​About

Coming Attraction

a new musical by Gray Horan
Music by Amanda D'Archangelis
Lyrics by Sami Horneff

​
staged-reading 
Monday, January 28
7:00PM
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FREE ADMISSION
donations to support The Wilbury Group's new works
development program Studio W accepted at the door.
​

Presented by The Wilbury Group's new works development program, Studio W, Coming Attraction is a women’s anthem, but it is also a commentary on a uniquely American art form and industry. 

​Set in 1920s Hollywood, Coming Attraction is a new musical that focuses on two talented aspiring female artists. Confronted with opportunities, challenges and cultural pressures, we watch these young women navigate the pathways available to them while asking, ‘What does it take to follow your dreams?’ The play explores themes like sexual fluidity, Hollywood and celebrity exploitation, and women’s roles in society and the workplace. Historical references to the era’s climate, both political and economic, are draped over the plot, drawing parallels to contemporary events and cultural issues.

Read the preview article about the play in the Jewish Voice​ here. 

CAST 
Greta Garbo.....Olivia Miller
Ruth Harriet Louise......Katrina Z. Pavao
Irving.....Steven Sawan
Louis B. Mayer....Jason Quinn
Carmel Myers.....Sarah Sinclair
Ramon Novarro.....Alexander "Crespo" Rosario
Mauritz Stiller / Rabbi Goldstein / Ensemble.....Geoff Leatham
Max Gumpel / John Gilbert / Ensemble....Nick Corey
Alva Gustafson / Ensemble.....Rachel Beth Beauregard
Mama Anna / Ensemble.....Christine Treglia
Ticket Taker / Ensemble....Nick D’Amico
Stage Hand / Projectionist / Ensemble.....Samuel Blustein
Stage Directions.....Aaron Blanck

CREATIVE TEAM
Book by Gray Horan
Music by Amanda D'Archangelis
Lyrics by Sami Horneff

Directed by Meredith Healy
Production Manager Kelly Glenn
Accompanist Jennifer Holden

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​ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Gray Horan (BOOK): Gray has been involved in many aspects of theater and film production.  She acted at Williamstown Theater Festival and in independent films. She studied theater at The Loft Studio (L.A.).  She was a featured speaker at numerous forums including: The Smithsonian Institute’s Speaker Series (Washington DC); MOMA, Scandinavian American Foundation, Film Forum, Christies, Staley-Wise Gallery  (NYC); The Seattle Film Festival, The Rosenbach Museum and Library (Phila.); Triennale Design Museum and Museo Ferragamo (Italy). Her essays and articles have been published in numerous magazines and newspapers throughout the world including The New York Times, Paris Match, Shukan Asahi, Aftonbladet, Allers Magazine and Convergence, RI.  Her essays appear two books: Architectural Digest Hollywood at Home, (Harry Abrams) and Greta Garbo, The Mystery of Style, (Skira Editore Rizzoli).  She was selected for The Write Program for memoir at Dartmouth College. Coming Attraction, the book for a musical play, is her playwriting debut.  The play is based on her research conducted at academic and special archives and libraries including early Hollywood ephemera (MOMA Film Library, Margaret Herrick Library, Library of Congress), Ruth Harriet Louise (Jewish Historical Society of Central N.J., N.Y. Historical Society, George Eastman Collection), queer Hollywood (Rosenbach Library) and Greta Garbo  (primary sources including conversations held during Horan’s 30-year relationship with her great aunt, Ms. Garbo). Conversations with world-renowned film historians and colleagues (i.e. Mary Lea Bandy, David Stenn and Kevin Brownlow) also support the research effort. Horan’s voice is new and fresh, but carries with it the impact of a mature and seasoned perspective with a rare and direct bond to Hollywood legends.  Gray Horan is a graduate of Dartmouth College where she majored in English and Film Studies.  

Amanda D’Archangelis (MUSIC): Amanda is a composer and actress in NYC. She holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory, and is an alumnus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. She is the resident composer of Bluelaces Theater Company, providing theater and outreach for people with developmental differences, and a York Theatre Company 2019 NEO Writer. Credits include: Single Rider (Music & Book, Off-Broadway); The Break (Music, Omaha Creative Institute); The Radium Girls: A Jaw Dropping New Musical (Music & Book, Winner at The Players Theatre BOO! Short Play Festival); Blatantly Blaine- A “Family” Musical (Music & Book); The Disembodied Hand... The Musical! (Music & Book). Upcoming: Coming Attraction (Music), a new musical about the life of Hollywood superstar Greta Garbo, premiering at the Wilbury Theatre in Providence RI, January 2019. She's composed and arranged for various projects, and her music has been performed at The Duplex, Green Room 42, Feinstein's 54 Below and more. www.amandadarchangelis.com 

Sami Horneff (LYRICS): A born and raised New Yorker, Sami is a proud graduate of Brown University, an advanced member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop, and a 2019 York Theatre Company NEO Writer. With Amanda D’Archangelis: Single Rider (Lyrics & Book, Off-Broadway); The Break (Lyrics, Omaha Creative Institute); The Radium Girls: A Jaw Dropping New Musical (Lyrics & Book, Winner at The Players Theatre BOO! Short Play Festival) and the upcoming Coming Attraction (Lyrics), a new musical about the life of Hollywood superstar Greta Garbo, premiering in 2019 at the Wilbury Theatre (Providence, RI). Other recent writing credits include: A Never-Ending Line (Lyrics, Off-Broadway); Rock and a Hard Place (Music & Lyrics); The Under 5ers Web Series (Writer/Producer, 2016 Indie Series Award Nominee for Best Original Song). Her work has also been performed at the Metropolitan Room, The Duplex, and Feinstein’s/54 Below. www.samihorneff.com