Program for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

and

 The Hermitage

Present

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

July 26 & 27, 2025

Adapted from Mark Twain

 by Frank Farrell

Directed by Ferdinand Alvaro

Stage Manager - Peggy K. Schunk

Cast

Aunt Polly & Lawyer for the Prosecution…Kay Koch

Tom Sawyer…Aidan Carlson

Sid, Boy & Muff Potter…Charles “Cholly” Kramer

Joe Harper…Siddhran Sen

Huckleberry Finn…Roman Davidson

Becky Thatcher & Potter’s Lawyer…Julie Dunic

Old Joe & Minister…Michael Rovito

Dr. Robinson & Judge Thatcher’s Wife…Pamela Molinari

Joe Harper’s Mother…Peggy K. Schunk

WHO’S WHO IN

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

FERDINAND ALVARO (Director) has been involved in theatre arts since the age of 5, serving in every capacity possible, from lead actor to the popcorn seller. He serves as a board member for Teaneck New Theater and has worked with many well-known and respected theatre companies all throughout Bergen County, including Apricot Sky Theater, Studio Platers, Nutty Little Theater, and more. Prior acting credits include Joseph (Dreamcoat), Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors), Trekkie Monster (Avenue Q), Pseudolis (Forum), Lord Farquaad (Shrek the Musical), Motel (Fiddler on the Roof), Max Prince (Laughter on the 23rd Floor), and too many more to name. Prior directing credits include Frog and Toad: A Musical, countless talent shows and cabarets, and his writing credits include Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus (nominee for Best Original Play, 2023 NYACT Perry Awards), Good Morning, Mr. Wilson, Rally Da Boys! and Marriage: A One Act. Thank you to the countless people in my life who believe in me and have trusted me to work with the most important resource we have, our children. Thank you, Amanda, for your patience and love. Chubs and a kitty, you are my world.

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. In 2023 he produced and directed Shakespeare’s Ladies at Tea and Shakespeare’s Deaths as part of the Little Shakespeare Festival in NYC. 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 seven theater companies including the Free Shakespeare Theatre Company (Chicago’s first year-round Shakespeare theatre company), Theatre-Hikes, the Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company in Grand Haven, Michigan and in 2019 the First Flight Theatre Company. For FFTC he directed and produced 2022’s production of Maxwell Anderson’s play Valley Forge.  Frank has published six plays by Anderson from the 1920s: What Price Glory, First Flight, The Buccaneer, Outside Looking In, Gods of the Lightning and Sea-Wife 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 “CHOLLY” KRAMER (Sid, Boy, & Muff Potter) is new to the 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.  Thank you to my family and friends for their support.

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, 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."

FIRST FLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY is a not-for-profit company founded by Frank Farrell and a group of actors in 2018 and is 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 and Saturday’s Children. During the recent pandemic, First Flight presented play readings on Zoom for the public featuring actors from all over the United States and England. Productions streamed included Maxwell Anderson’s one-act plays The Feast of Ortolans, Second Overture, The Miracle of the Danube and Letter to Jackie. Also streamed were A Vampire Kiss in the Plague of 1666 written by James Fitzmaurice, which went on to win many awards on the film festival circuit; Salvador, a play about Salvador Dalí by Richard Young, another film festival winner; and a streaming version of Anderson’s first Broadway production White Desert. Post pandemic the company presented at The Hermitage in New Jersey outdoor productions of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Maxwell Anderson’s Valley Forge and a third reprise (indoors) of Dickens by Candlelight: A Christmas Carol. On 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. Other productions in 2023 included Little Women at The Hermitage, the double bill Shakespeare’s Ladies at Tea and Shakespeare’s Deaths as part of FRIGID’s Little Shakespeare Festival in NYC, staged readings of Anderson’s Saturday’s Children in New York City and Chicago, staged readings of Maxwell Anderson’s White Desert, What Price Glory and Sea-Wife at New York City public libraries, the one-woman play Mina based on Bram Stoker’s Dracula at the Hermitage and at the Under St. Marks Theater in NYC and in December, Dickens by Candlelight: A Christmas Carol at the Hermitage. First Flight has re-published six plays from the 1920s by Maxwell Anderson: What Price Glory, First Flight, The Buccaneer, Outside Looking In, Gods of the Lightning and Sea-Wife; all available at Amazon.com.

The Friends of the Hermitage, Inc., in Ho-Ho-Kus, Bergen County, New Jersey, was organized in 1972 as a 501(c)(3) corporation to preserve and restore The Hermitage and provide programming at the site. The Friends manages the property as an historic house museum under a lease agreement with the State of New Jersey. Over the course of its forty-five-year history, the Friends has grown from a small, fledgling group working to save The Hermitage to a broad-based educational organization working to become a center for history education. The Hermitage is a National Historic Monument.

Richard Width, Zander Kirby and Karen Eterovich as they appeared in the First Flight Theatre Company’s outdoor production at The Hermitage of Maxwell Anderson’s play Valley Forge in 2022

is devoted to presenting the plays of 20th century American playwright Maxwell Anderson as well as other playwrights who instill poetry in their writing.

For more about First Flight visit www.firstflighttheatreco.com

Email: firstflight2018@gmail.com

OUR 2025 DONORS: Pamela Coombe, Frank Farrell, Kathryn Schmidt, John Lange, Debbie Ruzicka, Amy Sunshine, Jay Green, Marilyn Green, Angela Lomangino, Joyce Porter, Julia Maish, Marla Weeg and Thomas Tresser

SPECIAL THANKS: Andrea Kircher, Christine Blaylock and Julie Zier at The Hermitage, the parents of actors Aidan and Siddhran and the Prop Shop.   

First Flight Theatre Company © 2025