Once Upon a Rhyme

5m, 4f. Ensemble of 5+

The hip hop coming-of-age musical has arrived, and it's a journey of swagger, survival, and the search for self. Jaw-dropping dance breaks. An infectious score that fuses hip-hop, soul, R&B, gospel and classic Broadway. A story of a man's search for identity, acceptance from community, and a truly authentic voice. It's ballet. It's rap.

Prince Harper is nerdy, charming, and an exceptional ballet dancer. Prince also has what it takes to become the next hip hop icon. In an attempt to gain a coveted record deal, he creates a gangster rapper alter-ego, loses himself, and quickly spirals out of control. Will his new alter ego lead to his demise? Or will Prince realize that his authentic self is enough?

For performance licensing, please visit UproarTheatrics.com

Ronvé O'Daniel is a proud alumni and Assistant Professor at Wright State University in Dayton, OH. He is an award winning songwriter, playwright, actor, director, hip-hop recording artist whose work has been produced Off-Broadway, as well as TheatreWorksSilicon Valley New Works Festival, Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference, Johnny Mercer Writers Colony Residency at Goodspeed Theater, NYU-Tisch School forthe Arts, and many other theaters around the country.Recently, Ronvé wrote original music and lyrics for the Off-Broadway production ofCharles Randolph-Wright's Duke & Roya, starring Jay Ellis and directed by WarrenAdams. He is also collaborating with concert composer Gilad Cohen on Here We Stand, a classical/hip-hop fusion piece featuring two rappers/singers and a large ensemble thatis inspired by singer/activist Paul Robeson. In addition, he is working with longtime collaborators Jevares Myrick and J Kyle Manzay on Greenwood: The Black Wallstreet Musical, an original piece based on the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, which is being developed in partnership with Bristol Riverside Theatre in Bristol, PA. Ronvé is the recipient of Eugene O'Neill National Music Theater Conference's GeorgiaBogardus Holof Lyricist Award - given to only one lyricist every summer who exemplifies a promising career in musical theater writing. He has collaborated with Tony nominated and Drama Desk winner director Tina Landau on The Big Mix: a three weekcelebration of Juneteenth and LGBTQXIA+ Pride. He has also had the honor of working with Tony Nominated Actor/Poet/Lyricist Daniel J. Watts on his acclaimed one man show: Only Child. Ronvé's albums include: Motivation Music (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal) and He SpeaksSo Well (available on Bandcamp). He is also a co-writer for the children's hip hop song series Uncle Apple (21.1K monthly listeners on Spotify).His composer/lyricist works include: Superhero (Off-Broadway Composer/SoundDesigner), The Earth Remembers (Virginia Stage Company), What's Going On - Songs of Change (92NY Lyrics & Lyricists Series), Once Upon a Rhyme (NYU Tisch, UproarTheatrics), The Hippest Wizard of OZ, Beautiful Hair (City Springs Theatre Company, Uproar Theatrics), Letters to the President, The Earth Remembers (Virginia PublicWorks), The New Girl (Concord Theatricals).As an educator, Ronvé has held residencies and taught masterclasses on songwriting, musical theatre performance and hip-hop performance for various organizations and institutions including Wright State University, Ramapo College of New Jersey, andAuburn University.You can keep up with him at ronveodaniel.com.

Jevares Myrick is a New York-based producer, composer, singer, actor, dancer, and choreographer. Raised in Marietta, GA, he is an alumnus of the Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts (Pebblebrook High School), and attended Wright State University on a full scholarship for vocal performance. BROADWAY CREDITS: The Book of Mormon (swing, understudy, and dance captain) NATIONAL TOUR CREDITS: The Book of Mormon Latter Day Tour (1st national) and the Jumamosi Tour (2nd national) as a swing, understudy, and dance captain. REGIONAL THEATRE CREDITS: Smokey Joe's Café, All Night Strut, Hairspray, Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, Ragtime, Sweet Charity, Ain't Misbehavin', Sophisticated Ladies, and many more. TELEVISION/FILM CREDITS: The Originals (choreographer, and appeared on 3 episodes). He is a five time Suzi Bass Award Nominee, with 2 wins. Jevares is also an Ovation Award recipient for Best Male Vocalist. He has written and produced multiple shows for Six Flags Amusement parks across the US and has produced and performed in many industrials around the world. Jevares has been featured in BroadwayWorld.com and Playbill.com. He has worked with longtime friend and collaborator Ronvé on an original musical called ILLA! A Hip Hop Musical, which has had three sold out development runs in Toledo, Atlanta and New York, and was selected to be part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival for two consecutive years - 2015 and 2016. They are the recipients of NYMF's 2016 SHOW SCORE BEST OF FEST Award as well as NYMF's 2015 DEVELOPMENTAL READING AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE. Not only was iLLA featured on FOX-5, NBC-24, PIX-11, BroadwayWorld.com and Time Out New York for two consecutive years, it was also named one of the TOP 10 MUSICALS NOT TO MISS AT NYMF 2015 by Playbill. Jevares recently collaborated with Ronve & Theatreworks USA to create a song and music video for their series Who Tells Your Story, where we pay tribute to Robert Smalls, a man born into slavery who became a Civil War naval hero and South Carolina congressman. In addition, Jevares and Ronvé were commissioned by City Springs Theatre Company in Atlanta, GA to write a fun and educational short musical film called BEAUTIFUL HAIR.Jevares' work will also be featured by Virginia Stage Company and Virginia Public Works in the new musical The Earth Remembers, an original song-cycle that will serve as both education and a celebration of the unique history of the Hampton Roads, Virginia community. ​Jevares' other works include: Greenwood (Musical Theatre Factory), Letters to the President, BAPS (Music for National Tour), The New Girl, and We Love (NAMT 15-minute musical).

J Kyle Manzay is an acclaimed writer, director, producer and actor J Kyle received his BFA from Howard University, and an MFA at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. J Kyle has received the Obie Award for Outstanding Performance for his performance in Classical Theatre of Harlem's The Blacks: A Clown Show. J Kyle's produced plays include include The Actor's Rap (New York, D.C., & Chicago Hip-Hop Theatre Festivals; Off Broadway starring Vanessa Simons); Hip-Hop Monologues (Off-Broadway starring Jim Jones); For Vixens Who've Considered Homicide When the Video Was Enough (Off Broadway starring Melyssa Ford). He has also written and directed national tour of Two Can Play That Game (starring Vivica Fox & Carl Payne) Set it Off - Live (starring the Da Brat & Leon); Redemption of a Dogg (starring Snoop Dogg & Tamar Braxton); New Jack City - Live (starring Allen Payne & Treach), Super Freak: The Rick James Musical (starring Stokley Williams); and most recently Jason's Lyric Live (starring Allen Payne, Eva Parcell & K Michelle). J Kyle along with Ronve O'Daniel has written the book for Once Upon a Rhyme: A Musical Tale, and Greenwood: the Black Wall Street Musical.