Insomnia, a new musical comedy in which a gay screenwriter tosses and turns with his own nocturnal demons, gets a public reading as part of the York Theatre Company's developmental reading series, 7:30 PM Nov. 18.

"It's an odyssey," director Donald Brenner said of composer-lyricist-librettist Charles Bloom's show, billed as "a kaleidoscopic journey towards love, family and the dawn of self-discovery."

"It mixes up genres," Brenner explained."It goes from romantic comedy to a nightmare to morality play, all in one. The music strikes me as a cross between Falsettos and Company. It's very accessible but very sophisticated."

Jeffrey Biering is musical director. The cast includes Eddie Korbich (Seussical, Carousel) as the screenwriter, and Patricia Ben Peterson (Company, Guys and Dolls, Sweet Charity), Pierce Cravens (Tom Sawyer, Ragtime, Beauty and the Beast), Eric Michael Gillett (Sweet Smell of Success, Kiss Me Kate), Marc Goldhaber (School House Rock Live!), Marta Sanders (Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), and Jerry Tellier (42nd Street, Smokey Joe’s Café) playing friends, boyfriends, parents and others in the main character's life and fantasies.

The York Theatre presents at The Theatre at St. Peter's in the Citicorp Center, 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street. For reservations, call (212) 935-5824. — By Kenneth Jones