writing is revising.
development is collaboration.

A Pint of Understanding was sparked by real events, the dubious arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. by a white police officer in the progressive city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the subsequent "Beer Talks" with President Obama at the White House.

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Lee Phenner sought out co-creators and collaborators who were moved by the story and open to collaborating on a fictionalized work of musical theater that would finish an unfinished story, examine an unexamined issue (or two or three).

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Rounding out this early exploration, along with composers Joel LaRue Smith and Joseph Smith, are SDC director Benny Sato Ambush, who also helped shape the story, musical director Scott Nicholas, and documentarian/consultant Joe Wrinn.