It's a great day in the world of WANZIE PRESENTS.

We can now officially announce that we have secured the rights to produce [title of show]; that is the title of the show - [title of show] - all lower case letters, brackets inclusive.

Those subscribers who are entrenched in the Theatre Scene know what a fabulously original, smart, and clever musical this is, and I'm sure you can appreciate how genuinely excited Kenny and I are to have the opportunity to present this contemporary musical, so soon after its Broadway run, for our Orlando audiences at the Footlight Theatre.

Hunter Bell (Book) was working at his day job - packing boxes - in New York City when he received an email from his friend Jeff Bowen (Music & Lyrics) telling him of a new musical theater festival that was accepting submissions of new works. With three weeks until the submission deadline, Hunter and Jeff vowed to write and create non-stop for three weeks. and (just as it is represented in the opening phone call scene in [title of show]) no matter what they had, they would put that in an envelope and submit it. So that's what they did. They just began to write. Very early on they found that what made them think and laugh and write the most was writing about writing. So they kept on writing...and writing...and writing. Eventually they roped in real-life friends and fag hags Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff to help develop the material and join the cast in which the two lead characters were already Jeff and Hunter playing themselves. Susan and Heidi naturally became central characters in this play about writing a play because they were there while the play was being written. And when the submission deadline day arrived, they submitted what they had.

What they didn't have was a title for their show about writing a show.

The first blank on the submission form followed the words - [title of show]. And thus, that became the title of their show.

[title of show] was accepted into the New York Theater Festival's inaugural season, where commercial producer Kevin (Rent, Avenue Q, In The Heights) McCollum took an interest and guided the show through its eventual Broadway run at the historic Lyceum Theatre.

Amid a season of overblown, over-produced Broadway spectacles derived mostly from movies and cartoons, the completely original [title of show] hit Broadway with a mere cast of four plus one onstage pianist. The set consisted of one piano and four chairs. This little-show-that-could struck a common chord with writers, actors, composers, and musicians all over the country. It achieved cult status among creative people from Peoria to Orlando, and it reminded high tech Broadway that good theater can be about so much less than monolithic sets, architectural costumes, stairways to the heavens, and falling chandeliers.

When asked what [title of show] is about, Hunter Bell is delighted to quip, "It's about 90 minutes without an intermission!." Then he quickly adds, "Actually the answer we always gave to this question in interviews and for sound bites and blurbs when the show was being done on Broadway was that [title of show] is an original musical that chronicles its own journey from inception to opening night on Broadway." Bell then goes on to clarify, "That's the plot answer, but at its heart, this show is about four friends. It's about how friendships are tested and changed when life happens, when new opportunities are revealed. It's about not being afraid to dream out loud and killing Vampires. It's about risk, and learning to be true to yourself and to your friends...your chosen family. And it's about ninety minutes, too."

I am delighted to be the hands-on producer of the Central Florida Premiere of [title of show], and equally delighted to announce the show will be directed by one of its biggest fans, Kenny Howard, and that the musical director will be John B. deHaas. I will also stage the musical numbers.

Kenny Howard first saw [title of show] on Broadway during its first preview performance on July 5, 2008. He so loved the show he returned to see it two more times. He so enthusiastically endorsed the show that many of our mutual friends such as Rebecca Fisher, Monique Byrnes, John Sullivan, and David Lee went to see it, and all came home to Orlando just as fired up about it as was Kenny.

Kenny will leave Orlando in June to spend much of the summer in New York City directing an evening of short plays to be presented at the International CringeFest in late July and early August. So before he goes away, we are going to cast [title of show] here in Orlando, with auditions slated for Monday, May 10, at 6:30 PM in the Footlight Theatre at the Parliament House.

The show will not go into formal rehearsals until the end of the summer, but while Kenny is in New York, the Orlando cast members can become completely familiar with the script and score.

[title of show] will open on Saturday night, October 2, 2010, at 7:30 PM in the Footlight Theatre.

Kenny and John and I are thrilled about it.

We hope you will be thrilled, as well.