This is the first full reading of the new musical. Sherman's amiable comedy — about a Jewish daughter who hires a gentile actor to play her perfect Jewish beau to impress her folks — was a sensation in Chicago (where it premiered), and made a splash regionally and Off-Broadway. It spawned a sequel, Jest a Second! Sherman is penning book and lyrics for the musical version. Composer Brad Ross is perhaps best known as composer of the musical, Little by Little. He also wrote the aborning musical, Luck, a collaboration with Mark Waldrop, based on a story by Isaac Bashevis Singer.

The Beau Jest reading cast includes Neva Small (of the movie "Fiddler on the Roof"), Larry Block, Stephen Berger (Into the Woods, The Dinner Party), Chad Kimball (Into The Woods), Farah Alvin (Kuni-Leml, The Look of Love) and Neal Young (I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change).

As previously reported on Playbill On-Line, Beau Jest: The Musical will have its world premiere staging at the Hollywood Playhouse in Hollywood, FL, Dec. 31-Feb. 8, 2004, in a co-production with Mane Stage Productions. The commercial producer is Alan Jacobson.