2013-14 Broadway Philadelphia Season Launches Philly Debut of ONCE Tonight

ONCE, winner of eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, will play the Academy of Music for a limited engagement from tonight, October 29- Sunday, November 10. The press opening is tonight, October 29 at 8 p.m.

Tickets for ONCE are available and range in price from $20-$100. Tickets can be purchased by calling 215-731-3333, online at kimmelcenter.org/broadway, at the KimMel Center box office, Broad & Spruce streets (open daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.) or at the Merriam Theater box office, 250 S. Broad Street (open during performances only). Groups of 10 or more will receive discounts for select performances by calling 215-790-5883 or 866-276-2947. Performances include: Tuesday evening 8 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday evening at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday evening at 8 p.m.; Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.; Sunday matinee and evening at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

ONCE, which was also named Best Musical by the New York Drama Critics' Circle, Drama Desk, Drama League, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards, is currently running on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre where it started performances on February 28, 2012 and opened March 18, 2012.

ONCE features the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, a book by award-winning Irish playwright & screenwriter, Enda Walsh (Penelope, Hunger, The New Electric Ballroom), direction by the acclaimEd Scottish director of Black Watch, John Tiffany, movement by Steven Hoggett (Black Watch, American Idiot) and music supervision and orchestrations by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!). The set and costume design are by five time Tony Award winner Bob Crowley (The Coast of Utopia, Mary Poppins), lighting design is by Tony winner Natasha Katz (Aida, The Coast of Utopia), and sound design is by Clive Goodwin.

ONCE is the celebrated new musical based on the Academy Award-winning film. It tells the story of an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, their unexpected friendship and collaboration evolves into a powerful but complicated romance, heightened by the raw emotion of the songs they create together. Brought to the stage by an award-winning team of visionary artists and featuring an ensemble cast of gifted actor/musicians, ONCE is a musical celebration of life and love: thrilling in its originality, daring in its honesty... and unforgettable in every way.

The 2007 Academy Award-winning film, ONCE, was written and directed by John Carney,and starred Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, with original music and lyrics by Mr. Hansard and Ms. Irglová.

The Oscar winning independent Irish film, ONCE was made for $150,000. Shot in 17 days, it went on to gross $20M worldwide becoming a critically acclaimed international smash. It stars Glen Hansard, from the popular Irish Rock band The Frames, and Markéta Irglová. Glen and Markéta won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Original song for "Falling Slowly," the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Music, and the soundtrack was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

ONCE was originally developed at the American Repertory Theater (Cambridge, Massachusetts) in April 2011; Diane Paulus, Artistic Director; Diane Borger, Producer.

A developmental run of ONCE at New York Theatre Workshop (James C. Nicola and William Russo) began performances on November 15, 2011 and opened December 6. The production broke box office records and concluded a sold out engagement including a two week extension through January 15, 2012.

ONCE is produced by Barbara Broccoli, John N. Hart Jr., Patrick Milling Smith, Frederick Zollo, Brian Carmody, Michael G. Wilson, Orin Wolf and Executive Producer Robert Cole, in association with New York Theatre Workshop.

BROADWAY PHILADELPHIA is presented collaboratively by The KimMel Center for the Performing Arts and The Shubert Organization with productions at the Academy of Music, Forrest Theatre and Merriam Theater.

KIMMel CENTER, INC., a charitable, not-for-profit organization, owns, manages, supports and maintains The KimMel Center for the Performing Arts, which includes Verizon Hall, Perelman Theater, Innovation Studio and the Merck Arts Education Center. KimMel Center, Inc. also manages the Academy of Music, owned by the Philadelphia Orchestra Association, and the University of the Arts Merriam Theater. Our mission is to operate a world class performing arts center that engages and serves a broad audience which includes providing arts in education, community outreach and a rich diversity of programming. The 2012/2013 season is sponsored by TD Bank.. For additional information, visit kimmelcenter.org.

The Shubert Organization was founded in 1900 by three brothers from Syracuse, and the company has been in the forefront of the American theatre ever since. Currently, the Organization owns and operates 17 Broadway theatres, as well as the Shubert in Boston, the Forrest in Philadelphia and Off-Broadway's 499-seat Little Shubert. The organization is proud of its ongoing refurbishment program for these theatres, as it seeks to preserve their historic character while modernizing them to accommodate the needs of today's audiences. Over the years The Shubert Organization has produced/co-produced hundreds of Broadway shows including Cats, Dreamgirls, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Ain't Misbehavin', Bob Fosse's Dancin', City of Angels, Chess, Passion, Sunday in the Park with George, The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby, The Gin Game, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Amadeus, Lettice & Lovage, The Real Thing, Children of a Lesser God, Master Harold...and the Boys, Skylight, Amy's View, Indiscretions, The Heidi Chronicles, A Few Good Men, Dirty Blonde, The Blue Room, Closer, The Judas Kiss and The Grapes of Wrath. In the last ten years the Organization's productions have included A Behanding in Spokane, Three Days of Rain, A Steady Rain, God of Carnage, That Championship Season, Equus, Exit the King, Spamalot, Nice Work If You Can Get It, Once and Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway.

For more about the production, visit www.oncemusical.com.

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