Previews begin Sept. 30 for the new musical with an official opening set for Oct. 8. Dorian will play through Oct. 31.

The role of Henry Lord will be played by Kevin Bailey, who recently played Scar in The Lion King on Broadway and in Los Angeles. He also starred opposite Bernadette Peters in Annie Get Your Gun .

  Also in the cast will be Armelia McQueen, Nikki Renee Daniels, Todd Hunter, Michelle Blakely, Adam Simmons, Dana Meller and Paul Denniston. 

James J. Mellon will direct.

Dorian the Musical features a book by Mellon and Duane Poole and a score by Mellon and Scott DeTurk. According to the show's official website, this modern-day adaptation of the classic Oscar Wilde novel, "The Picture of Dorian Gray," concerns "one man's tragic wish to remain untouched by time, unchanged by life." Dorian the Musical was originally presented as a staged reading in Los Angeles in 1999. Other presentations include a more fully realized production at the John Bradley Theatre of the Los Angeles Theatre Center (fall 1999), a staged reading at the Lambs Theatre in Manhattan (spring 2001), a full production at the Denver Center for the Performing Art's Buell Theatre (fall 2002) and a workshop of a revised version of the musical at the Ford Center in New York (spring 2003).

Max von Essen recently appeared Off-Broadway in Finian's Rainbow and in the York Theatre's all-star benefit concert of Children of Eden. On Broadway the actor has been seen in Dance of the Vampires, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Misérables; his Off-Broadway credits include The Fantasticks and John & Paul. Von Essen's regional credits are numerous and include My Fair Lady, Hair, Blood Brothers and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the NoHo Arts Center's box office at (818) 508-7101. For more information visit www.dorianthemusical.com.