Hit Rewind

Berklee Theater Arts Collaborative and the Staged Reading Ensemble present *Hit Rewind*, a concert reading of a time-travel musical comedy. The story follows Joey Rivera, an overconfident, gay, Latiné fashionista campaigning to become prom king at a Christian boarding school. After a blow to the head sends him from 2016 back to 1989, Joey finds himself surrounded by his parents as teenagers, a world without Instagram, and his father as the school’s homophobic bully.

Joey soon discovers an opportunity to prevent the mysterious, premature death of a transgender girl whose fate has haunted his parents and their community for years. Filled with humor, high-stakes adventure, 1980s references, and questions about identity, love, and moral responsibility, the musical ultimately looks toward justice and self-discovery.

When: Friday, December 4, 2026

Showtime: 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time

Tickets: Free

Venue: Red Room at Cafe 939, 939 Boylston Street, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Format: Concert reading

Book, Music, and Lyrics: Michael Wartofsky, professor of songwriting, with guest artist David Davila

Based On: The young adult novel *Spin Me Right Round* by David Valdes, associate professor of theater at Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Director: Associate Professor Hayley Thompson-King

Music Direction and Accompaniment: Esther García Moreno

Presented By: Berklee Theater Arts Collaborative and the Staged Reading Ensemble