MELANIE REY stars in new Off-Bway rock musical "A LIFE...A BROAD"

In The Moment Productions presents MELANIE REY in "A LIFE…A BROAD" (Mi Vida En Jira) at The Greenwich Street Theatre, 547 Greenwich Street (between Charlton and Vandam Streets) in West Soho, beginning January 31st for an open-ended Off-Broadway engagement.

The new rock musical, which has enjoyed several off-off-Broadway engagements at increasingly larger venues and longer engagements, moves to the Greenwich Street Theatre where it will begin previews on Monday, January 31st at 8 PM and open officially on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 6th at 7 PM. The regular performance schedule beginning February 6th will be three performances a week: Sundays at 3 and 7 PM and Monday nights at 8 pm. (The Greenwich Street Theatre is accessible via the C/E train to Spring Street and 1/9 train to Houston St.)

"A LIFE…A BROAD" has been called a 90-minute sports car ride through one Tex-Mex woman's life on the road. The one-woman rock musical, with book and lyrics by Ms. Rey and music by Rob Arthur, features 12 original songs played by a 5-piece on-stage band headed by Musical Director Rich Mercurio on drums. The musicians, who also include Marcus Wolf on lead guitar, Denise Puricelli on keyboard, Chris Smylie on bass and Tom Murray on sax, play a variety of roles in the musical. The musical's dramaturgical director is Ellen Beckerman with film by Benjamin Lobato.

MELANIE REY, who was raised in Detroit, Houston, San Diego and Chicago, moved to New York in 1995. She began working in community theatre in Southern California as a child, graduated from the University of Illinois and earned her Equity card at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre. She made her SAG film debut in Charles Correll's "Deadly Desire" opposite Kathryn Harrold and Jack Scalia. She has appeared off-Broadway with the Soho Rep, 78th Street Theatre, and the Metropolitan Playhouse as well as at the Old Globe Theatre, the Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Louisville Children's Theatre and San Diego's Lamb's, Shakespeare Festival and Ensemble Arts Theatres. She has guest starred on 'Law and Order' and has appeared in several feature films. Her first play to be written and produced in New York City, "THE SEXY TRUTH/La Verdad de Edelia," was produced by Mark Anderson (former owner of the nationwide IMPROVISATION clubs) at the 78th St. Theater Lab as an Equity Showcase. The play's success and extended run encouraged her to write her second play in 1997: "FRENESI/Sex Matters: A Play About Not Getting Any…" which ran at Broad Street's Audart Gallery for 5 months (including four extensions). She began writing the book and lyrics for "A LIFE…A BROAD" six years ago with composer Rob Arthur.

While developing "A LIFE...", Melanie has performed on WBAI and BBC radio, worked Off-Off-Broadway in "LIZ ESTRADA" at the New York Fringe Festival, in INSIDE A BIGGER BOX and co-wrote and appeared in BOY STEALS TRAIN at The 78th Street Theater Lab and last year performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in KENNETH WHAT IS THE FREQUENCY. As a member of The Actors Center Workshop Company, she has appeared in HEDDA GABLER directed by Brian Murray and SONNETS FOR AN OLD CENTURY directed by KJ Sanchez.

All of Ms. Rey's plays are based on her cultural heritage and bilingual up-bringing. She said: "I am the illegitimate daughter of a single mother. My grandparents worked as itinerant farm laborers. My earliest memories are of constantly moving from Texas to Michigan, surrounded by other illegitimately-born cousins, in an extended family of American-born grandparents whose first language was Spanish. Our numerous Aunts and Uncles struggled to distance themselves from their heritage in an effort to mesh with 60s mainstream white America. My family's ancestry was made up of people either pure Cherokee Indian, pure Spaniard or a hybrid-Mexican American bloodline that had never even set foot in Mexico."

"A LIFE...A BROAD" is about the mother/daughter dynamic of an illegitimate Latina-American and her hot and bothered, head-turning Mother. Melanie's fresh take on one woman's adventures are set to a musical score that runs the gamut from flamenco to rhythm and blues.

"A LIFE…A BROAD" which is performed in Latin-flavored English, began off-off Broadway at the 78th Street Theatre Lab in 1999 where it ran for 4 months. It has been seen at the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, West Bank Cafe and most recently at Stage 36 where it was extended several times. Each engagement has been supported almost entirely by word-of-mouth and each subsequent production has been more successful than the previous one. Clearly Melanie Rey and "A LIFE…A BROAD" have attracted audiences on the strength of her performance as well as her material.

Composer ROB ARTHUR currently plays with the hot rock band Five For Fighting, worked with Joan Osborne, Kate Pierson and Bo Ramsey, co-produced Keri Noble's record "Fearless" on Manhattan/Blue Note and, as a record producer, has sold 2 million records for the Compass label. He won a Clio Award for his work in advertising.

ELLEN BECKERMAN, who acted as Dramaturgical Director for this production, directed LightBox's productions of GULL, FANATICS, Charles L. Mee's TROJAN WOMEN, A LOVE STORY for Double Helix Theatre Company, A TINY INFINITE BURN at Joe's Pub, and her own play ALICE'S EVIDENCE at Soho Rep. Ellen is a 2003 recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, a Drama League Directing Fellow and a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab.

Filmmaker BENJAMIN D. LOBATO's film MARIPOSA CANYON has been seen at over 25 national and international film festivals earning numerous awards.

Jason Zinoman of Time Out NY called Melanie Rey "a dynamite singer with considerable charm. She is bursting with talent. Rey convincingly impersonates a multitude of characters, speaking in several languages and accents. She is the hardest working woman Off-Off-Broadway."

Tickets for "A LIFE...A BROAD" are $30 with $15 tickets for Senior Citizens and Students with valid ID available one hour before performances if available. Credit card reservations can be made via www.theatremania.com. For additional information or reservations call (212) 252-2439 or visit www.inthemomentproductions.com