We are delighted to stage this co-production with Suffolk University. Like many of you, I am a fan of Car Talk and the laughter Tom and Ray so easily generate. Their radio show provides a small but significant repair of the heart every Saturday morning, whether or not you take your car to the Good News Garage, just blocks away from the theater (which my husband and I did, only to be informed by Ray, ‘This car has given you the best years of its life…’).

As you no doubt have heard, Tom and Ray have decided to retire, with no new episodes of Car Talk airing after the end of this September. The show will live on, though, indefinitely, with NPR creating new episodes from the best of their 1,200 shows. Car Talk is NPR’s most popular show. Even the least mechanically inclined or those with no interest in cars at all are enchanted by Tom and Ray. New Englanders far from home can tune in every week and feel (well, sure, why not?!) a sense of pride hearing their unmistakable accents coming across the air waves.

With this production, we would like to pay tribute to the cultural phenomenon Tom and Ray Magiliozzi launched 25 years ago. When we saw the wonderful first run of Car Talk: The Musical!!! performed by Suffolk students, it was clear that the show belonged on the Central Square Theater stage, here in Cambridge (Our Fair City)!

This is not the first time Underground Railway Theater has premiered theater with music. Past productions have ranged from puppet spectacles commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Stravinsky’s Firebird and Shakespeare’s The Tempest) to cabarets (The Christopher Columbus Follies, InTOXICating, and Washed-Up Middle-Aged Women).

But this is the first time we have staged a straight-ahead musical comedy! But – Wait! Actually – It’s not! Straight-ahead, I mean. Car Talk: The Musical!!! is unique, not only because the inspiration is Click and Clack, but also because the show is created by the wonderful Wes Savick and Michael Wartofsky. We are thrilled, too, to be working with a terrific design team and cast – both URT alums and new collaborators.

We’re very excited about Central Square Theater’s 2012 – 2013 Season — our Fifth Anniversary. Take a look at the offerings in the program and learn more from someone in the lobby. There are five more productions you won’t want to miss.

Enjoy Car Talk The Musical!!! We look forward to seeing you all season!(!!)”