Veteran skankers and the merely curious should get themselves down to the Biltmore Cabaret on a Monday night. Open rehearsals for a theatre project called The Evolution of Ska: A Musical Travelogue from Jamaica to the U.K. to North America began at the Main area nightspot on June 9, and will continue every Monday for the next six months. Producers Patrick Watson and Dan Cowan hope to develop what they describe as a “two-set, musical and dance production” that traces the development and migration of ska, rocksteady, dancehall, and reggae.

Apparently, the open-rehearsal concept isn’t a new one. “They do stuff like this in New York, off-Broadway,” Cowan told the Straight, “where they’ll be holding auditions and rehearsals, and you can pay a couple of bucks to come in and watch it. Industry people do it.”

The core band for the project currently includes Watson, of local reggae act Natural Flavas, and Roots Roundup’s Greg Hathaway. “What I’ve found out is that the band has been getting together on their own,” Cowan laughed. “I had to remind them that I am promoting this as a rehearsal.” Starting time is 9 p.m., and tickets are $3.