Prospect Theater Company Presents ONCE UPON A TIME IN NEW JERSEY 10/2

Prospect Theater Company (Cara Reichel, Producing Artistic Director / Melissa Huber, Managing Director), producers of this summer's critically-acclaimed With Glee, will present the New York premiere of Susan DiLallo and Stephen Weiner's multiple award-winning musical comedy Once Upon a Time in New Jersey at The Hudson Guild Theatre beginning October 2, 2010.

Winner of the coveted Kleban Prize and Richard Rodgers Award, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey is an Italian-American fairy tale set in 1956 Hoboken. Vinnie LoBianco (David Perlman), an unassuming sandwich-maker, is in love with counter girl Angie Moscato (Briga Heelan). But Angie's got it bad for Rocco (Jeremy Cohen), the local hunk, whose sights are set on sexy dance teacher Celeste (Catherine LeFrere). When Rocco runs afoul of Celeste's husband Billy (Jonathan Gregg), the result is a series of hilarious misunderstandings and madcap misadventure.

The Chicago Sun-Times praises Once Upon a Time in New Jersey's "delicious songs" and "huge audience appeal". BBC Liverpool calls it "An engaging, light-hearted musical in the tradition of Little Shop of Horrors". And The Daily Herald describes it as a "Tuneful, good-hearted, humorous and-most importantly-original show".

Brought to you by the co-authors and creative team behind Prospect's 2006 hit production of Iron Curtain, and presented as a partner event of The New York Musical Theatre Festival, Once Upon a Time in New Jersey is directed by Cara Reichel with choreography by Christine O'Grady (associate choreographer, Broadway's Hair). The musical director is Remy Kurs. Scenic design is by Jen Price Fick. Lighting design is by Isabella F. Byrd. Sound design is by Asa F. Wember. Costume design is by Sidney Shannon. Orchestrations and vocal arrangements are by Dimitri Nakhamkin.

The cast is as follows: Jeremy Cohen*, Jason Collins*, Denise DeMirjian*, Mishaela Faucher*, Jonathan Gregg*, Briga Heelan, Jason Kappus*, Theresa Kloos, Alex Krasser, Catherine LeFrere, John Mervini, Samia Mounts*, David Perlman*, Darcy Yellin* and Noah Zachary.

Once Upon a Time in New Jersey was initially developed at The Muhlenberg Summer Music Theater Festival in Allentown, PA. Following a series of readings at The Director's Company, it played to sold-out houses at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater in Chicago, the Village Theater in Seattle and the Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts. Once Upon a Time in New Jersey was one of six musicals selected from across the globe for the Global Search for New Musicals Competition in Cardiff Wales. It received rave reviews at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it was performed by the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.

Once Upon a Time in New Jersey will be performed October 2-31 with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm (except on Sunday, October 3 when the performance will be at 7pm). There are added 8pm performances on Monday, October 4 and Wednesday, October 27. Tickets ($25) can be purchased by calling (212) 352-3101 or by visiting www.ProspectTheater.org. Specially-priced student tickets ($22) are also available. The October 9 performance features a pre-show patron dinner with the composers at Pepegiallo Restaurant. Tickets for the patron dinner and performance are $65.

The Hudson Guild Theatre is located at 441 West 26th Street (between Ninth and Tenth Avenues).
(*Member, Actors' Equity Association.)

About the Authors and Creative Staff

Susan DiLallo (Book & Lyrics) won the Kleban Prize for Once Upon a Time in New Jersey. The show also won a Richard Rodgers Award (given by the American Academy of Arts & Letters) and the Global Search for New Musicals Competition, Cardiff. Other credits include: libretto for Iron Curtain (Jonathan Larson Award), a 2009 NAMT Festival selection opening at the Village Theatre in 2011; book and lyrics for The Clear Channel/Mattel production of Barbie Live! In Fairytopia; lyrics for That's Life (Outer Critics Circle nominee); Wild About Harry, commissioned and originally presented by NYMF; Pinocchio, a Family Musical About Adoption (winner, KIDDSTUFF New Play Competition); the revised libretto for the classic Dorothy Fields/Arthur Schwartz/George Abbott musical, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn; and book and lyrics to Angelina Ballerina, commissioned by Vital Theatre Company, currently running in NYC. Member: ASCAP, Dramatists Guild.

Stephen Weiner (Music) A two-time Richard Rodgers Award winner, in 2010 for Rocket Science (Book by Patricia Cotter, Lyrics by Jason Rhyne) and in 2003 for Once Upon A Time in New Jersey (Book and Lyrics by Susan DiLallo), Stephen Weiner has also composed the scores for The Hudsucker Proxy (Book and Lyrics by Glenn Slater), MTC's newyorkers (Lyrics by Glenn Slater), Prospect Theater's Iron Curtain (Book by Susan DiLallo, Lyrics by Peter Mills), Spittin Image (Book by Karin Kasdin, Lyrics by Laura Szabo Cohen). Film: The Soprano State, directed by Peter LeDonne. Upcoming: The Honeymooners with Lyrics by Pete Mills, Book by Bill Nuss and Dusty Kay. Recipient of a 2005 Jonathan Larson Development Grant and the 2000 ASCAP New Horizons Richard Rodgers Award.

Cara Reichel (Director) previously collaborated with Susan DiLallo (book), Peter Mills (lyrics), and Stephen Weiner (music) on Iron Curtain, a new musical which was developed in July 2008 at the O'Neill Theatre Center, was a part of NAMT's 2009 Festival of New Musicals, and received the 2006 Innovative Theatre Award for "Outstanding Production of a Musical." Together with Peter Mills, she has co-created numerous new musicals, including Evergreen, Golden Boy of the Blue Ridge, Honor, The Rockae, The Pursuit of Persephone, The Taxi Cabaret, The Flood, Illyria, Lonely Rhymes, and The Alchemists. Cara has recently directed for the Village Theatre's Festival of New Musicals (Seattle, WA), Oberon Theatre Ensemble, and the Goodwill Theatre (Binghamton, NY). She was honored to receive the 2002 "Lucille Lortel Award" for Emerging Women Artists from the League of Professional Theatre Women (LPTW), an organization which she now serves as an officer, and she received 2004 and 2007 "New Directors / New Works" Grants from the Drama League. Cara was educated at Princeton University, and attended the M.F.A. Program for Directing at Brooklyn College, where she was named 2006 "Alumna of the Year." She is a member of the SDC, and the LPTW.

Christine O'Grady (Choreographer) With Prospect: Iron Curtain, Illyria, The Tutor and Museum Pieces. She was the Associate Choreographer for the Tony Award-winning revival of Hair and Jerry Mitchell's SSDC Observer on Legaly Blonde (San Francisco and Broadway). Recent NY: Children of Eden (APAC), Signs of Life (Amas), Uncle Pirate (Vital), Famous (EST), Inside Broadway's tour of Smokey Joe's Café and Tommy (Gallery Players). Regional: Into the Woods, High School Musical (I and II), Seussical and My Scary Girl (Barrington Stage Company), I Do! I Do! (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Oliver (Cardinal Stage) and several seasons at New London Barn Playhouse. She has an MFA in Theatre (Directing Concentration) from Arizona State University and is a member of SDC. Upcoming: 1st National Tour of Hair and The Drowsy Chaperone (Gallery Players).

About Prospect Theater Company

Prospect Theater Company is a non-profit organization founded in 1998 by five graduates of Princeton University in order to allow a diverse group of emerging theater professionals to work together in pursuit of artistic excellence and innovation. Known both for its development of new musicals and its engaging interpretations of classic plays, Prospect strives to build bridges between artists and audiences, and to connect theater's present to its past-in order to build its future. For more information, please visit www.ProspectTheater.org.

About The New York Musical Theatre Festival

Now in its seventh year, the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) is the largest annual musical theatre event in America and is widely regarded as the essential source for new material and talent discovery. NYMF provides a launching pad for the next generation of musicals and their creators to ensure the continued vitality of one of America's greatest art forms. Hailed as the "Sundance of Musical Theatre," NYMF discovers, nurtures, and promotes promising musical theatre artists and producers at all stages of development, and inspires a diverse audience through vibrant, accessible, powerful new work.

NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization. NYMF 2010 is presented in association with BroadwayWorld.com, Production Resource Group, TheaterMania.com, and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment and is supported by AP-Red.com, Back Stage, Barnes and Noble, BroadwayBox.com, BroadwayInsider.com, Broadway.TV, Clear Channel Spectacolor, DFD-TV, King Displays, NASDAQ OMX, New World Stages, Next Magazine, PMD Promotions, The Port Authority of NY & NJ, Queerty.com, Season of Savings, Tekserve, Terra Fossil, Thomson Reuters, TheMenEvent.com, Times Square Squared, and Yelp. Major supporters include The ASCAP Foundation, BMI Foundation, Inc., The Broadway League, The BWF Foundation, The Nathan Cummings Foundation with the support and encouragement of Jamie Ariel Phinney, The Charlie & Jane Fink Charitable Fund, Cameron Mackintosh Foundation, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, The Rodgers & Hammerstein Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Spiritus Gladius Foundation, and The Theater League. NYMF is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

NYMF Memberships, which combine charitable contributions with valuable, flexible ticket packages and perks like early seating, and tickets to individual events are currently available for purchase at (212) 352-3101 or www.nymf.org. Single tickets for Festival events are also on sale

 

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