macabre and Dickens Presents A Christmas Carol for the Hermitage in New Jersey, In New York City he produced Hamlet on the Run at the Tank Theater, produced and directed Tongs and Bones Shakespeare at Theater for the New City and co-produced and directed Walt Kelly’s Songs of the Pogo as part of the New York City Fringe Festival. He was an actor in Chicago for 40 years receiving four Joseph Jefferson acting nominations and returned to NYC and New Jersey in 2016. While in Chicago he directed and produced plays for the Free Shakespeare Theatre Company, Temporary Theatre, Shakespeare’s Herd, Steppenwolf Theater, Raven Theatre, Equity Library Theater Chicago, the North Lakeside Players, Citadel Theater, and Theatre-Hikes. Frank has formed six theater companies along the way including the Free Shakespeare Theatre Company (Chicago’s first year-round Shakespeare theatre company), Theatre-Hikes in Chicago and the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company in Grand Haven, Michigan. In NYC he wrote, directed and produced Forgotten Soldiers from Our Forgotten War for the First Flight Theatre Company in 2019, the seventh theatre company he has formed.  For FFTC he also coordinated several stage readings of Maxwell Anderson’s plays in New York City, New Jersey and Chicago and directed and produced 2022’s production of Maxwell Anderson’s play Valley Forge.  In 2023 his Zoom film based on the life and work of Rachel Carson, In the Garden of Live Flowers, won Best Biopic at the Green Academy Awards Film Festival and he produced and directed Shakespeare’s Ladies at Tea and Shakespeare’s Deaths as part of the Little Shakespeare Festival in NYC. Frank has published several books including Forgotten Soldiers from Our Forgotten War, Maxwell Anderson’s six plays from the 1920s: What Price Glory, First Flight, The Buccaneer, Outside Looking In, Gods of the Lightning and Sea-Wife and his own version of Little Women and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; all available at Amazon.com.

KAY KOCH (Aunt Polly & Lawyer for the Prosecution) is excited to join this fantastic First Flight team for such a timeless classic as Tom Sawyer! Recent local theater credits include Next to Normal (Diana Goodman) with Wharton Arts and Rock of Ages (Waitress #1) with Old Library Theatre. Past favorites:   Ragtime (Mother) with Bergen County Players, The Toxic Avenger (Mayor/Ma Ferd) with Players Guild of Leonia, Into the Woods (The Baker) with Studio Playhouse, and Gloria (Gloria Steinem) with OffBook Productions. Love to Pack & "the kiddos". Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati, TDK."

CHARLES B. KRAMER (Sid, Boy, & Muff Potter) is new to stage.  He first appeared in August 2023 in multiple roles for A Sketch of New York, and has since returned to that company to perform in (and contribute to) 5 other sketch comedy shows.  He most recently appeared as Felix Ducotel in My Three Angels, and in multiple roles in Carson McKenna's new play Generations.

PAMELA MOLINARI (Dr. Robinson & Judge Thatcher’s Wife) is delighted to be part of the First Flight Company for her second time in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in two roles.  Her first experience was A Christmas Carol performing three roles.  Pamela has performed for the Barn Theater for the Summer Solstice in 2024 as Di in the Audience.  She is also a standup comedian and has performed all over New Jersey and is a member of the Ladies of Laughter.  Pamela also dances many different styles and performs all over the USA and drums with the African djembe and middle eastern dombek, riq and Native American flute.  

MICHAEL ROVITO (Old Joe & the Minister) has appeared in many theatrical productions at Bergen Stages, including John Proctor in The Crucible and Sir Reginald in Once Upon a Mattress. At Ramapo College he appeared in A Comedy of Errors and Much Ado About Nothing.

PEGGY K. SCHUNK (Woman’s Voice, Mary, Joe Harper’s Mother & Production Stage Manager) graduated from Ridgewood High School, and cum laude from Franklin Pierce University where she received high honors in Fine Arts. She earned three Rutgers mini-MBA’s and several William Paterson University certifications. Peggy’s award-winning love of photography inspired her to begin her professional career at Eastman Kodak in Fair Lawn, N.J. Nurturing this interest in every subsequent employment position throughout her life has been a passion. Behind the lens, Peggy’s creative sense and keen eye have captured heartwarming images for both professional promotional strategies and personal purposes. Serving as a public spokeswoman, writer and news story liaison with local and national media, she enjoys building alliances while creating visibility for her employers and clients. Peggy’s strong community involvement in Bergen and Passaic counties continue to be a source of joy. Having served on many boards and as an Elk, her varied volunteerism including the Ridgewood Arts Foundation, the Bergen County Medical Reserve Corp. as a public information officer and the Passaic County S.P.C.A. Growing up in Ridgewood, she watched the renovation of the National Historic Landmark, The Hermitage Museum and countless visits later, has earned its place in Peggy’s heart for all-time. She is delighted to continue the romance of the Gilded Age with the First Flight Theatre Company and Director Ferdinand Alvaro with America’s beloved The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

SIDDHRAN SEN (Joe Harper) A Glen Rock New Jersey resident, he has appeared in several productions at Curtain Up Studios including Beetlejuice, Matilda and Elf and at Glen Rock Middle School he has appeared in Willy Wonka and Annie. 

Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Faulkner calling him "the father of American literature."  Twain's novels include The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876) and its sequel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884), with the latter often called the "Great American Novel." He also wrote A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1889) and Pudd'nhead Wilson (1894) and cowrote The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873) with Charles Dudley Warner. The novelist Ernest Hemingway claimed that "All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn."

Press Contact: Artistic Director Frank Farrell at 773-307-4586 (not for public release)

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