Eclectic Cast Set For Long Wharf’s ‘The Moth’

NEW HAVEN — Tony nominated actress Joanna Gleason and Yale University vice president Michael Morand will join an eclectic array of storytellers for this year’s performance of The Moth at Long Wharf Theatre.

Long Wharf Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Gordon Edelstein and Managing Director Joan Channick, together with Bisno Productions, will present The Moth: Stories of Rescue and Redemption in Long Wharf’s C. Newton Schenck Mainstage (222 Sargent Drive), on Saturday, October 6, at 7:30 pm.

Joanna Gleason, an actress known for her performances in films such as Hannah and Her Sisters, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Mr Holland’s Opus, will headline the event. Joining her onstage will be Michael Morand, the vice president of Yale University’s New Haven and State Affairs. The event will be hosted by the former editor of National Lampoon, Tony Hendra, better known as one of the stars of the film This Is Spinal Tap. 

The Moth is a unique storytelling event in an intimate setting. Each Moth show is organized around a theme and features five or six storytellers who tell a ten-minute story. The event gathers storytellers from all walks of life – notable literary figures, celebrities, and everyday people, each of whom share personal and true spellbinding tales.

After sold out performances last season, The Moth returns to Long Wharf Theatre for the third year. The theme this go-around is “Stories of Rescue and Redemption,” featuring tales of risk, dangerous predicaments, and nick-of-time salvation. The audience will meet “superheroes” and the plain-clothed guardians who inspire hope in impossible circumstances, and liberate us from a variety of dangers – monsters, drowning, spiders, and most importantly, ourselves.

The Moth is a non-profit arts organization founded in 1997 by poet-novelist George Dawes Green. Mr Green held the first Moth evening in his living room, in an attempt to recreate in New York City, the feeling of summer sultry nights in Georgia when his friends would gather on the front porch to spin captivating stories, as moths gathered around the light bulb. Since its inception, over 50,000 people have listened to over 3,000 stories at The Moth from New York to Aspen from Los Angeles to New Haven.  First making its New Haven debut as an instant sell-out at the 2004 International Festival of Arts & Ideas under Bisno Productions, The Moth is now a quarterly series in New Haven.

Tickets for the October 6 performance are $37, or $30 for Long Wharf Theatre subscribers and members. A post show reception with the storytellers will follow the performance.

Single tickets for The Moth are available for purchase by phone at 203-787-4282, in person at the Long Wharf Theatre box office), and online at LongWharf.org.