Butterfly's Hunt

This staged or “concert” reading of Gianna Marie Ferraro’s original a cappella musical, Butterfly's Hunt, is produced by Ferraro's new theater company, Starry Eyed Productions (music is by Amanda Gulla and Marshall Romano). The story centers around a wannabe screenwriter and a woman who has experienced an escalating cycle of violence and abuse. The musical inspiration spans decades, from the 1950s to now. Shows at 7 p.m. on Sept. 9 and 2:30 p.m., Sept. 10.

media release: Butterfly’s Hunt: An A Cappella Musical in Concert is written and produced by newcomer Gianna Marie Ferraro. The music is composed by Amanda Gulla with additional music and arrangements by Marshall Romano. Butterfly’s Hunt is musically directed by Amanda Gulla and Gianna Marie Ferraro. 

Thomas is a naive screenwriter looking to make the next hit mafia movie. What he finds instead is Alcee, a woman who spent the second half of the 20th century under her husband Nicky’s reign of terror over her, her children, and his gang. The story she tells Thomas is one of survival, terror, and enduring love for her children as they attempt to escape the cycle of abuse. Butterfly’s Hunt illustrates the cycles of abuse through the eyes of a woman living in the mid-twentieth century, with a delicate, pulsing score orchestrated entirely by human voices.

Amanda Gulla and Marshall Romano’s compositions are contemporary while still drawing from the eras the show is set in. The older generation’s sound evokes 1950s artists such as Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra while their children’s music pulls from the early 1970s sound. Says Gulla of Ferraro’s lyrics “the words that characters sing makes clear that this is a story that is being recounted. Characters share metaphors and speech patterns in such a way that you can all hear it coming from the same woman’s mouth as she opens up about her traumatic past. Alcee’s strength comes from not shying away from vulnerability and permitting herself to be centered in a narrative that would have otherwise erased her and other women like her.”

Butterfly’s Hunt will be a staged reading that will take place at the Bartell Community Theatre on September 9 and 10. With the theater being produced by a brand new theater company, Starry Eyed Productions is primarily funded by producer and lyricist-librettist, 20-year-old Gianna Marie Ferraro. Additional funds have also come from donations and our sponsor Alobudra Spiritual Apothecary.  

You can buy tickets to our staged reading of Butterfly’s Hunt on the Bartell Theatre’s website http://bartelltheatre.org/2023/starry-eyed-productions-presents/. Tickets are $15 apiece.