THE AHAB INSIDE ME— A High-Seas Blues Opera (2022)
PREMIERE! September 2, 3, 4, 2022, Colonial Theater, Augusta, ME
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY / MICHAEL GORMAN
DIRECTED BY / JOE JOHN BATTISTA
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / KRISTY ZORNES BEAUVAIS
About The Production:
From acclaimed Maine playwright Michael Gorman comes a NEW ground-breaking recitative blues opera and epic tale of addiction, obsession, & recovery.
In a tale that stretches across generations and ancients—lost mariners, lost souls, lost lives—“The Ahab Inside Me” is a provocative and challenging new recitative/musical theater production that explores the traumatic impact of a fatal overdose on a fishing family and the inspiring efforts of the community to address the destructive roots of addiction.
Written by Michael Gorman and directed by Joe John Battista (Artistic Director of The 13th Street Repertory Company in NYC), this thrilling production incorporated original live music and song (with full blues/rock band), spoken word, dramatic performance, commentary choruses, community participation, and more—to restore connections lost or frayed by the compound crises of the opiate epidemic and COVID. The work draws inspiration from Melville’s Moby Dick and Ahabs obsessive pursuit of the White Whale.
Performers included community members of all ages, from both the theater and recovery communities, as well as professional actors, singers and musicians from Maine, New York City, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and California.
The production is part of Gorman’s on-going project Chasing The New White Whale—Harpooning Addiction—a performance-based art & advocacy model created by the playwright and his production company The Forty Hour Club—a collective of independent artist’s dedicated to bringing awareness to the issue of opiate addiction in the commercial fishing community of New England and beyond.
National Recovery Month is a National observance held every September to educate Americans about substance use disorder and treatment.
WRITTEN & DIRECTED BY / MICHAEL GORMAN
DIRECTED BY / JOE JOHN BATTISTA
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / KRISTY ZORNES BEAUVAIS
About The Production:
From acclaimed Maine playwright Michael Gorman comes a NEW ground-breaking recitative blues opera and epic tale of addiction, obsession, & recovery.
In a tale that stretches across generations and ancients—lost mariners, lost souls, lost lives—“The Ahab Inside Me” is a provocative and challenging new recitative/musical theater production that explores the traumatic impact of a fatal overdose on a fishing family and the inspiring efforts of the community to address the destructive roots of addiction.
Written by Michael Gorman and directed by Joe John Battista (Artistic Director of The 13th Street Repertory Company in NYC), this thrilling production incorporated original live music and song (with full blues/rock band), spoken word, dramatic performance, commentary choruses, community participation, and more—to restore connections lost or frayed by the compound crises of the opiate epidemic and COVID. The work draws inspiration from Melville’s Moby Dick and Ahabs obsessive pursuit of the White Whale.
Performers included community members of all ages, from both the theater and recovery communities, as well as professional actors, singers and musicians from Maine, New York City, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and California.
The production is part of Gorman’s on-going project Chasing The New White Whale—Harpooning Addiction—a performance-based art & advocacy model created by the playwright and his production company The Forty Hour Club—a collective of independent artist’s dedicated to bringing awareness to the issue of opiate addiction in the commercial fishing community of New England and beyond.
National Recovery Month is a National observance held every September to educate Americans about substance use disorder and treatment.
READ THE PRESS!
Portland Press Herald (Front page Feature Story, 9/2/22)
Maine Public Radio (Feature Story by Keith Shortall. 9/2/22)
Bangor Daily News (Feature Story, 9/1/22)
Portland Press Herald (Front page Feature Story, 9/2/22)
Maine Public Radio (Feature Story by Keith Shortall. 9/2/22)
Bangor Daily News (Feature Story, 9/1/22)
CAST:
Teddy Lytle (Robbie Jr.), Andrew Ryan Perry (Ahab), Jim O'Brien (Robbie Sr.), Jenne Vath (Therese/Hungry Ghost),
Rob Porter (Ray), Kristy Zornes Beauvais (Billy The Crab), Roland Albert (Fedallah)
Dipper Castaldo (Phantom/Fisherman #1), Andre Van Poelvoorde (Phantom/Fisherman #2), Anthony Davis (Phantom/Fisherman #3)
Tristan Morgan (young Robbie)
and
Gabbi Beauvais (Woman on The Rocks / Lead Vocals)
Teddy Lytle (Robbie Jr.), Andrew Ryan Perry (Ahab), Jim O'Brien (Robbie Sr.), Jenne Vath (Therese/Hungry Ghost),
Rob Porter (Ray), Kristy Zornes Beauvais (Billy The Crab), Roland Albert (Fedallah)
Dipper Castaldo (Phantom/Fisherman #1), Andre Van Poelvoorde (Phantom/Fisherman #2), Anthony Davis (Phantom/Fisherman #3)
Tristan Morgan (young Robbie)
and
Gabbi Beauvais (Woman on The Rocks / Lead Vocals)
MUSIC / BAND:
Guitar: Eenor
Guitar: Joe Battista
Bass: AC Davis
Drums: Tyler Lee
Sound Engineer: Tucker DeCosta
Lyrics/Spoken Word Written by: Michael Gorman
CREATIVE TEAM:
Set Concept & Design: Michael Gorman, Dudley Merritt, Mark Tambella, Donna Daly
Costumes / Front of House Manager: Sarah Boyden
PRODUCED BY:
The Forty Hour Club: Michael Gorman, Donna Daly
Guitar: Eenor
Guitar: Joe Battista
Bass: AC Davis
Drums: Tyler Lee
Sound Engineer: Tucker DeCosta
Lyrics/Spoken Word Written by: Michael Gorman
CREATIVE TEAM:
Set Concept & Design: Michael Gorman, Dudley Merritt, Mark Tambella, Donna Daly
Costumes / Front of House Manager: Sarah Boyden
PRODUCED BY:
The Forty Hour Club: Michael Gorman, Donna Daly
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS & DONORS!
This production made possible by the generous support of these sponsors:
This production made possible by the generous support of these sponsors:
Funded in part by a grant from The Maine Arts Commission, an independent state agency supported by The National Endowment for the Arts.
A Special THANK YOU to:
Bruce Noddin / Maine Prisoner Reentry Network
Augusta Recovery Reentry Center
Recovery Advocacy Project Maine / Courtney Gary-Allen
Maine Office of Behavioral Health OPTIONS Program / Dawn Kearns, Rob Porter
LINC Wellness & Recovery Center / Bobbi Jo Bechard
Richard Parkhurst
The Colonial Theater Staff & Board
Kristy Beauvais
Sarah Boyden
Mark Tambella
Sherwin Williams, Augusta
Tom Hibbert
The Augusta & Central Maine Addiction & Recovery Community.
Our Talk-Back Panelists:
Gordon Smith, Director of Maine Opioid Response
Courtney Gary-Allen / Dawn Kearns / Raegan LaRochelle
Peter Bruun / David Greenham, Maine Arts Commission
And all of our individual donors, volunteers, and supporters who helped us bring THE AHAB INSIDE ME to Augusta!
