Excerpt from "Little Did I Know" by Mitchell Maxwell

Samuel August dreams of producing bigger-than-life musicals in the grand tradition of summer stock. It is the summer of 1976, an endless party for America's two-hundredth birthday is in full swing with young men and women recklessly coming of age under star-studded skies lit by orange neon moons.

Sam has just one summer to learn how to grow into the theatrical producer he aspires to be.

LITTLE DID I KNOW is a wild sexy romp of surprise, a boundlessly entertaining story that proves the only option in pursuing a life of meaning and consequence is to follow your heart. Published by Prospecta Press, released October 5, 2011.

Mitchell Maxwell is an accomplished producer, director and 35-year veteran of the entertainment industry, known for his ability to spot the next theatrical innovation. He is the visionary producer behind the percussive theatricality of Stomp!, the rollicking Broadway revival of Damn Yankees featuring the legendary Jerry Lewis – which was nominated for multiple Tony Awards including Best Revival of a Musical – and the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Dinner with Friends.  He has produced the Broadway musicals Play On!, Bells are Ringing (Tony-nominated for Best Revival of a Musical) Blues In The Night Tony Nominated as Best Musical) and Brooklyn.

Maxwell’s productions have been honored with nominations for 10 Tony Awards, 6 Olivier Awards, 15 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 9 Drama Desk Awards and 3 Obie Awards and have won in each category.  He directed the critically acclaimed Angry Housewives on London's West end and later off-Broadway, and produced the motion pictures and off-Broadway performances of Jeffery and Key Exchange.

Off-Broadway he developed Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy, and produced David Mamet's Oleanna, Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told and Scott Mc Pearson's Drama Desk winning Marvin's Room, - total 7 Broadway shows, more than 30 off-Broadway and regional productions, 4 National tours, 3 West End productions and 6 major motion pictures.  He has directed in New York, London and regionally, built 5 entertainment companies, and for over twenty years, owned and operated 3 off-Broadway theaters.

Maxwell attended Tufts University, where he later served as an adjunct professor, and has been a guest lecturer at Columbia and New York universities.

Read on for a brief excerpt from his book.  When you're done, go here for the next section.

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She took a long drag on a Lucky Strike, stared as if through me, and suddenly asked with a giggle, “How many girls did you kiss tonight?”

            “Are you asking how many I kissed, or how many kissed me? I could give you the combined number if you like.”

            “I guess the later would suffice.”

            “If I tell you, you’ll hate me forever.”

            “Come on. I have some perverse need to know.”

            “Okay,” I said slowly. “Remember, though, that this is simply kissing, and we all know that tonight is like going to a kissing booth without having to pay the dollar.”

            “Yes, I recognize the unique nature of this evening.”