“GIRL WITH A CAMERA” – a new work by author Byron Nilsson

COPAKE, NY –Constance Lopez & Lora Lee Ecobelli are pleased to announce the upcoming production of Girl With A Camera, a new work by Byron Nilsson opening Friday, May 9th, 2025 at the Claverack Free Library.
How does a creative artist come to terms with sudden fame? Photographer Ivy Wilmot found success as a photo-journalist but became a public figure when she married a movie star. As the marriage unraveled, so too did her career. There was another man in love with her – but he was the FBI agent investigating her father. Girl With A Camera shows us a life that couldn’t be constrained in the borders of a photograph.

Girl With A Camera will open Friday, May 9, 2025 and performs May 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, closing Sunday May 18, 2025. Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances, curtain is at 7:30 pm, Sunday curtain is 3:00 pm. For tickets and reservations please call (518) 758-1648. This production is being presented under the auspices of the Actors' Equity Association Members' Project Code. The producers are grateful for the collaboration of The Claverack Free Library, Blue Horse Repertory Company and RARE, Inc/The Two of Us Productions.

The cast for Girl With A Camera includes Constance Lopez as photographer Ivy Wilmot; Linda Storms as Ivy’s high school teacher Jeanne Morris, a frequent needy visitor in Ivy’s life; Andrew Joffe as Julius Wilmot, Ivy’s father, a well-respected optical & electronics engineer; Steve Leifer as Lester Borders, an FBI agent with his own artistic pursuits; Lora Lee Ecobelli as Nancy Rosetti, a photo editor as Harper’s Bazaar magazine; and, Jonathan Tarpy as Ivy’s troubled movie star husband Marc French. This production is being directed by Stephen Sanborn. Author Byron Nilsson is collaborating in this production and will be holding talkbacks immediately following the performances on Friday, May 9th and Thursday, May 15th.

Co-Producer Lora Lee Ecobelli is an award winning actress, filmmaker, writer, director and teacher. As an actress, Lora Lee has performed both On and Off-Broadway and in regional theatres throughout the country in leading roles from the contemporary to the classics. She can also be seen in many independent films and television. Lora Lee is the recipient of the Harold Clurman award for best leading actress in an Off Broadway Play for her performance in The Vice by Luigi Pirandello. Lora Lee is also a writer, director and film maker and the Artistic Director of the Blue Horse Repertory Company. Lora Lee is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA.

Co-Producer Constance Lopez is an actress, director and young children’s theater educator. She has performed in classics, musicals and contemporary dramas and comedies both regionally and Off Broadway, originating the roles of Natalya Puskin in Pushkin – A Poet’s Search for Honor and Pauline in The Widow and the West Indian Workman. Connie has also appeared in a variety of films and television. She is the Artistic Director for RARE, Inc/The Two of Us Productions. Connie is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.

Author Byron Nilsson is an active writer and stage performer. As an actor he has worked with the NYS Theatre Institute, appearing in 1776, Miracle on 34th Street, A Wonderful Life, Fiorello!, Around the World in 80 Days, and with many other companies including the Lake George Opera, Syracuse Opera, and Musicians of Ma’alwyck. Byron also presents a cabaret show with pianist Malcolm Kogut, Songs to Amuse which does, they hope, just that, presenting an array of funny and forgotten ditties that reach back to vaudeville and music-hall days. As a script & music writer some of his produced shows include Mr. Sensitivity as part of the 2009 NY Fringe Festival; Drivers at Ensemble Studio Theatre; the one-act musical iFind You @ Last with music by Tom Savoy; and his cantata Buxtehude’s Daughter with the Musicians of Ma’alwyck. Byron is a member of Actors Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and the Dramatists Guild.