A small-town couple on the verge of a relationship crisis are abducted by a race of zany Aliens hellbent on destroying the Earth! Can the star-crossed lovers save their future together AND the fate of humankind in time?! 

It was Summer 2021, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, and playwright/composer Franco Giacomarra had a radical idea for his next show: an epic sci-fi fever dream that would combine his love of 1970’s psychedelic rock music, the mythic characters and stories of superhero comic books, and classic American musical comedy. Franco chose Chicago-based music producer/writer Matt Coakley and Village Co-Founder Marc David Wright to join him on this one-of-a-kind project, and they eagerly began developing a script. After two years and a ton of Zoom meetings and storyboards, they have concocted a sprawling saga of dancing alien warriors, multiverse theory put to the test, time travel technology, and so much more! The Planet W team produced a one-night-only concert of the musical’s score in April 2023 at The Greenroom 42, and in September 2023, they released their first single, “Lightspeed,” now available on Spotify. 

Franco Giacomarra was selected as The Village’s 2023 Performance Artist-In-Residence and has presented songs and scenes from Planet W at four sold-out Salons. The response from our audiences has been sensational. Now, The Village is proud to present Planet W in full for the very first time! We are honored to collaborate with Franco, Matt, and Marc to bring this incredible musical-in-progress to fruition. There are many special surprises in the works, but we need your help to make them happen.

As the saying goes, “It takes a village.” We hope we can count on your donation to Planet W as we continue to expand what is possible when we bring audiences and artists closer together.

This fundraising campaign goal covers approximately one-third of our overall budget. By donating to this production, you support the development of new work and ensure equitable pay for the people who bring this show to life. Over 75% of our raised funds will go directly toward paying our cast, designers, and production team. Much of our funds will go toward renting rehearsal, performance, and recording space. The remaining funds will cover production expenses, including insurance, costumes, props, and sound/lighting equipment.

The Village is a New York City-based arts collective that produces dynamic, live events where emerging artists across all disciplines develop and share “artworks-in-progress” with engaged audiences. By uniting social connection with the creative process, The Village operates as an innovative home for artists, an enlivening community for audiences, and an accessible space for all. In addition to our core Salon events, The Village is growing as a production company through our Artist-In-Residence program. Last year, we produced our inaugural resident project—Village Co-Founder Caroline Potter Shriver’s original one-woman play The Stella Show—which had a sold-out run at IRT Theater. Each year, The Village selects one Visual Artist-In-Residence and one Performance Artist-In-Residence to develop and present their work in segments at multiple Salons. After their Salon residency, the artists’ projects are produced as complete works in collaboration with The Village. For more information, please visit our website, iminthevillage.org, and follow us on Instagram @iminthevillage to stay up-to-date on our upcoming events!

Franco Giacomarra (he/him)
Book, Music, Lyrics
Franco Giacomarra is a New York City-based writer, composer, and performer who makes original works for the stage, page, and screen. From an early age, Franco always knew that his path in life would be to cultivate his passion for music and writing in order to tell impactful, original stories.

Franco hails from the Philadelphia area, and maintains a borderline unhealthy preoccupation with all the requisite sports teams and cultural ephemera (Go Birds). He moved to New York to receive his B.A. from Fordham University Lincoln Center in Theatre and Music, and subsequently became radicalized about the importance of an asset-based approach to making one’s own work.

Franco’s obsession with collaboration has led to an eclectic body of original projects in media ranging from theater to original music, short films, comics, and a touch of cultural criticism - all as either a writer, actor, composer, technician, or some combination thereof.

Franco identifies as a pop culture omnivore who draws from sources far and wide, often resulting in unique and idiosyncratic combinations of forms, genres, subject matter etc. He is most often drawn to writing about identity and characters that feel ill-at-ease in different aspects of their being - whether it’s shapeshifting aliens acclimating to Earth or a bicultural kid like him trying to roll his R’s just so. 

Franco is currently an Artist-in-Residence with The Village, A Fenix 360 Artist to Watch, and a member of the Barrow Group and the Freeman Studio. His work has recently been presented with The Green Room 42, Alchemical Studios, The Latine Musical Theater Lab, The Crypt at Columbia, and more.

Franco is proudly a first-generation Sicilian and Puerto Rican.

Matt Coakley (he/him)
Book, Music, Lyrics
Matt Coakley is a producer and singer-songwriter based in Chicago. He is a classically trained pianist, guitarist, and singer. He performs and records his own music, as well as producing albums for other artists, such as The Philadelphia Spice, Mikaela Jane, and Drift. He graduated from Drexel University in 2019 with a degree in recording arts. Since graduating and moving to Chicago, he has been writing, performing, and teaching private music and production lessons for the past three years.

Marc David Wright (he/him)
Director
Marc David Wright is a director/producer of theatre and film, community creator, and teaching artist based in Manhattan. Born and raised in Bayonne, NJ, Marc crossed the Hudson to study acting at Fordham University Lincoln Center (B.A. Theatre 2019). He discovered directing at school, where his production of Dark Play or Stories For Boys received an Ars Nova research grant to travel to the esteemed Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where it was named one of the “10 Must-See LGBT Shows” of the year. Theatre: The Stella Show (IRT/The Village), Singfeld! A Musical Parody About Nothing (Now Playing Off-Broadway), Planet W: A New Musical in Concert (The Green Room 42), Sanctuary City (Pasadena Playhouse, AD), Self Tape (Alchemical Studios), What to Expect When You’re Expecting Our Lord and Savior (The Players Theater), Dark Play or Stories For Boys (Edinburgh Fringe, Fordham). Film: Enterprise 25: A Cinematic Advent Calendar for Instagram, As You Like It or the Pursuit of Love in Shared Isolation, Slay!. Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Village, connecting emerging artists with New York audiences at nine sold-out Salon events and counting (iminthevillage.org). Proud drama teacher and director at several children’s and high school theatre education programs across New Jersey.