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Some bad dreams have a happy ending.
Michael Anthony Forney got the idea for his play "Why Me?" from one of his dreams. The production will be staged Saturday at DeYor Performing Arts Center's Ford Family Recital Hall in Youngstown.
I was at a red light in traffic one day, I don't know what city," Forney said. "The night before I had a dream. It was a bad dream. I couldn't figure out what it was, I just remember trying to get out of the dream and I couldn't. When I woke up, I was so glad I was living in reality. Wow, what if you couldn't wake up? What if, when you woke up, you weren't in a dream but your reality was something like that."
That experience was the inspiration for "Why Me?," the story of a woman who wakes up to find a mysterious visitor at her door.
"He wakes her up and let's her know she's actually dead," Forney said. "In order for her to meet her final judgment in life, she has to go on a journey with the visitor and experience everything that happened before she died."
The cast for "Why Me?" features Michael Jerome Taylor Jr., Saqoyia Harris, LaToya Jones, Wayne "Spanky" Bonner, Ram Torres-Ramirez, Dani Boatner and Rosetta Perry.
"Some of these actors have been with me for a long time, as long as 10 years," Forney said. "They're from Cleveland, Columbus, Youngstown, of course."
"Why Me?" first was staged in 2017, but over the years people have encouraged Forney to bring the show back. He hopes Saturday's performance could lead to a tour of the show.
"There may be some interest out there," Forney said. "I want to take it to (Washington) D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago. It's just something I want to do, whether it takes a while or a short time. I usually finish what I start."
Regardless of when a tour happens, "Why Me?" will have a life beyond Saturday's performance. Forney adapted the story into a television that he's been shooting over several months. It will be one of the initial offerings from Forney ExtremeTV, the streaming service he plans to launch. A soft launch of the service tentatively is set for December.
"Saturday will be filmed for the streaming network as well," Forney said.
If you go …
WHAT: "Why Me?"
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Saturday
WHERE: Ford Family Recital Hall, DeYor Performing Arts Center, 260 W. Federal St., Youngstown
HOW MUCH: $40 with tickets available for $33 for groups of five or more. Tickets are available online at deyorpac.org, the DeYor box office and by calling 330-259-9651.