Produced by James A. Blackman III and the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities, the reading features the talents of Millicent Martin, Brad Blaisdell, Sam Zeller, Misty Cotton and Jennifer Malenke. The company also includes Brandon Michael Perkins, Kevin Symons, Monica Smith, Carly Nyjanen and Benjamin Perez. Twice Upon a Time features a book by Ray Cooney, lyrics by Mary Stewart-David and music by Chris Walker. Cooney also directs the reading with musical direction by Dennis Castellano.
A full production of Twice Upon a Time will kick off the Civic Light Opera's 16th season. Performances at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center will begin in February 2008.
The musical, which is being billed as London and Broadway-bound, concerns "an attorney who goes to a hypnotist in order to stop smoking. But while there, he is accidentally regressed into his past life where he was a member of a Chicago mob with all of his bad habits intact including a fear of guns, blood and violence. This comedy swings hilariously back and forth between the 1920's and today, as this attorney tries to separate who he is from who he was."