By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

A local playwright and musician is gearing up for a crack at “the Great White Way,” Broadway.

Peter Baron, from Hooksett, wrote a musical, “Boomers: Promises Made Not Kept,” years ago.

In the early part of this decade, the play ran a handful of times throughout New Hampshire. Baron said he was still gratified by the work but set it to rest to work on another musical, “Brother’s Keeper.”

But Baron recently got some good news after “Boomers” landed in the hands of a Florida-based investment group that agreed to fund a trip for the play to New York City, and Broadway.

The play will first run as a fully orchestrated workshop in Fort Lauderdale in late September, before being presented to potential investors at a workshop to Broadway investors. If investors are interested, “Boomers” could make a regional run, followed potentially by a run on America’s most prestigious theater corridor.

Baron said his heart is with his work, however, not with the critical uglier side of production.

“I don’t want to ask for money,” he said. “What I want to do is write music.”

Baron, who first picked up a guitar at age 12, first fell into penning plays when he was with the Bronin Hogman Band, a successful East Coast touring rock band in the 1970s.

Baron authored a song called “No More Football (for Me, Dad),” which eventually became one of the standouts of “Boomers.” Baron said pieces of “Boomers” emanated from the song, which was simply intended to be a stand-alone musical number when it was written.

The song focuses on a young football star who takes a stand against his father’s wishes by opting for a life in music rather than football.

The young man, Will, grew into the protagonist of “Boomers,” which spans three decades that shaped the Baby Boomer generation.

Baron’s play incorporates cultural and political events like Woodstock, Vietnam, the Kent State University shootings, the death of Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy, and reflects them through Will, whose personal struggles through three decades personify the struggles of his generation.

“I’ve taken history and the personal psyche of the Baby Boomers and combined them,” said Baron. “The whole thing is an emotional rollercoaster of a life of a Baby Boomer.”

Baron said it’s atypical for one person to write the music, the lyrics and the story of a play, but said he was lucky enough to do all three for “Boomers,” inspiration for which often dragged him out of bed at 3 a.m.

“Music is my life,” he said. “If you’re thinking of writing a musical, don’t do it. If you have to write a musical, that’s another thing.”

Baron said he’s grateful for the support he’s gotten from the theater community and fans in New Hampshire over the past years. He said he’s especially thankful to Actorsingers in Nashua, which produced an incarnation of “Boomers” that took home the 2004 New Hampshire Theatre award for Best Community Play.

“They believed in ‘Boomers’ enough to take a chance on me,’” Baron said.

Baron said he’s hoping to have his home state represented when the play runs in Fort Lauderdale.

“Boomers” calls for a string symphony and a 15-member chorus. The play also demands a rock band, which Baron said he hopes to form locally, and soon.

For more information on Baron or his work, visit www.boomersthemusical.com.