Connick told Playbill.com columnist Harry Haun on Nov. 23, 2005, that the show is "about a guy who was raised with no social surroundings, kind of in the middle of a forest, but he happens to be the greatest mind that ever lived. He's a great inventor. He's invented everything from an airplane to the piano to the telephone. Anything that you can imagine he has invented. He is just unaware that everything has already been invented. So he's kind of the ultimate loser in that way. He's just a little bit too late."

  Connick said the idea was his own and that the show might be called Ben Invention.

Connick added, speaking of the theatre, "This feels very comfortable to me, being here. I've always loved the talent and creativity of people who live and work on Broadway. I want to be around that more."

Connick first mentioned his willingness to pen another show in May 2002, shortly after Thou Shalt Not received two Tony Award nominations, one of them for Best Score. The show opened Oct. 25, 2001, to a poor critical reception and ran for only 33 previews and 85 performances. Susan Stroman directed and choreographed.

"I thought everybody worked as hard as they could," he said at the time. "I know I did, and I learned a lot. For selfish reasons, I'm really happy I did it because I thought it was a great opportunity." Connick plays Sid Sorokin in the Kathleen Marshall-directed revival of The Pajama Game. It's his first acting assignment on Broadway.