Edinburgh Fringe Festival Musicals | Our Little Secret Musical Reviews

THE AWARD-WINNING
HIT NEW MUSICAL

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GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Alright folks - the secret's out! Our Main Stage Premiere is all set to open at the Segal Centre, fresh with a brand new set (our first set!), live band, and team! Tickets are officially on sale - buy them while you still can!

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CRITICS' REVIEWS

"Have you ever known that you were witnessing something that was destined to get real big, real fast?...

Stand in whatever line you need to, do whatever you can to catch this show before it goes nuclear. You’ll have bragging rights that you were there at the beginning."

- The Charming Modernist

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ABOUT THE SHOW

What does a 31-year old theatre kid do when he finds out his parents aren't quite who he thinks they are?

Write a musical, of course!

OUR LITTLE SECRET is the hilarious, moving, and completely true story of Noam Tomaschoff's discovery that he wasn't an only child, and he actually had more than 35 siblings around the world.

With a deft blend of comedy, drama, and wide ranging musical styles, Noam takes the audience on the roller coaster ride of emotions and discovery that he experienced over this past year, ending with a message of optimism that is sure to make you hold your family just a little bit tighter.

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AS SEEN ON

Preview

SNEAK PREVIEW

It's fun being an only child, but boy, this life was meant for brothers!

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MEET THE TEAM

Meet the all star team behind Our Little Secret!

Noam Tomaschoff

Writer & Performer

Noam’s love for musicals came at the tender age of twelve, with his unforgettable performance as “Sam” in Camp Wahanowin’s production of Mamma Mia. From there, he made his best friends through musicals at high school, including this show’s composer, Ryan Peters; Producer, Russell Citron, and music arranger, Ben Deverett! After a sold-out run of the musical they all wrote together in Grade 12, Just A Regular Day, Noam studied drama at NYU’s Tisch School, and after graduation, went on tour with TheatreWorks USA as “Farmer Brown” in the award-winning children’s classic, Click Clack Moo. After moving to Los Angeles in 2017, he wrote and directed the feature film Tankhouse, starring Richard Kind and Christopher Lloyd (from Back to the Future!), which was a semi-autobiographical love letter to theatre and theatre kids. Tankhouse was distributed by Vertical Entertainment and released in 2022.

Ryan Peters

Composer

Ryan Peters is a High School Drama and English teacher living in Toronto. Although his days performing onstage are likely behind him, Ryan has performed in musicals such as Cabaret, Kiss of the SpiderWoman, Into the Woods, Company, and The Last Five Years. In his spare time, he enjoys team-building, song-leading, and composing musicals about his close friends’ life-altering genetic discoveries. Ryan is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with his childhood and extremely talented friends on this meaningful project — their first musical theatre collaboration since High School. He can’t wait to share it with all of you!

Russell Citron

Creative Partner & Producer

Russell Citron is a musical producer and tech entrepreneur who is thrilled to be working with his high school friends to bring this musical to life.

In addition to producing Our Little Secret, Russell is also a Co-Producer of Operation Mincemeat on Broadway (Golden Theatre).

On stage, Russell's performing career began (and peaked) in elementary school, with his performance as Simba in the Lion King. It was mostly downhill from there, as his more talented friends Noam and Ryan took the lead roles and sent him to perform as secondary characters, like Benny in RENT, which he performed in three different times. This is Russell, Ryan, and Noam's second production together - the first being "Just a Regular Day", a musical they co-wrote and performed together in high school.

Outside of theatre, Russell was the founder & CEO of CrowdChange, a fundraising technology company. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is the co-founder of Feed the Deed, a viral social media campaign spreading 10,000+ acts of kindness across the world. Prior to CrowdChange, Russell was a management consultant at Monitor Group and Monitor Deloitte.

Tracey Erin Smith

Director and Dramaturg

Segal Centre: Pain to Power: A Kanye West Musical Protest

Elsewhere: The Lehman Trilogy (Theatre Calgary), Narrow Bridge (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), The Clergy Project (Tarragon), In First Person (Soulpepper) The Big House (Factory Theatre), The Burning Bush!, Two in the Bush, Monday’s with Mandelbaum, We The Men, The Clergy Project (Mint Theater & Frigid - New York City)

Film/TV: DRAG HEALS (Creator/Host - 4 Seasons), She’s The Man (Director/Host - Documentary)

Music/Recording: Name Your Tune - Album (singer)

Training/Experience: Over twenty years experience as a director/actor/playwright/dramaturge

Awards: Canadian Screen Award (two-time nominee), Broadway World Award (Memento Mori - actor/playwright), INSPIRE Lifetime Achievement Award (Cultural Contributions to 2SLGBTQ+ Community) Best of Toronto Fringe (four-time winner), Jessi Richardson Award Nomination (The One The Got Away), Telly Award (DRAG HEALS)

Online: www.soulo.ca @traceyerinsmith

Et cetera: Founding Artistic Director of Toronto’s SOULO Festival of One Person Shows, Co-Steward with Sarah Garton Stanley of Nova Scotia’s historic Birchdale, Author of the book Flying SOULO

Chris Barillaro

Music Director and Orchestrator

Segal: Funny Girl, Forever Plaid, Belles Soeurs: The Musical, Ain’t Misbehavin’, The Play’s the Thing

Elsewhere: 9 to 5 (Capitol Theatre); In Real Life (Musical Stage Company); La Géante, Belmont, La Corriveau (Théâtre de l’Oeil Ouvert); Once, Anne of Green Gables (Thousand Islands Playhouse); Demain matin Montréal m’attend (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde & Tour); Belles-soeurs: Théâtre Musical (Place des Arts & Tour); Last Night at the Gayety, Schwartz’s: The Musical (Centaur Theatre); Souvenir (IYFE)

Training: Dawson College’s Professional Theatre Program and McGill University (B.A. in music and theatre)

Awards: Félix “Spectacle: Interprète” (Demain matin, Montréal m’attend – 2018), Dora Mavor Moore Award for outstanding music direction (Kiss of the Spider Woman – 2019)

Online @chrisbarillaro22

Bruno-Pierre Houle

Set Designer

Segal: Titanique (Associate); Small Mouth Sounds; SuperDogs: The Musical; Josephine: A Musical Cabaret; Fifteen Dogs (Associate)

Elsewhere: Extra/ Beautiful/U; Dominoes at the Crossroads (Infinitheatre); The Great Divide (DWYT); Selfie (Geordie); Le loup (Duceppe); Proje(c)t; Les bonnes (Third Space Theatre); Chattermarks (Cabal); You/ Emma (Wandering Bark Theatre Co.); Title Loading (Fusebox Festival); Die Zauberflöte (Butler Opera Center); Fit (Notch Theatre Co.)

Film: Pas d’chicane dans ma cabane (Forum Films); Sarah préfère la course (La boîte à Fanny inc.); My Name Is Sandy (Iammatteo Pictures)

Other: Petite Plage Concert (Ingrid St-Pierre at Théâtre Outremont); Unravelling (Never Apart), and multiple escape games.

Awards: META for Outstanding Set Design for Small Mouth Sounds

Online: www.bphoule.com

Stéphane Ménigot

Lighting Designer

Segal: Josephine

Elsewhere: Has been practicing lighting on national and international stages for more than 30 years. He has extensive experience as a teacher and lecturer in various programs: vocational schools, theatre schools, dance schools, and at the National Circus School of Montreal.

Et cetera: He works as a lighting designer and technical director for dance, theater, music, circus, and has collaborated on several lighting projects in museums, entertainment venues, parks and other outdoor spaces.

Online: www.octochrome.com

Evan Brown

Sound Designer

Segal: Associate Sound Designer for Titanique (remount); Assistant Sound Designer for POTUS, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Head of Sound for Titanique, POTUS, Fifteen Dogs, Boy Falls from the Sky, Beautiful, Josephine, and others.

Elsewhere: Associate Sound Designer for Titanique (Mirvish).

Training: Technical Production for Theatre and Live Events (Sheridan College). DEC in Professional Music and Song Techniques (Vanier College).

Et Cetera: Big love and thanks to my wife, Bailey. For my Dad, listening from above.

Trevor Barette

Stage Manager

Segal: Max and Aaron Write a Musical (director, upcoming); The Great Divide (director); The Sages of Chelm (director/choreographer); The Angel & the Sparrow (assistant director); Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (actor); SuperDogs: The Musical (actor); POTUS (stage manager), Prayer for the French Republic (assistant stage manager); Children of God, Indecent, Mythic (apprentice stage manager); You Be The Star Fundraiser (director, 2016-19, 2023, concept/text, 2024-25).

Elsewhere: Les Belles Soeurs (Assistant Director, Stratford Festival); Strawberries in January, AlterNatives (Stage Manager, Centaur); Dominoes at the Crossroads (Stage Manager, Infinithéâtre), Shirley Valentine (Stage Manager, Hudson Village Theatre).

Training: John Abbott College (acting); the University of Toronto (directing & playwriting).

Online: www.trevorbarrette.com, @trevorkbarrette.

Corey Weiser

Apprentice Stage Manager

Segal: Debut

Elsewhere: Vierge (Black Theatre Workshop/GCTC), The Wolves (Imago Theatre/Geordie Theatre), Open House, Dominoes at the Crossroads, Extra/Beautiful/U (Infinithéâtre)

Training: Professional Theatre Technology (John Abbott College)

Abi Sanie

Assistant Director

Segal: Max and Aaron Write a Musical (ASM, upcoming); The Great Divide (assistant director); I Kid You Nosh (ASM)

Elsewhere: Alice in 24, (Director, Dense and Stage); Alice in Wonderland (Director, Moorestown Theater Company); The Rocky Horror Show (Assistant Director, Mainline Theatre), Cornflake (Director, Dense and Stage), etc.

Training: Concordia University, Performance Creation grad. 2023, 2024-2025 JAM mentee

Online: abisanie.com, @abi_sanie

Et Cetera: Abi is a Moroccan Jewish Montréal-based director, stage manager, educator, and theatre maker. Big love to her entire family, community, and Jack.

Ben Deverett

Original Arrangement

Sarah O'Brecht

Original Choreography

Danielle Peters

Original Stage Manager

Special Thanks

Rose Bochner, Josh Sable

A Note from Noam

Part 1 of 3: My Dad

Without giving too much away, I can say in all honesty that when I learned that my dad isn’t my biological father, I was stunned. If anything, everyone always told me how alike my dad and I were...and it was obvious!

From day one, my very Israeli father set out to ensure that I spoke fluent Hebrew, which is no mean feat, given that I never lived in Israel and only really spoke it with him. He succeeded, and I am still fluent in Hebrew to this day. I am very close with his side of the family, and I have inherited a huge number of my cultural, artistic, sporting and political interests from him. I always thought these things were indicators of just how closely related we are, but now, it is clear that all of this extra effort on his part was done to compensate for the lack of biological relation. Ironically, because of it, we ended up being closer than are many fathers and sons who do share DNA!