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DC Copeland's award-winning play Once Upon A Time In Harlem: A Jitterbug Romance is now available as an annotated play book. Based on the "radio" reading version, this book is perfect for students and actors because it includes definitions of period slang, historical facts, and a map to help them better understand the times and places of swinging 1930's Harlem. Copeland has made a cued special effects mp3 soundtrack available as a free download with each purchase from the play's website. The book will make a great edition to any college Black Studies program but it will also afford high school teachers an interactive and fun experience for their students by assigning parts and reading the play aloud in the classroom. The book will soon be released in an eBook format which offers a unique use of technology: when tapped, the annotations in the play "open up" automatically on the page that is being read without needing to go to the back of the book.

Once Upon A Time In Harlem: A Jitterbug Romance is available as a screenplay, a three-act full-length play, and a shortened "radio"/reading book.

To learn more about the dramaturgy behind the play, please click the Harlem Dramaturgy Project label below.

The radio reading version was first performed March 30, 2012 at the prestigious National Black Theatre in Harlem and directed by Petronia Paley.