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The quiet in the old industrial neighborhood belies the activity inside the West End Studio Theatre on Islington Street in Portsmouth. Actors sit in clusters discussing scenes. The assistant director and stage manager reposition the stage furniture. An actress arrives breathless, having spent a bit too long getting her character Gertrude’s coiffure just right. The lead actor is notably absent, on the other side of the country dealing with a family tragedy.

So, I asked the director, Genevieve Aichele, after our interview, "do you feel ready?" She laughed, charmingly — no. But there was no real worry in her voice because, as she put it, that is usually just how a director feels a week before opening. The cast and crew will rehearse every day until the big day and there will no doubt be surprises on opening night, but that is life in theater. It’s often more about the process than the final product.

MULTIMEDIA Slideshow:  Creative chaos: The countdown to Mitty’s opening night

The performance in question is a New Hampshire Theatre Project (NHTP, www.nhtheatreproject.org) production of "Mitty!" a musical by local playwright Becky Shepard. It’s a new take on an old subject. Remember the short story you had to read in high school? It was "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," by James Thurber, in which the meek title character deals with his humdrum life and henpecking wife by indulging in wild adventure fantasies in which he is the hero and savior. Or maybe you’ve seen the 1947 film classic of the same title starring Danny Kaye? Ever heard of Snoopy? The character of Walter Mitty has become such a mainstay in our cultural repertoire that his name has become at different times an adjective and an insult, been referenced in pop songs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Mitty) and will receive a second cinematic tribute in 2009 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0359950/). Leading names being tossed around this time include Owen Wilson and Jim Carrey.

Writer Becky Shepard has chosen to focus less on Mitty’s fantasy life and instead to examine the reality that drives him to dream in such a way. There are dogs, children, a wife and household needs — pressing demands we all relate to. And, in her play, the dreams are embodied by "fantasizers," played by humans (easier to cast certainly). The music drives the story and director Aichele’s use of color will bring Mitty’s reality and the dream closer to a peaceful coexistence in the culminating scene.

According to Aichele, the process of putting on a production for the first time, with a flexible, cooperative playwright on scene (Shepard attended each rehearsal), is exciting in the first degree. Although the subject has been examined many times, this is a fresh look — with fresh (and local) faces.

The company will spend the last week of rehearsals working on movement with the help of choreographer Christine Simes and Blair Hundertmark (a producing director at NHTP). The musicians will polish their parts, costumes will come together and Walter Mitty’s reality and fantasy both will again come alive.

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