Once will now premiere Off-Broadway

The musical Once, based on the Academy Award-winning film of the same name, will now premiere Off-Broadway, and not on Broadway as previously announced. It is still expected to arrive in the fall of 2011.

The musical, which features the Academy Award-winning music and lyrics of Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, with book by Irish playwright & screenwriter Enda Walsh, will now premiere Off-Broadway rounding out New York Theatre Workshop's 2011-2012 season. It is still expected to arrive in the fall of 2011.

As previously announced Once will be directed by the Scottish director of 'Black Watch,' John Tiffany, with choreography Steven Hoggett, sets and costumes by Bob Crowley, and lighting by Natasha Katz.

John Hart, one of the lead producers of the musical told the New York Times, "Our first rush of enthusiasm was to go right to Broadway." He added, "Tiffany had commitments this year at his artistic home, the National Theater of Scotland, and also wanted to continue refining the musical rather than rush it to Broadway."

Hart went on to say, "I don't think there's any fixing to do, nothing specific, but we want to take our time and put it before audiences and critics at the New York Theater Workshop to get a clear sense of what we have."

A pre-Broadway workshop presentation of the musical took place in late Apr and early May 2011 at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA. The lead roles were played by Steve Kazee ("110 in the Shade") and Cristin Milioti ("The Little Foxes" at New York Theater Workshop).

The producers are hoping that the two actors will continue with the production, but casting is now to be decided by the NYTW, who have yet to announce who will star in the production - but it is belived they are in negotiations with Kazee and Milioti.

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 Hansard and Irglová.

Once is a modern day musical set on the streets of Dublin about a street musician and a Czech immigrant. During an eventful week the two meet, begin writing songs together, rehearse and record their songs to take to London in hopes of landing a music contract. Through the music they write, the duo works through their past loves, and are confronted with their new feelings for each other.

Once writer/director John Carney asked Glen Hansard, his bandmate from the popular Irish Rock band The Frames, to share his busker anecdotes as well as compose songs for a film he was working on about street musicians. When the lead actor withdrew from the project, Glen stepped into the role opposite first time actress Markéta Irglová. The independent Irish film was made for under $150,000, was shot in 17 days, and went on to gross over $10,000,000, becoming a critically acclaimed international smash.

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. The duo has been on a highly successful worldwide tour performing music from the platinum selling film soundtrack.

New York Theatre Workshop's 2011/12 season will present in the following season order:
Casting announcements and specific dates for each production will be forthcoming.

The Select—The Sun Also Rises
created by Elevator Repair Service, based on the novel by Ernest Hemingway
Directed by John Collins
Cast: tba.
Venue: New York Theatre Workshop
Date: tba.

The 2011-2012 Season begins with ERSElevator Repair Service's final chapter in their trilogy of classic American literature. The Select—The Sun Also Rises presents a fresh take on Ernest Hemingway's tale of young ex-patriots living in Europe after World War I as journalist Jake Barnes, his former lover Lady Brett Ashley, and the writer Robert Cohn cope with post-war realities and enter the "age of anxiety."

Last fall Elevator Repair Service (ERS) received critical acclaim for their production of 'Gatz,' based on F. Scott Fitzgeralds's 'The Great Gatsby,'?which played at the Public Theaer, and for their interpretation of 'The Sound and the Fury' when it debuted at NYTW in 2008.

Once
Book by Enda Walsh
Music & Lyrics by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová
Director: John Tiffany
Cast: tba Venue: New York Theatre Workshop
Dates: tba

The creators of the acclaimed 'Black Watch,' director John Tiffany and choreographer Steven Hoggett, join forces with playwright/screenwriter Enda Walsh ('Penelope,' 'Hunger,' 'The Walworth Farce') to bring the independent film Once, winner of a 2007 Academy Award for the hit song "Falling Slowly," to the stage.

On the streets of Dublin, an Irish musician and a Czech immigrant are drawn together by their shared love of music. Over the course of one fateful week, an unexpected friendship and collaboration quickly evolves into a powerful but complicated love story.

Once will feature sets and costumes by Tony Award-winning designer Bob Crowley (The History Boys, Mary Poppins), lighting by Tony Award-winner Natasha Katz (Aida, The Coast of Utopia), and musical direction by Martin Lowe (Mamma Mia!).

Food and Fadwa
by Lameece Issaq, conceived and developed with Jacob Kader
Director: Shana Gold
Cast: tba Venue: New York Theatre Workshop
Dates: tba

Meet Fadwa Faranesh, an unmarried, 30-something, Palestinian woman known for her delectable cooking and deep-seated sense of duty to her siblings and aging father. Despite the constraints of a curfew imposed on the community of East Bethlehem in 2002, our kitchen maven insists on continuing the preparations for the wedding of her younger sister.

Written by Lameece Issaq, directed by Shana Gold, and conceived and developed with Jacob Kader, this new play melds the fight a Palestinian family wages to hold onto its traditional culture with its need to celebrate love, joy and hope. NYTW teams up with company-in-residence Noor Theatre.

An Iliad
by Lisa Peterson and Denis O'Hare, adapted from The Iliad by Homer. Translated by Robert Fagles
Director: Lisa Peterson
Cast: Denis O'Hare and Stephen Spinella Venue: New York Theatre Workshop
Dates: tba

Creators Lisa Peterson's and Denis O'Hare's An Iliad is based on Homer's epic poem. An Iliad spins the tale of gods and goddesses, undying love, and endless battles, and asks, 'Has anything really changed since the Trojan War?'. Tony Award-winning actors Denis O'Hare (Assassins, Take Me Out) and Stephen Spinella (Angels in America) alternate in the production.