Jack Freiberger’s critically acclaimed one-man show, They Call Me Mister Fry, is coming to the Calgary Fringe Festival.
The show is the true story of Freiberger’s time working as a Grade 5 teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, his relationship with two challenging students and the ways they each affect the other’s lives. The play follows Freiberger (Mr. Fry) as he gets a job in a tough L.A. grade school and his involvement in his students’ lives as they deal with their own personal challenges and tragedies.
They Call Me Mister Fry has earned awards at fringe festivals across the United States, at performances in L.A.; Washington, D.C.; and New York. Freiberger performed at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival in July before coming to Calgary.
For Freiberger, acting and teaching have gone hand in hand.
“I don’t know how people can be a teacher without being an actor in a way,” Freiberger says.
Freiberger originally moved to L.A. to act before he began working as a substitute teacher. After five years as a substitute he began gravitating toward full-time teaching and got teaching credentials. Now he spends his summers performing.