New Musical ONCE IN A LIFETIME, AGAIN Will Have a Developmental Reading Next Week

The York Theatre Company will present developmental readings of Once in a Lifetime, Again, A Musical About Love, Loss and the Healing Power of Music with book, music and lyrics by Stephen H. Gardner, music direction by Logan Medland (Christmas in Hell at the York), and direction by Samantha Saltzman. The by-invitation-only presentations will take place on Monday, September 9 at 2pm & 7pm at Pearl Studios Room 414 (500 Eighth Avenue). Admission is free, BY INVITATION ONLY. For further information, please contact boxoffice@yorktheatre.org. These presentations are part of The York Theatre Company’s Developmental Reading Series.

Jesse met Lydia in 1974...one of many couples in a generation thrown into new gender roles: two careers, shared parenting, new stresses. Lydia dies in her 50s, leaving Jesse devastated that his career took priority over his marriage. After lashing out, he begins therapy. There, he learns to express his emotions with unsparing honesty by writing songs...then sets out on an often awkward, occasionally comic, and tender search to find love anew.

The cast for Once Upon a Lifetime, Again is Andrea Frierson (me & ella at The York, The Lion King), David M. Lutken (The Will Rogers Follies, Ring of Fire), and Michele Ragusa (Cyrano: The Musical, Titanic). They will be joined by a band including Logan Medland on piano, Kevin Kuhnon guitar, Leenya Rideout on bass, and Mark Papazian on drums.

Biographies

Stephen H. Gardner (Book/Music/Lyrics) wrote the book, lyrics, and music for Once in a Lifetime, Again. Gardner graduated from Williams College in 1975, began his career in the advertising business in New York City in 1977, and founded his own successful ad agency, Gardner Nelson & Partners, in 1998. He later sold the firm and retired to Connecticut, where he became the lead opinion writer for Born to Run the Numbers, a highly regarded political blog. He joined a successful bar band as rhythm guitarist and began writing original songs that became part of his band’s repertoire. When all bands were shut down during the pandemic, Gardner had time to write the book and score of Once in a Lifetime, Again, conceived as a biography of Gardner’s generation. The sixty-somethings who married at the rise of the feminist movement had to re-invent gender roles, lived with dual careers and shared parenting and marriages, and faced new stresses and conflicts. Most theatergoers are over 50, yet few plays are written about the issues Boomers encounter at this later stage in life—divorces, deaths, relationships gone cold, and the challenge of finding love anew. www.stephenhgardner.com www.onceinalifetimeagain.com

Samantha (Sami) Saltzman (Director) has worked as an Associate Director transferring landmark Broadway productions to National and International tours and has also directed countless new musicals, established productions, and major events featuring A-list celebrity talent. Associate/Resident Director: Kiss Me, Kate (West End), The King & I (West End and UK Tour), My Fair Lady (2nd National), The Color Purple (2nd National), Matilda the Musical (1st National), Lady in the Dark (NYCC), Southern Comfort (The Public Theater), Sarah Brightman’s Dreamchaser World Tour. Assistant Resident Director and Rehearsal Director: The Phantom of the Opera (World Tour), Matilda the Musical (Broadway), The King & I (2nd National). Director (select credits): LadyShip, Drama League Gala Honoring Steve Martin, 210 Amlent Ave, In Trousers, Urinetown. TV/Film: Parent Teacher Conference, Idle Worship, “Adulting with Jane.” Drama League Directing Fellow Alum. www.samanthasaltzman.com.

Logan Medland (Music Director/Piano) is a composer, lyricist, and Broadway musician and music director originally from Toronto. He spent ten years at the Shaw Festival in Niagara, Canada as Associate Music Director before moving to New York in 2010. Since then, his career has taken him to Broadway as the keyboardist in the orchestra for A Bronx Tale and as Associate Music Director for Dr. Zhivago. He also was the Music Supervisor for the National tour of A Christmas Story and Music Director/Conductor for National and International tours of Cats and Crazy for You. For Jersey Boys, he was the Associate Music Director for the first and second national tours and the original Toronto production. He was the arranger and Music Supervisor for Christmas in Hell at The York Theatre (2016) and in Las Vegas (2022), and the arranger and Musical Supervisor for The Bardy Bunch (Off-Broadway. 2012). He wrote the book, music, and lyrics for Fingers and Toes, which had an acclaimed sold-out run at the New York Musical Festival in 2010 and has had numerous regional productions since. He also wrote the music and lyrics for Love Goddess: The Rita Hayworth Musical, which played to warm reviews and enthusiastic audiences at the Cockpit Theatre in London in November/December 2022. “A tantalising look at the life of Rita Hayworth” - London Times. www.loganmedland.com

Andrea Frierson, a two-time Helen Hayes Award nominee, has performed leading roles on Broadway in The Lion King, the original Broadway productions of Once on This Island and for colored girls…, Bring in ‘Da Noise/Bring in ‘Da Funk, Eubie!, Marie Christine, and Julie Taymor’s Juan Darien: A Carnival Mass (both at Lincoln Center Theater). Most recently, she was in Rattlesnake Kate at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Andrea was the author and star of me & ella, which was part of the York Theatre’s New2NY Developmental Reading series in 2017. Television appearances include “Quantico", "Pose", "Red Oaks", "Elementary", and Amy Poehler and Tracy Oliver’s series "Harlem". Andrea was a series regular on the Nickelodeon tv series “Allegra’s Window” and a five-time female vocalist champion on “Star Search”. Andrea is a Dramatists Guild Fellow, a NYSCA grant recipient, and a graduate of the Academy for Classical Acting’s MFA program.

David M. Lutken Broadway: Inherit the Wind, Ring of Fire, The Civil War, The Will Rogers Follies. NY City Opera: Paul Bunyan. Off-Broadway: Southern Comfort, Stars in Your Eyes, Winter Man, The Portable Pioneer & Prairie Show, and Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie (Outer Critics’ Circle, Off-Broadway Alliance and Drama League Best Musical nominations). Regional: Our Town, Man of La Mancha, Big River, Elmer Gantry, Finian’s Rainbow, Fire on the Mountain, Hank Williams: Lost Highway, Buddy, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Mark Twain’s River of Song, Almost Heaven, The Porch on Windy Hill (Best Actor nomination, Connecticut Critics’ Circle Awards), and many more. He has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, The Public Theater, 92NY, Cooper Union, and Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, with the North Carolina Symphony and the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, and on NPR, the BBC, Polskie Radio Troika, ORF Austria, Voice of America, and the Louisiana Hayride. With Woody Sez, he has toured Europe, the British Isles, China, the Middle East and the United States. David won the Helen Hayes and the Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Actor for his portrayal of Woody Guthrie. His most recent, favorite performance is the 10-hour audiobook recording of his late father Peter K. Lutken, Jr.’s memoir, A Thousand Places Left Behind: One Soldier’s Account of Jungle Warfare in WWII Burma, available on Audible, libro.fm, and other audiobook platforms.

Michele Ragusa Last seen on Broadway in Flying Over Sunset at Lincoln Center, written and directed by James Lapine. Other Broadway: Young Frankenstein (Elizabeth), Urinetown (Penelope), Ragtime (Evelyn Nesbit), Titanic (Caroline), A Class Act (Mona), Cyrano. Off-Broadway/NY: Austen’s Pride at Carnegie Hall (Mrs. Bennett), The Butcher Boy (Irish Rep), Adrift in Macao (Corinna, Lortel/Drama League nom/Barrymore Award); Titanic (20th Anniversary Concert at Alice Tully Hall, Alice Beane), Disaster (St. Luke’s). Regional: 42nd Street, The King and I, Gypsy, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Lend Me a Tenor, The Boy From Oz, Bullets Over Broadway, Mame, Hello, Dolly!, Spamalot, Singin’ in the Rain, Sweeney Todd, Into the Woods, Kiss Me Kate, The Full Monty, The Drowsy Chaperone, Memphis, Grand Hotel. Film/TV: “Happyish” (Showtime), “Law and Order: SVU” (NBC), Heart of Spider (NYU). www.micheleragusa.com.

The York Theatre Company “Where Musicals Come to Life,” is the only theatre in New York City—and one of very few in the world—dedicated to developing and fully producing new musicals and preserving notable shows from the past. For over five decades, York’s intimate, imaginative style of producing both original and classic musicals has resulted in critical acclaim and recognition from artists and audiences alike. Under the guidance of Producing Artistic Director James Morgan since 1997, The York has focused on new musicals in its Mainstage Series—most of them world, American, or New York premieres—by some of the field’s most esteemed creators and has also helped launch the careers of many talented new writers. Over 45 cast recordings from York Theatre Company productions are now available, including its acclaimed revival of Closer Than Ever (2013 Off-Broadway Alliance Award for Best Revival). Commercial transfers of such York premieres as The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!), Souvenir (Tony Award Nomination for actress Judy Kaye), and Jolson & Company, and revivals of Pacific Overtures and Sweeney Todd (four Tony Nominations including Best Revival) have all showcased the importance of The York and its programs.

Recent York productions have included A Sign of the Times (New World Stages), The Jerusalem Syndrome, Vanities—The Musical, Hoagy Carmichael’s Stardust Road, Penelope: or How the Odyssey Was Really Written, Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood, A Taste of Things to Come, Marry Harry, and Rothschild & Sons. The critically acclaimed musical Yank! received its Off-Broadway debut at The York, and subsequently to rave reviews in London—as did York’s Rothschild & Sons. The hit musical Cagney received its York premiere in 2015, transferring to The Westside Theatre for over 15 months. In 2017, Desperate Measures_ received a total of 15 award nominations (and three wins) that included Best Musical from the Lucille Lortel, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Off-Broadway Alliance and subsequently transferred across town to New World Stages. The York is the recipient of a special Drama Desk Award for “Developing and Producing New Musicals,” a special Outer Critics Circle Award for “50 Years of Producing New and Classic Musicals.” Due to a flood in their home of 30 years at Saint Peter’s Church in January 2021, The York is currently producing at The Theatre at St. Jean’s at 76th Street and Lexington Avenue.

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