How To Make An Off-Broadway Show

As a theatre kid, I love that one of Keith’s goals is to provide opportunities for other talented humans. Opportunity really is everything in this business, and being supported and uplifted by another performer is invaluable. Like look at these wonderful ensemble performers who now are connected to Alex Brightman! Amazing!

I honestly can’t believe Alex hadn’t previously performed off-broadway. He is so, so good and I hope he takes Nico’s words to heart because he is MORE than enough

Nico pulling Alex to the side and telling him "you are enough" had me fully in tears. What a sweet person.

Keith highlighting how expensive it is to run shows like this has made me a lot more active in going to smaller shows in London. Not just the big west end ones. It has paid off. They’re so creative.

Brian's attitude towards his singing was so admirable. I love that he never wanted to give up and really wanted to prove himself. He did great!

"Success isn't really determined by talent. It's determined by opportunities." Wow, I really needed to hear this today, thank you, Keith.
The whole crew did an amazing job❤

Alex, you’re not just IN a successful off broadway show. You imagined it, you wrote it. He should be seriously proud of himself.

I love Hughie’s attitude. He knows that some people will be going to see Keith but isn’t jealous or resentful. He just wants to perform, make music and do it with his friends, knowing that his friend is partly making it possible

As a musical theatre performer and director, Hughie and Keith treating their ensemble as members of the group who they want to allow to shine and helping to enhance their unique talents was so wonderful to see - theatre is always first and foremost a collaborative effort and only comes together through teamwork! I adored this.

is anybody else crying? i have never met these people but i love all of them so much. it’s been such a joy to watch Keith become his truest self, a Broadway Dad, this year. I’m so proud of Alex. I’m so impressed by Hughie. Congratulations to Brian for singing Keith into submission. I’m so excited to see the show streaming and hopefully touring!

I know some people are lukewarm on Lewberger, but you can't say that they didn't bust their collective asses to bring a whole stage show to life. That doesn't seem easy to do.

Brian went fucking hard. Incredible voice. Incredible performance. Very encouraging as someone who loves to sing but isn't naturally musically inclined.

I am SO personally offended by whoever fired Alex from that show. I've said it before I'll say it again that man is a TREASURE and a DELIGHT but he's also so talented and like Keith said, CLEARLY made for the stage. So glad he was able to have this experience, I hope it was incredibly healing ❤

The tears I shed for every one one of the guys in this is insane. Keith’s journey all leading up to becoming a father, Alex’s redemption, Hewies bravery and pride to push through the worst of people, and Brian… omg. I sobbed. The fear of possibly letting your very best friend down when it comes to something everything their life has built up to… speechless.

Such an amazing and rewarding endeavor. Thanks for making this, friends!

I love how diverse not only the cast is but everyone behind the scenes too ❤

The dedication of Brian Whol is so inspirational. He is such a genuine person.

When Alex says "it broke my heart" and involuntarily smiles... I felt that. Not for nothing: this show is awesome and more than worth the time and hard work. 🎉

I genuinely adore Keith, but I want to talk about literally everyone else haha!
Hughie’s determination is inspiring. His extensive lineup of work and projects is wild. His enthusiasm for music is showcased perfectly in this show and was really interesting to observe in this video. A true and well-deserved blessing of a display of talent.
Alex’s story about his experience is heartbreaking. What an incredible mental feat he overcame to jump to success with his grit, passion, and charming personality combined. He deserves everything this world has.
Brain’s performance was astounding. Just from the little clip shown in the video, I immediately fell in love with the character of Flim Flam. The shear amount of authenticity in his performance was entrancing to see and added so much love into his portrayal.
The ensemble just absolutely crushed it. It’s clear how much they truly care about the success of the show, and how much they’re fulfilled by getting to be a part of it. I wish all of them long, successful, and bright careers to come.
Thank you for such a joyful and uplifting video to bring a smile to so many people’s faces who will watch it. I look forward to more content from Lewberger’s passionate and creative minds.

Brian talking about forgetting the words to “if I only had a brain” then hearing how good he is…just too dang precious for this world. So happy he was able to sing for the show! Listening to him sing triumphantly “IM A PENIS!!” As I type, and I’m so happy to get to hear it

when Aria mentioned not really being in the demographics of casting it cut through straight to my heart after nearly giving up theatre for the same reason ❤ i’m so proud of y’all for putting this together

Hughie is such an empathetic educator as the musical director. Really encouraging and heartwarming to see him talking about and actually empowering the cast ❤🎉

Brian was maybe my favorite part of the show. I was ready to laugh but the emotion in his song was so so so unexpected. I was like 'am I really crying?!'
I was not prepared to be so emotional during this show.
Def get tickets for the stream if you haven't seen it. It's so so so so good

this was so emotional, i’m so proud of them and i can’t wait to wait the stream of it, and hopefully see it touring too. incredible!!

I saw their show and it was SO amazing!!! I had the worst day before I went - was supposed to go with my friend who got way too blasted and ended up going alone (something I never do). But then I had the time of my life jamming out, getting hit with a tortilla - such a fun show to watch with straight bops!! They were also so kind during the meet & greet. You could tell everyone who was a part of the production was genuinely happy to be there ❤ now I have a signed wizards of friendship poster framed in my room! Appreciate this insight into seeing how the sausage was made

I met Brian when Lewberger came to UVA to do their super-sold-out show. I saw him running the merch table and I said (basically yelled) "Brian??!!" He was so kind to me and my friend, helped us get merch, gave us his business card(!), and just seemed like a genuinely very sweet guy. We loved his set too! I am so happy to see that he was able to sing his big number :') I could cry

As a musical theater performer, this brought me to tears multiple times. So happy to see every member of the cast living their dreams and can't wait to see the show for myself via livestream. The opening performance was right in saying "they aren't charging you enough!"

I love Nico's positivity! I think it's so much more motivating to have a supportive and positive coach or teacher that shows that they believe in you, rather than someone yelling at you or cutting you altogether.

Brian did a wonderful job. Sincerely. Especially since he didn’t have the experience. Cried for the success of these guys. You can tell how much love went into this show.

This is a lewberger documentary! And the whole things feels so fresh and it feels almost like those 90s to early 2000s sitcom shows with the format of the editing and shots. I love all of iiit!

Everyone’s singing was on point but the solos from Nya Noemi as the Wizard and Brian Wohl as Flim Flam??? Top tier

I'm not even halfway into the video, and I'm just shocked that all this happened at the same time. And that you all as individual members of Lewberger were able to have some semblance of organization for this show, for your personal lives and your personal creative endeavors outside of the show. Y'all have to be wizards to pull off magic like this.

I want a documentary about the cast. They all seem like some amazing and talented people that have interesting stories to tell about the industry, living and moving to NYC, their background in theatre, etc. I hope they all go forward and do amazing things.

It’s just really cool to see how much love, care, and passion was put into this. And how everyone involved lead with such empathy! Lewberger and second try to me really represents whatever the opposite of toxic masculinity is

It feels so embarrassing to admit but I burst into actual tears when the opening number started. For every single person on that stage, this show was a fulfillment of - if not part, all - their dreams in life. And even though I’ve never met any of these people personally, I feel so stupidly proud of the work that was put into making this happen. Their satisfaction and happiness is palpable and is tangible proof that you too can make your dreams come true. Amazing.

This documentary and the actual cuts from their show did in fact convince me to buy a ticket for the stream that I didn’t know about until now. Literally such beautiful vocals and fun bits with character growth in the actors/ensemble/production crew and their characters/roles

23:50 hughie wearing his star on his shirt broke me, just a bit. i don't keep my star of david visible like that. not ever. it's a safety thing; you don't walk around with sign around your neck asking people to hate you on sight. mine is always under my shirt. except when i want to make a point. when i want to say, i am here and i am jewish, and there is absolutely nothing you can do to scare me into giving that up. nazis can go fuck themselves. and since this is youtube and i know someone will for sure say something, this is not about current events and just for the record, i am proudly an anti-zionist jew.

This documentary was so well put together, good on whoever edited and was there to film all of these BTS

Becky, Hughie, Alex and especially Keith are all legends!! We love you guys ❤

Alex did such an amazing job. He's so damn talented. They all are. I wish I'd been able to see that performance. Brian also did so well.

I travelled from the UK to see both the concert and the show ( went during that time to see lewberger but did other things while in nyc of course). I actually saw the concert on my birthday and did meet and greets both days. Never felt more confident in a choice. The guys are all SO nice and I couldn’t have had a better birthday honestly ❤️ they did incredibly

Hot take, also: Brian did just as well if not better than Russell Crowe in Les Mis

One of my fondest memories of my twenties will always be seeing The Wizard of Friendship with my friends in New York. I felt more pure joy during the show than I had in a very long time. Thank you for this amazing production!

Honestly is to cool that Keith and the gang were able to do this. It's a HUGE achievement!

I’m not crying you’re crying. As someone who has had some not so great bosses in a creative field it is amazing knowing there are leaders like you all who just want the best for whoever works for you. This brings back some faith in the world.

v proud of my dear friend Nat for being in this production as Stage Manager. all professions in theatre deserve SO much respect. you guys rock ❤

The "You are enough" from Nico to Alex made me cry so hard

This was great editing and a great episode! It had a true doc feel. By the end I felt like I knew everyone featured in the video and had a much deeper appreciation for each and every role. Excited for October 26th!

I am so touched by Brian's journey and he did an INCREDIBLE job singing.

Brian actually has a really nice voice and killed it in this performance! I think with a little more training, he could be honestly considered a true vocalist in Keith's sense of the word.

Oof. This really hit me as someone who loves musical theatre and always wanted to be in a musical but was sort of "medium talented." Got kicked out of my college dance minor because I wasn't flexible enough, and I have a decent singing voice but it's never been "solo quality," which took a long time to admit and accept. Seeing these folks stories was weirdly cathartic for me. ❤

What a privilege to see Keith, Alex and Hughie doing what they love!

It’s really cool to see how Keith has developed as a person since his early days. It’s super admirable to see how much work they’ve put into something that clearly means so much to them.

Not me sobbing through the entire thing
It's so beautiful to see talented passionate people realize their dreams ❤

For someone who can't sing Brian was SO GOOD at song 33:31 they sound AMAZING I'm so glad they choose to challenge themselves because 🤩

God. As a theatre kid this is such an emotional thing for me on so many levels. It’s just 41 minutes of pure joy and I love it but also I’m gonna cry for the next few hours thanks

Alex's speech at the end is making me tear up 🥹 I'm so glad they got to have this experience, everyone involved truly is so talented. Congrats to Lewberger and cast for such a feat!!

Thankful that there are folks out there like Alex, Hughie, and Keith, that want to work with their friends on projects like this and help each other thrive and improve their skills in a nurturing creative environment. The song might say it's a stupid idea, but its actually a wonderful one.❤❤❤

Keith, you are one of my top 10 favourite humans… so relatable and down to earth and genuine. I appreciate your existence, Mr.Habersberger

It means so much to me that Alex shared how the firing affected him. People can be so harsh in this industry, and I’m currently trying to get past something too. I feel like you guys will have my back in my class today.

One of my favorite takeaways from this is that by Lewberger making their dream come true, they helped make a lot of other people's dreams come true as well.
Congrats on such a successful show!

As a theatre kid who never got to go the distance, amd was also told they weren't good enough this makes my heart so full and happy for them. ❤

As someone that gave up their theater dreams in 7th grade and has been secretly pining for it ever since, this was a tremendous watch. Thanks for the incredible inspiration, and congratulations on a job well done!

Hughie I love your music! Of course, i first heard your work through try guys collaborations. But I was so so excited to see your name in the credits for Puppet History! Those songs are always such bangers.

Perhaps I am just an emotional baby person, but this documentary made me cry a bit. It's so lovely seeing people who so genuinely love each other and what they're doing succeed. I'm beyond proud of Alex Lewis, Hughie Stonefish, and Keith Haberberger, as well as the entire cast for pulling it all off.

It just goes to show that when you do what you love and help other people do what they love, magic can happen. The way they’re all lifting each other up and supporting everything and pushing them to be their best but also they are absolutely enough already? Amazing.

I was lucky enough to be invited to the dress rehearsal and it honestly was one of the greatest show experiences of my life !!! What an honour it is to be able to witness such an incredible collective effort for the arts. Much love to the Lewberger boys and to everyone who allowed The Wizard of Friendship to come to life. Thank you thank you thank you for sharing your creativity, talent, and art with the world. 👏🥂

I couldn’t go to this show but I wanted to support Lewberger so badly! So whoever got free tickets from fans I hope you truly enjoyed it!

This made me tear up. There is nothing like the community of a cast coming together. Congratulations on the realization of all of these dreams. Incredible

Hearing that they sold out all 26 shows made me quite teary. The effort and passion these guys have put into this is so evident and it’s so pleasing to see that hard work pay off 🎉

I shed so many tears throughout this video. They are precious. They are awesome. They are enough and beyond. I love the Try Guys, and I love Lewberger

The cast looks like so much fun with such sweet and amazing personalities, I hope we get to see more of them in the future.

Its been so beautiful and refreshing to see the guys diversify what they’re doing and showing us not only the lengths of their creativity but also these amazingly talented people in their lives

I am so proud of you all! You aren't just living your dreams, you're MAKING your dreams come true. No one is handing it to you. You've earned it. It gives me hope. Thank you for all you do!

I didn't expect to get so emotional watching this. I wish I could have made it to New York to see the show, but as a former theatre professional, who left during the pandemic, this brought so many emotions up. Thank you for sharing

Thank you so much for sharing so many poignant, vulnerable, empowering, and meaningful moments and insights from the process behind the production! 💜 What an emotional journey!
Also, Nico’s affirmations in that healing conversation with Alex made me cry. Way to surround yourselves with supportive collaborators! 🥰

Seeing this show meant so much to me. Seeing an in-depth look at how much it meant to you all made it that much sweeter. Thank you for all you do.

wow I'm so proud of all of Lewberger and all the actors! They did so well at making the show come together

this video made me so emotional! i'm so happy to see the guys doing what they love and succeeding while doing so! I hope they continue on the road they're on and find more greatness

Alex’ voice is always sooooo amazing to hear! His voice is so powerful.

Oh Alex!!! You’re an absolute fucking superstar. I’ve known it for ages and when I had the immense pleasure and privilege of seeing the show, it was confirmed. I hope you feel so validated by this experience, you deserve it!!

I saw the small packets in Keith’s luggage and kinda assumed they were condoms- like the joke of “oh look what fell out of my bag, I have so much sex and now you know” But the realization they were all tea was so fucking funny to me

Brian’s singing was SHOCKING-absolutely spectacular goodness

all the cast did so well, brian sang so well im so proud

Nico's moment with Alex, telling him he's enough to be there, was such a touching moment and nearly had me in tears. Nico - you are an angel!

Thank you guys so much for making this while doing all the things, this was great on stage and behind the scenes ❤🐥

Awesome documentary ❤. I learned so much about them as a band and how big this whole process was. It really is such an accomplishment.

Keith & Lewberger’s life long dream coming to fruition before our eyes 👀…Thanks for taking us BTS Keith!!
You’re awesome 😎 👏

This documentary had me fully in tear by the end. Seeing people's dreams and ideas come to fruition is always amazing, especially when it is people you admire. I hope to be able to see The Wizard of Friendship in person some day

why am I cryingggggg, I am so proud of all of you! this is the most magical experience to see come alive. I am so proud for you guys

I was already emotional the whole video but Alex's speech opened up the waterfalls. Keith's energy, Hughie's professionalism and Brian's determination was everythiiing! Kudos to you guys, def will be streaming the show❤

something about watching all these dreams come true and all their dedication and joy is making me shed some beautiful, happy tears

This is one of my favorite videos I've seen in a long time. This show looks like such a joy to be in, and anything that makes such an impact on so many people should be praised and credited. As a theatre kid myself, seeing so many dreams come true throughout this project made me tear up in parts. Thank you for being true to a dream :) I hope to see more.

I loved this documentary style content. I didn’t get to watched the show but I appreciate this so much

I love the additional cast you chose. They're so sweet and excited to be involved ☺️

This was incredible you are all so talented and worked your butts off. Thankyou for making such an incredible show.!!

I'm getting ready to start rehearsals for my first play in 11 years and the relatability for me in these emotions is HUGE! 🥰🥰😭

Agh. I used to do theatre. This made me miss it so much more than I thought I did (which was already a lot.) I hope I get the opportunity to be on a stage again (and again and again and again 😭.) Great video!

as both a fan and a stage manager this made me cry out of happiness at so many different moments.
I've never met you guys but i feel an immense amount of pride for you all.
I'd love if The Wizard of Friendship came to the UK, but that would be super expensive.

I’m not crying, you’re crying. 😂😭 So proud of everyone for persevering and putting on an amazing show!