La Gran Scena, those gentlemen opera divas, are back in New York City. This time their program will be Murder Most Melodius (Operatic Murders, Attempted Murders, and Scenes that are just Murder to sing) at New York City's Town Hall May 13 and 14.

The regular crew of high strung soprano and tenor comedians are singing the murders and murdering the singing. Among them, the self-proclaimed "defective Russian" and top diva Vera Galupe-Borszkh (Ira Stiff), Philene Wannelle (Philip Koch) Kavatina Turner (Kyle Church Cheseborough), Alfredo Costa-Plenti (Conrad Ekkens) and ancient diva Gabrillea Tonnoziti-Casseruola (Keith Jurosko). James Heatherly (When Pigs Fly, Nunsense A-Men) makes a special appearance as the Beverly Sills esque narrator, Miss Sylvia Bills.

Performing since 1981 when artistic director and head diva Stiff created the company, La Gran Scena has appeared across the country and around the world (stops have included Venice, Zurich, Edinburgh, Rio de Janeiro, Barcelona and London). The group made their Lincoln Center debut in June, 1998 in a sold-out recital at Alice Tully Hall.

Tickets are $45-$25. Town Hall is located at 123 West 43rd Street. For tickets, call (212) 840-2824. La Gran Scena is on the web at http://www.granscena.org.

-- By Christine Ehren