Bring [title of show] to SF!

There’s nothing more fun than an underdog musical.

[title of show] is just such a musical. It’s essentially a small (five-people, counting the keyboardist) musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical. It’s all very “meta” as the kids say. As creators Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell describe it, it’s “the show that eats its own tail.”

Well, word on the street is that producer Kevin McCollum (an original producer of the show along with Laura Camien and Vineyard Theatre) wants to take it to Broadway, which is a dreamy notion for a small musical that revels in all things musical theater (one song is all about flop musicals and mentions shows even I’ve never heard of, and I’m a certified show qu…er…enthusiast).

But how do you sell a show that’s essentially two guys (Bowen and Bell), two fabulous women (Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff) and a piano player (Larry Pressgrove), a few chairs and some really clever, funny, tuneful songs?

The answer seems to be, you sell it virally. The [title of show] crew has created a fantastic Web site, www.titleofshow.com, where they host, among other things, fabulous Webisodes, called “The [title of show] Show,” and podcasts, called [tos]casts and a blog called [blog].

If you watch the Webisodes, and I highly encourage it because they are well produced and funny (and full of inside jokes for Broadway people who know who Michael Berresse, the show’s original director and now star of the Chorus Line revival, or Barrett Foa, of Avenue Q, are), you’ll discover that Bowen and Bell want to take their show out of town for a tryout.

And though they’re cagey about where they’re taking it, one of the episodes mentions two cities by name: Chicago and SAN FRANCISCO.

So here’s what you need to do: go watch the videos and listen to the podcasts (and check out Bowen’s amazing musical theater-related crossword puzzles). Then send the boys a message that you want their show to come to San Francisco. Forward the Webisod URLs to your friends and post them in your Broadway chatrooms. Let’s get this viral thing working toward getting [title of show] to San Francisco for its pre-Broadway run.

Here’s the first episode to get you going:

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