The production is written and performed by Steven Fales and directed by Tony Award-winner Jack Hofsiss. Fales is a sixth-generation Mormon who served as a Mormon missionary and was an Eagle Scout. In his autobiographical play, he tells the story of his failed attempt to overcome his same-sex attraction through "reparative therapy," which resulted in his divorce and excommunication from the Mormon church.

Official opening is Aug. 7 at Off-Broadway's Acorn in the Theatre Row complex, 410 W. 42nd Street at Ninth Avenue.

In press notes, the 33-year-old playwright-actor cites the popular Mormon entertainment icons, The Osmonds: "While growing up, most boys my age wanted to be Donny and marry Marie, I wanted to marry Donny and be Marie!"

The controversial X'd: Confessions of a Mormon Boy first premiered in Salt Lake City in November 2001, and sold out. To Fales' surprise, no one in the Mormon capitol protested the play.

The work went on to play highly successful engagements in San Francisco, Las Vegas and at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami. X'd: Confessions of a Mormon Boy "illuminates the dilemma of those struggling to reconcile their dreams of becoming straight with the realities of being gay and what it costs to accept or deny that truth, especially when children are involved."

Shortly after coming out as a gay man, "Fales left his home, wife and two children in Utah and moved to New York City where he hoped to be able to come to terms with the pain, anger and confusion of his situation."

In New York, Fales "discovered a dark part of the gay world, which led him to becoming a male escort-for-hire during a tumultuous period he calls his 'gay adolescence.'"

X'd: Confessions of a Mormon Boy explores what it took for him to leave prostitution, re-establish a life of integrity and "reclaim his 'Donny Osmond' smile."

Fales's theatre credits include work at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and his television appearances include "Touched by an Angel," "Miracles and Other Wonders" and several commercials. He has collaborated on a musical, The Order, based on early Mormon pioneer communal living in 1880s Utah, and he is working on a new musical based on the legend of Atlantis.

Director Jack Hofsiss has several Broadway and Off Broadway credits including The Elephant Man, for which he received a Tony Award.

Scenic design for X'd: Confessions of a Mormon Boy is by David Jenkins, with costume design by Ellis Tillman and lighting design by Ken Billington. X'd: Confessions of a Mormon Boy is being presented at the Acorn Theatre by Leonard Soloway and Steven M. Levy.

For tickets, call (212) 239-6200. For more information, visit www.MormonBoy.com.