BWW Previews: CALL IT IN THE AIR Musical Has Florida Debut At Tampa International Fringe Festival at HCC Ybor City Campus Theatre

With a personal motto of "don't suck," Tampa native Gabriel Flores wears many hats - special education high school teacher, husband, new daddy to a baby daughter and playwright. While his wife and daughter sleep until early morning, Gabriel sits at his computer with his notepad and composes. His recent co-creation earned a spot in Tampa International Fringe Festival.

An original rock musical co-written with Taryn Alexander, Call It In The Air is a new musical debuting in HCC Ybor City campus theatre about a young man who likes to live his life up to chance.

"Owen always flips a coin when he makes a decision," Gabriel said. "When we meet him, he is coming back to a small town in California after trying to make it in Los Angeles. He's the hometown hero and he comes back as a failure."

When Owens on-and-off-again girlfriend Penny ends their relationship and moves away, Owen rebounds with Morgan, settling into the life of a musician. A few months later Penny returns with news that Owen can't flip a coin over.

Gabriel's wife is credited for being the sounding board for his productions. She said, 'okay, I think this is actually something,' which encourage Gabriel to submit his and Taryn's musical to a festival in New York.

From a young age, Gabriel found a passion in writing and music. It wasn't until he auditioned to be a drummer for a play about Buddy Holly did he shift his interest from screenwriting to playwriting.

"From there, it was like Pandora's Box opened up. It became an obsession and it's been one for about 10 years now. In live theatre, I really enjoy the dialogue, the character development and setting up a scene with just dialogue. Everything happens with just dialogue. I found that much more challenging than writing a screenplay."

Having written short one act plays, Gabriel fell in love with shows like Rent and The Heights, and his goal became to write a musical.

Over a period of two years, Gabriel transformed a "handful of songs" written when he was in a band into what would eventually become Call It In The Air.

Call It In The Air was accepted into the New York Summerfest Theater Festival in August 2017. Gabriel and Taryn met three times a week, 5-6 hours per night to refine the musical and cast the actors that would be in starring in the off-Broadway three-night theatre production.

"New York was the opportunity to look myself in the mirror and say I can do this. It's not just me hoping anymore," he said.

The successful debut led a second production in October 2017 at New York New Works Theater Festival, followed by acceptance into 2018 Tampa International Fringe Festival for six-nights. Directed by Gabriel, Call It In The Air features the talents of Zach Finley, Hannah Hockman, Rachel Rodriguez, Bethany Moore, Emma Hurlburt, Ryan Roberge, Brittany Clark, and Devan Kelty.

After Tampa Fringe, Gabriel hopes to return for another run in New York City.

"Growing up as a kid who wanted to be a musician, the first thing they teach you in writing is write what you know. I enjoy listening to the soundtrack. I wanted to write a show with music I enjoyed listening to and hopefully other people will like listening to, as well."

Gabriel said that having a writing partner in Taryn, who had a background in poetry and copy editing, helped to make the creation process a much smoother one. "She's a blossoming playwright. We were able to combine our writing strengths together and this is the story we created. When it's over and they walk away, we want the audience to feel satisfied, like they saw a good show and are glad they saw it. Maybe it will make them even question some of the choices they made in their own lives. If they made a different choice, how would their life turn out?"

Call It In The Air is Thursday, May 3 through Saturday, May 12 at HCC Ybor City Campus. To learn more, visit bit.ly/callitintheair or www.tampafringe.com.