MOLLYHOUSE Reading Announced At Montalban Hollywood

The Mollyhouse, the highly-anticipated original musical with book and lyrics by Richard Hanson and music by Divya Maus will have a staged reading at the historic Montalbán Theatre, 1615 Vine Street, Hollywood, CA 90028. For more information, please visit MollyhouseMusical.com

Set in 18th Century London, The Mollyhouse tells the story of an underground gay pub owned and run by Maggie Clap in 1726, London. There, Irish runaway Adam Mackintosh finds a new home and romance with Maggie's mysterious right-hand man, Mark Partridge. Inside, every night is a celebration, but outside, a repressive government tightens its hold on the city's gay population. Inspired by real events, The Mollyhouse is a vibrant blend of Irish folk song, classic rock, and contemporary pop music.

"We are very excited to bring the The Mollyhouse to the public eye with this staged reading," said Producers Tegan Summer and Blair Farrington, CEOs of Prospect House Entertainment and Farrington Entertainment respectively. "We truly believe this to be an exceptionally written musical, shining a light on a socially relevant subject matter that will garner worldwide attention." The reading will take place at the historic Montalban Theatre in Hollywood and will feature the best talent that Los Angeles has to offer including Payton Lewis as "Adam", Derek Carley as "Mark", Lisa Gorgin as "Maggie", and Mark Capri as "Chief Justice "Gonson."

"I am so honored to be directing this presentation of The Mollyhouse and particularly thrilled to be working on a wholly original piece of musical theater," said director Richard Israel. "This is a musical with great heart and humanity, and I'm grateful for the chance to introduce it to a wider Los Angeles audience for the first time.

"We are thrilled to have the opportunity to present a full-length staged reading of The Mollyhouse here in LA with a phenomenal cast of actors under the direction of Richard Israel," said Richard Hanson and Divya Maus, "Audiences who have followed the progress of this musical over the past two years will have the opportunity to hear a few great new songs and to finally experience the full-length version of this moving story based on true events."

Additional credits include Michael Donovan as casting director | co-producer, and Noelle Hicks as co-executive producer.

Richard Hanson is an NYC based writer and lyricist. His works include The Girl Who Made the Stars with composer Sadie Soohyun Cho. He holds an MFA from NYU Tisch's Musical Theatre Writing Program.

Divya Maus is an LA-based composer and songwriter whose pieces have been performed at jazz and choral festivals across the country, as well as major venues that include the Apple Room in NYC and the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles. In 2013, Divya released her debut album, Bigger, which led to an opening performance for The Beach Boys in Los Angeles, and earned her song "Salty Water" a finalist placement in the Great American Song Contest. Divya is working on several musical film projects and a second full-length studio album. www.divyamaus.com

Most recently, Richard directed the Ovation Award nominated production of Violet at the Actor's Co-op. Favorite productions include the world premiere musical Home Street Home (which will be presented at London's Vaults Theater in April), Floyd Collins (Ovation Award for Direction and Outstanding Musical), and 110 in the Shade (Ovation Award for Outstanding Intimate Musical). He was the theatrical coordinator for the Emmy award-winning series Big Little Lies and is currently in post-production on the musical short film Into Light. He is the proud recipient of the LADCC Career Achievement Award for Directing.

The Montalbán, Hollywood's classic theatre reborn for a new era of screened entertainment and performing arts, is located at 1615 Vine Street just south of the world-famous Hollywood & Vine intersection. The gorgeous Beaux Arts building was the first legitimate live Broadway-style theater in Hollywood, and is one of the few remaining mid-sized and fully equipped proscenium theaters in Los Angeles. Featuring orchestra, mezzanine, loge and balcony seating, it is known for its excellent sightlines and acoustics, and boasts a versatile rooftop outfitted with a bar, concession stand, full kitchen and an open-air movie theater complete with a large projection screen, state-of-the-art projector, and noise cancelling headphones. Over the years the Montalbán has been owned by Howard Hughes, CBS Radio, A&P grocery chain heir Huntington Hartford and the Greek Theater's James Doolittle. UCLA took over in the 1980s until the Ricardo Montalbán Foundation bought the building in 1999. Emmy Award-winning actor Ricardo Montalbán's vision was to create a presence in Hollywood that provided inspiration and employment for young Latinos as well as other underrepresented people throughout the community. In recent years, under the direction of Montalbán's son-in-law Gilbert Smith, nearly $4 million has been invested into theater restoration to help preserve this good old classic that contributes to making Hollywood a very special and incredibly creative place.

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