The Hub Theater Presents HOW I PAID FOR COLLEGE, Now thru 12/30

How I Paid For College, based on Marc Acito's award-winning novel, will be presented as a world premiere tour-de-force monologue with songs, or a "monologsical," by Broadway actor Alex Brightman (Wicked, Glory Days). Directed by Helen Pafumi, the play tells the hilarious yet heartwarming tale of a talented but irresponsible teen actor who schemes to steal his tuition money when his wealthy father refuses to pay for acting school.

Seventeen-year-old Edward Zanni, a feckless Ferris Bueller type, is Peter-Panning his way through life with his screwball theater friends. When his businessman father remarries and pulls the plug on Edward's dreams, the aspiring thespian turns to a life of disorganized crime.

The creative team includes Carla Gerdes and Michael Gerdes as musical directors, Kristen Morgan as scenic designer, Jimmy Lawlor as lighting designer, Matthew Nielson as sound designer, Maria Vetsch as costume designer, and Rebecca Griffith as stage manager.

Performances from tonight, December 7 through December 30 are at The John Swayze Theatre at the New School of Northern Virginia in Fairfax. Performances are at 8PM on Fridays, 2PM and 8PM on Saturdays, and 2PM and 7PM on Sundays. Tickets range from $25-$35 and can be purchased by visiting www.boxofficetickets.com or calling 703-674-3177. The run time is approximately 75 minutes with no intermission. For more information, visit www.thehubtheatre.org.

Playwright Marc Acito returns to the Hub to adapt his popular novel fresh from winning the 2012 Charles McArthur Award for Outstanding New Play for his comedy Birds of a Feather, which had its world premiere at The Hub last season. Acito is also the co-book writer of the Broadway-bound musical Allegiance, starring Tony winner Lea Salonga and Star Trek legend George Takei, as well as the book writer of a musical adaptation of E. M. Forster's A Room with a View, both at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.

Published in 2004, Acito's novel How I Paid for College won the Ken Kesey Award for Fiction and was hailed as a New York Times "Editors' Choice." Translated into five languages the author can't read, it paved the way for High School Musical and Glee, both of which are similar enough to be annoying to the author without being legally actionable. Inspired by his own misspent youth, Acito describes the story as "just true enough to be embarrassing to my family."

At its heart, How I Paid for College is about how far you are willing to go to make a dream come true. It's a story for anyone who's ever had a dream...and a scheme. For ages 13 and up.

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy