‘Our Little Secret’: Toronto friends make Off-Mirvish hit - Toronto Star

Noam Tomaschoff, Ryan Peters and Russell Citron turn a donor-conception revelation into a musical coming to Toronto’s CAA Theatre.

From left, composer Ryan Peters, writer-star Noam Tomaschoff, and producer Russell Citron. The high school pals turned a family discovery into the Off-Mirvish musical “Our Little Secret.”

Just over 20 years ago, Noam Tomaschoff, Ryan Peters and Russell Citron were Toronto high school friends who bonded over musical theatre. Now they’re living out their dreams as their 2023 Fringe hit musical “Our Little Secret” opens this week as part of the Off-Mirvish season.

The title refers to the secret that Tomaschoff’s parents kept — that their son was donor-conceived — until they discovered that Noam was going to do a 23AndMe genetic test and would eventually find out that the boy’s father was not his biological dad.

Shortly after Tomaschoff got the news, in 2022, he phoned his friends, including Peters, who teaches music at their alma mater, the Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto, or CHAT), and Citron, a theatre producer (who’s also a producer on the hit musical “Operation Mincemeat”).

And soon all three were working on a musical about his experiences, which I won’t spoil since they make up the bulk of the musical.

The Star chatted with them recently via Zoom, with Tomaschoff in Edmonton for the Citadel run of the show, Peters in Toronto and Citron on a work trip to Manhattan.

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