He remembers a dream in which he was offered fame and fortune in return for his soul when he turns 27 - and having since risen to prominence it also strikes the musician that all the people in his life resemble well-known stars who were dead at 27.
The concept is based on an original dreamed up by Katy Anderson who has been in all but one of the shows produced by Queenstown theatre company Whirlwind Productions.
She and others wrote songs especially for Twenty Seven, to be performed in Queenstown next month.
Writer and director Margaret O'Hanlon said being denied the use of official songs from well-known musicians turned out to be ''a really rewarding process''.
Songs with links to famous artists were written and it had been ''quite a lot of fun finding obscure songs, not necessarily by people who died at 27''.
''The idea was to have the main character, [played by] Sam Maxwell, to sing original songs because he's an up-and-coming star, because it wouldn't make sense to have him align with someone.
''We are all very proud of it, in the sense that it's a completely original concept.''
• The show will be held from August 7-10 at the Queenstown Memorial Centre.
