A new musical by Columbia College Chicago Theatre Department teacher Peter Gwinn (Emmy Award-winning writer for The Colbert Report) and Columbia College Musical Theatre Program alumnus Jody Shelton (co-author of the off-Broadway hit 50 Shades! The Musical) will have its world premiere at Chicago’s Chopin Theatre on Tuesday, October 6. Titled The Story of a Story (The Untold Story), the show is presented by the Underscore Theatre Company. Columbia College Musical Theatre Program alumnus Jon Martinez is associate director.

With book and lyrics by Gwinn and music by Shelton, The Story of a Story (The Untold Story) is a musical comedy about a writer and artist who must prevent an invasion of our world by a magical land of cliches. Journeying through the magical dimension, assisted by a band of rebel cliches who dream of becoming three-dimensional characters, they must defeat the land’s evil tyrant before becoming cliches themselves.

Gwinn, one of the original writers for The Colbert Report, is a founding member of Baby Wants Candy, a comedy troupe that creates fully improvised hour-long musicals. Shelton, a former musical director for the Second City National Touring Company, performed with Baby Wants Candy for 15 years in addition to co-writing 50 Shades! The Musical, which had an extended run at the Elektra Theatre in New York and can currently be seen at Bally’s in Las Vegas.

The Story of a Story (The Untold Story) begins previews October 3 at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division, Chicago. The show opens October 6 for a run through November 8. For tickets, click here or call 312-646-0975.