Musical Adaptations ONCE/TWICE Open at Roy Arias Stage IV Tonight

PASSAJJ Productions is proud to present Once/Twice, two musical adaptations by veteran composer and lyricist Paul Dick (A For Adultery, Madame Bovary). Once is an adaptation of the short play A Sunny Morning by Serafin and Joaquin Quintero, while Twice is based on The Bear by Anton Chekhov. Once/Twice will be directed by Celine Rosenthal, with music direction by Ming Aldrich-Gan. This production will open tonight, May 16th at 8pm and run through June 1st at Roy Arias Stage IV at the Times Square Arts Center, 300 West 43rd Street in New York City.

In Once, an elderly woman and an elderly man meet in a park in Madrid. Their argument over exclusive ownership of a park bench soon becomes a conversation about each ones' youth and past lovers. Their conversation begins to reveal a profound secret they share. Twice is a stormy romantic comedy. A young widow is mourning the death of her much older husband, a drunken womanizer. During her mourning, a landowner bursts into her home, demanding immediate repayment of a loan to her husband. She refuses and he refuses to leave until paid. Their fiery interaction results in a challenge to a duel.

Tickets are $18.00 and are available at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/933797 or by phone at 866-811-4111. Ten dollar student discount tickets are available online and at the box office on the day of the show. Performances are Wednesday through Saturday at 8pm, with a 3pm matinee on Saturday andSunday.

The cast for Once/Twice: Camella Clark, Brandon Grimes, Emily Leonard*, Joeseph Robinson* and Davey Rosenberg. *Members of Actors Equity Association

Production Team: Emily A. Escobedo (Costume Design), Mitchell Ost (Set & Lighting Design) and Lousia Pough (Stage Manager).

Tickets are $18.00 and are available at https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/933797 or by phone at 866-811-4111. Ten dollar student discount tickets are available online and at the box office on the day of the show.

Paul Dick is author of over 15 musicals; many are based on classic sources, including Madame Bovary, A for Adultery (based on The Scarlet Letter), I Knock at the Door (based on the Sean O'Casey novel) and Once/Twice. Others are based on more contemporary sources, such as Tania (based on newspaper accounts of the Patty Hearst affair, presented by NY Theatre Workshop), White Widow (based on the play Mafia by Mario Fratti) and Anytime, Anywhere (a story of gay soldiers in Vietnam). His earliest works were presented by the WPA Theater when it was located on 333 Bowery.

Celine Rosenthal is a current Directing MFA candidate at the New School for Drama, and an NYU Tisch Alum. Past Directing credits include Deployed: A New Musical (Gene Frankel Theater), Rose Petals (NYMF reading), The Weird (Manhattan Theater Source).

Ming Aldrich-Gan has been a music director and pianist/keyboardist for many new musicals including Spandex (Off-Broadway), Marry Harry (American Theater Group), Songs For A More Funnier World (NYMF), Bradley Cole (FringeNYC), and Deployed (Society of Artistic Veterans). He is also a composer, currently attending the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. In 2010, he received bachelor's degrees in piano performance, computer science, and mathematics from Bard College & Conservatory of Music, where he spent an extra year as a Collaborative Piano Fellow, working with students of the Graduate Vocal Arts Program directed by Dawn Upshaw.

Roy Arias Stage IV is located at Times Square Arts Center on 300 West 43rd Street (Corner of 8th Avenue).
www.royariasstudios.com