AMAS to Offer Staged Readings of New Musical A TASTE OF CHOCOLATE, 1/26-27

Amas Musical Theatre and The Amas Musical Theatre Lab will begin the New Year with staged readings for the New York premiere of A Taste of Chocolate, a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Timothy Ware, with additional lyrics and arrangements by Alvin Hough. Directed by Warren Adams, the readings will be held on Monday, January 26th at 2pm & 6pm and Tuesday, January 27th at 2pm at The National Opera Center of America: Audition Recital Hall (330 Seventh Avenue - between 28th & 29thStreets). For reservations, please email at boxoffice@amasmusical.org or call 212-563-2565.

Unable to live up to his father's expectations, Coffee, a preacher's kid from Alabama, finds sanctuary in the world of spoken word. Beat poetry is his religion, but the true meaning of love is found in A Taste of Chocolate. Sweeter words were never spoken.

The cast of A Taste of Chocolate is: Marshal Kennedy Carolan, (Hair), Doug Eskew (The Color Purple), Kimberly Marable (The Lion King),Julius Anthony Rubio (Wonderland), Anne Fraser Thomas (Faust - Encores), Jason Veasey (The Lion King), Marisha Wallace (Aladdin),Timothy Ware (Kinky Boots), Syndee Winters (The Lion King), Virginia Woodruff (Violet), and Noah Zachary (Dear Edwina).

"Timothy Ware is a new theatrical voice at a powerful juncture, where spoken word confronts faith, family and the very meanings of identity," saysDonna Trinkoff, Amas Artistic Producer. "A Taste of Chocolate challenges an entire community to sample an alternative perspective."

The presentations are part of the ongoing Amas Musical Theatre Lab, a development series for writers, lyricists and composers to mount public readings of their new musicals. The Amas Musical Theatre Lab is supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and by the Actors' Equity Association Foundation, the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation, BMI Foundation, the Barbara Bell Cumming Foundation, the Lucille Lortel Foundation, the Frederick Loewe Foundation, the Shubert Foundation, the Michael Tuch Foundation, and through the generous support of many individuals. Subsidized rehearsal studio space for A Taste of Chocolate was provided by the A.R.T./New York Creative Space Grant, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.