The Moth Mainstage

This year's theme is That's Wild: The Moth in Anchorage. The Moth is true stories, told live and without notes, by people from all walks of life – astronauts, students, a dental hygienist, a hotdog eating champion, exonerated prisoners, Nobel laureates, and everyone in between. Each performance of The Moth Mainstage is unique, illuminating the diversity and commonality of human experiences. 

When The Moth migrates to Anchorage each year, we laugh, cry, bond with a theatre full of strangers, and leave inspired to share the personal, powerful stories in each and every one of us. Honest, funny, and poignant, The Moth celebrates the raconteur who breathes fire into true tales of ordinary life, and the novice who’s lived through something extraordinary and yearns to share it.  

Every year, The Moth reminds us that the shortest distance between two people is a story. 

HOST

Jon Goode is an Emmy-nominated writer whose work has been featured on CNN, HBO, VH1, and MTV. Jon’s writing has earned him a Promax Gold, a Gold Addy, and a Silver Telly Award. His latest collection of short stories, Black Curio, has been #1
on Amazon since its September 2024 release and is available wherever you buy books. IG @jon_goode

STORYTELLERS

George Sumner lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Tina Hose. One of six siblings, George was raised in rural Utah, but says he grew up in Vietnam, where he served as a helicopter pilot. George enjoyed a firefighter career in Salt Lake City and a second career as fire chief in suburban Bountiful, Utah. In retirement, George and Tina are active in community and political affairs, serving on community councils and non-profit boards. They enjoy travel, especially visiting their friends and family scattered throughout America.

Tamathy Howald is a writer, storyteller, and a founding member of No Shame Theatre in Eugene, Oregon. She writes and makes art in a converted city bus that sits deep in the woods beside the Mohawk River surrounded by ferns and blackberries. She shares the bus with a mannequin named Silent Barb who scares the neighbors away so Tamathy can write.

Jeremy Gaitan grew up enjoying the astounding views and natural wonders of Grand Teton National Park on a daily basis. After graduating high school, he set out on an 8,000-mile road trip around 
the western US in search of more natural beauty and exploration. He currently resides in Jackson Hole working as a photographer and real estate agent.

Bailey Williams is a writer and editor living in Tlingit Aani. She is the author of Hollow: A Memoir of my Body in the Marines, which Publisher’s Weekly called “a staggering achievement” in a starred review.

Rochelle Adams, Gwich’in, was raised in the Interior Alaskan villages of Fort Yukon and Beaver. Rochelle is an artist, Indigenous linguist, cultural educator, and a steward of her homelands and waters. She is also a co-creator of the PBS kids show Molly of Denali and the founder of Yukonjik K’aaht’ii Nąįį. Rochelle works to uplift Indigenous languages in all spaces.

Musician

Armin Abdihodžić began playing guitar at age eight in Bihać (Bosnia and Herzegovina). After high school, he moved to the States and eventually settled in Alaska in 2013. He lives in Anchorage, teaches music at the University of Alaska Anchorage, directs the Anchorage Mandolin Orchestra, serves as the Anchorage Classical Guitar Society president, and frequently performs with local soloists and ensembles.

TYPE OF EVENING:
Storytime theatre
Tales around the campfire
Book club night out

WHAT TO EXPECT:
Part documentary, part theatre, totally enlightening
Five storytellers, two acts, hundreds of kindred spirits on the edge of their seats
Poignant stories that fan the flame of human understanding

COME WITH:
An expectation for heart-pounding, heart-wrenching, and heart-warming stories
Your need for connection ready to be fulfilled
Your ears open to people from all walks of life