I loved the title "HANG MIKE PENCE! HANG MIKE PENCE! The Musical." I loved it too much.

That title was provocative. Evocative. Funny. Intriguing. But I have gotten to the point where it was getting in the way of production.

Our pre-production team could not find a theater group to produce the show, in part because the title scared them off. We could not discuss the show on social media because the Net Nannies would automatically reject the title as inciting violence. Net Nannies have no sense of humor.

But I would not let it go. I loved that title.

But an author must be ready to "kill our darlings," to let go things that are getting in the way of telling the story. So the title must go.

As a title, "AN AMERICAN EPIPHANY" serves multiple purposes. The old title was all spectacle, but the new one shows we're telling a story with real depth. It emphasizes the show's patriotic themes. It's a pun on the word Epiphany, the Christian feast day which falls each year on January 6th. And the syllables roll off the tongue better than "HANG MIKE PENCE! HANG MIKE PENCE! The Musical." And it's shorter.

Gilbert & Sullivan shows often had a subtitle, like "PIRATES OF PENZANCE (or, A Slave of Duty.)" Our new subtitle, "The Fateful Lightning" pretends at destiny and refers to the Battle Hymn of the Republic, which has a new importance in draft 16 of the script. And that, in turn, emphasizes the Chekov plotline.

This title change is a necessary step toward production. But I'll miss the old title and the look on the face of people when I tell them.