Keith Curran, who was in the original cast, (as Harry Helmsley) directed a production of the musical at the Ruth Foreman Theatre West (Sunrise, Florida) in January 1988, saying: "It tells 'a sort of morality tale for Koch, like A Christmas Carol... Koch is visited by the spirit of Fiorello LaGuardia and threatened with losing the city. There is a lot of redemption in this show, but it takes a very harsh look at New York and how hard it is to live there." Strouse said that he wanted to write a musical that "filtered New York sounds through it." The musical has music "alternating contemporary pop with ragtime, jazz and other styles, each carefully chosen to evoke a mood or characterize a class of people illustrative of New York."