The genesis for "Steve Brosky: The Musical (Living Here in Allentown)" began more than 20 years ago.

"Steve (Brosky) and Mike Krisukas did a piece for 'Counter-Culture Mondays' at Theatre Outlet when it was at the Phoenix Square Building (in Allentown)," recalls George B. Miller, director of "Steve Brosky: The Musical," debuting at 8 p.m. today and Saturday McCoole's Arts & Events Place, Quakertown."I told him that they should think about putting together a two-hour show on the music that Brosky and his compatriots created," says Miller, artistic director for the former Theatre Outlet. Miller and his wife, Kate Scuffle, headed Theatre Outlet 1988-2002, and founded Selkie Theatre in 2005, which they now lead.It was about one year ago, Miller recalls, that Brosky, an Allentown native and Whitehall Township resident, approached him, saying, "Let's give this show idea a chance."A Kickstarter campaign was spearheaded by the Lehigh Valley Blues Network, which is producing the musical, a first in the 25-year history of the nonprofit. The campaign exceeded its goal, raising more than $10,000 in one month, to produce "Steve Brosky: The Musical." Brosky and Miller began meeting about one year ago for about three hours almost every week at the farmhouse where Miller and Scuffle live in South Whitehall Township."He just told me his life story," recalls Miller, a native of Tamaqua.The production"There's 15 songs in the piece. In order to get to those songs, (Brosky) had to have something in his life to relate to those songs."The narrative that you hear is Steve Brosky telling his own story and then he's interrupted by the real-life characters that he's talking about," says Miller.Miller emphasizes that "Steve Brosky: The Musical" is not a revue, one-man musical, nor traditional Broadway musical."This is not a musical as we see in American musical comedy. It's not 'Hello, Dolly' or 'Paint Your Wagon,' where there are big production numbers. This is patterned after 'Woody Guthrie's American Songs,' " says Miller."The narrative takes us from a real person to a re-enactment of some of that person's life and then into how the piece of music you're about to hear was created," Miller explains.Brosky said, "I'm telling straight stories and then George is embellishing the stories with artistic license. There'll be different people playing the Steve character, almost like the Bob Dylan movie ("I'm Not There," 2007). But they'll all have a fedora and a pair of glasses," Brosky says.The storyline includes Brosky's Army service in the Vietnam War, his going to rehab, marriage to his German-born wife, Renate, and being stepfather to daughter, Lillie."Act Two is about being drug-free and sober and making music my vocation. Through musical friendships, the musicians in the Lehigh Valley, and having some writing partners, I established myself in the Lehigh Valley music community," says Brosky who's received 23 Greater Lehigh Valley Music Association awards for songwriting and performing.Songs in the show include "15th Street Blues," "Fisticuffs," "Vietnam Blues," "The Cameo," "Moonlight Lady," "King of the Queen," "The Ballad of John Lennon," "You Mean the World," "Hey Now (Do the Dutch)," "Buck a Man" and "Doin' All Right."Brosky is best-known for "Do the Dutch," written, recorded and released on a vinyl EP in response to Billy Joel's "Allentown" (1982)."It basically became a popular hit and was No. 1 on local radio polls," Brosky says of "Do The Dutch."Creating the musical"Steve Brosky: The Musical" is not the first original piece Miller has created. He wrote and directed "Street People: Ghosts at the End of the Century," which was about homeless people in Allentown, in 1981 at Theatre Outlet.Miller, who's directed theater and performed throughout the Lehigh Valley and in Ireland, where he and Scuffle lived and directed and produced plays 2002-06, was asked what attracted him to the daunting prospect of creating and directing an original musical.Miller said, "In the Lehigh Valley, you can go to any professional or community theater, and you can hear published Broadway musicals. What attracted me to this particular piece is that we are creating a musical about somebody who lives in your town, somebody you know, somebody who's your neighbor. That's what I wanted to do, is bring a musical into our own lives of people we live with."More to comeMiller says he'd like to present "Steve Brosky: The Musical" at additional venues in the Lehigh Valley in 2016 "and then stretch our wings into Philadelphia. There are pending venues that we can't announce. People want to see it."Miller describes "Steve Brosky: The Musical" as part one, saying there's enough material in Brosky's songs and life for another musical."We're already putting together a sequel, tentatively titled 'I Didn't Work at the Steel Company,' and possibly a third part.""Steve Brosky: The Musical (Living Here in Allentown)," 8 p.m. today and Saturday at McCoole's Arts & Events Place, 10 S. Main St., Quakertown. Tickets:

Walt@lvbn.org, 484-695 7588.