The last time New York encountered a stage version of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel, "Chronicle of a Death Foretold," it was through a critically respected but commercially disappointing Broadway dance musical by Graciela Daniele and Bob Telson. Now Off-Broadway theatergoers will get to see a non-musical adaptation, in Spanish, courtesy of Repertorio Espanol. (As with nearly all Spanish Repertory shows, English translation is available via headset.)

Colombian director Jorge Ali Triana conceived and directed the staging of Cronica de Una Muerte Anunciada started previews May 1 and officially opens May 6 at the East 27th Street Theater. Marquez's story tells of a young man seemingly predestined to die violently, owing to false accusations and errors in the judgments of small-minded townfolk.

A Nobel Prize-winning novelist, Marquez's books include "100 Years of Solitude," "Love in the Time of Cholera" and "La Candida Erendida," which Triana adapted and directed for Repertorio Espanol back in 1992.

Performers cast in Spanish Rep's mounting of Cronica range from various Latin American countries, including Chile, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Colombia, Salvador and Argentina.

For tickets ($20-$30) and information on Cronica de Una Muerte Anunciado at Repertorio Espanol at least through June, call (212) 889 2850. -- By David Lefkowitz