Noam Tomaschoff is a writer, director, and actor currently based in Los Angeles by way of New York, Toronto, and Israel. His one-man autobiographical musical, Our Little Secret: The 23 & Me Musical premiered summer of 2023 at the Toronto Fringe Festival. After graduating from Tisch School of the Arts and performing in several national theatre tours, Noam transitioned to filmmaking, releasing his debut feature as writer/director Tankhouse , starring Richard Kind and Christopher Lloyd, in May of 2022.
Hi! First things first, how are you?
Sound as a pound. Did I get that right? Although with the exchange rate to Canadian dollars I need to ration those.
In your own words, can you describe for us what your show is about?
Our Little secret is a solo musical that tells the true story of when I ordered a DNA test on a lark a few summers ago, and discovered that my parents aren’t quite who I thought they were, and oh, surprise! I’m not actually an only child, but actually have 35 half siblings all across North A merica…. I can’t say more! But the show is a blend of comedy, drama, music, confession, and communion, taking the audience through my and my family’s journey of genetic discovery right up until the present day.
And if you were to condense that into three words, what would they be?
Who am I …
What has preparation for the Fringe looked like for you so far?
The prospect of performing this solo musical every day for a month is frankly terrifying, and so I have taken a leaf out of Taylor Swift’s notebook and t rained by rehearsing the show while running on the treadmill. At this stage, I haven’t had my gym membership revoked yet and the regulars know all the songs by heart so things are going well!
What do you want audiences to take away from seeing your show?
I want you to be singing these songs in the shower long after Fringe is over! But more than anything, I hope people can be inspired by my and my family’s story to see that when it comes to personal growth and overcoming obstacles on an individual and fam ily level, openness is better than secrecy. We keep secrets from our loved ones because we afraid of what will happen if they are revealed, but usually the monsters in your head are way scarier than whatever reality (or grandma) can muster.
How did you come up with the concept of your performance?
As the revelations about my genetics and heritage were rocking my world, I quickly realized that I was going to have to create something out of this experience, or I wasn’t going to make it out in one piece. Luckily, my best friends from high school and I are still in close contact, and we LOVE musicals – we performed in them, sang them around the piano instead of playing Mario Kart, and even wrote and produced one as kids! I got together with Ryan Peters, the composer, Russell Citron, the producer, and Ben Deverett, who does the musical arrangement, and we decided we were going to make a musical. I wrote the book, and Ryan, Russell and I camped out in Ryan’s basement for a week and wrote the music, and Ben, or rather, Dr. Deverett, did the arrangement on his laptop in the call room when he wasn’t anaesthetizing patients.
Less than a year after I ordered the DNA test and got the news, we were premiering Our Little Secret at the Toronto Fringe Festival of 2023. Toronto Fringe was an incredible success. We sold out every show, won the Patron’s Pick award and Best of Fringe, and we just recently secured our first mainstage production, which will be in the spring of 2025 at the Segal Center Theatre in Montreal.
Edinburgh Fringe is certainly an incredibly busy event, what are you most looking forward to doing whilst there?
I imagine most of my downtime will be spent either slumbering like a bear or standing in the royal mile and snagging passersby with m y flyers as if I were standing in a stream catching salmon, like a bear! I also am looking forward to meeting all the coolest performers from all around the world and seamlessly fitting in with my swashbuckling charm.
Where can people catch your show this summer?
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose Doonstairs @ 5:30
And where can people follow your work?
@ourlittlesecretmusical on Instagram!
Finally, what would be your dream venue or theatre to perform at?
The Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home of Shakespeare in the Park. But I haven’t been able to convince academia that my show is actually the Bard’s lost 37th work so it may be tough.
SHOW LINK: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5189/
INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT: @ourlittlesecretmusical