When Jay Berkow moved from New York City to Kalamazoo last fall to join Western Michigan University's theater-department faculty, he had no idea what he was in for.

The decision to be here was fueled by a passion for teaching and a desire of the successful off-Broadway writer and director to be grounded somewhere.

Besides directing the musical-theater program at WMU, Berkow has written a new play about the late Hollywood dancer, choreographer, actor and director Gene Kelly that is being produced in Saugatuck.

"The miracle is that I took the job at Western because I love teaching, and in one year I've managed to fall in love with my department and job here and get a show into production here," Berkow said.

What a Glorious Feeling has been called a "play with music" by director Tom Mullen, co-artistic director of the Mason Street Warehouse Theatre, a resident Equity house he started with fellow New Yorker Kurt Stamm three years ago in Saugatuck.

Berkow met Mullen last summer, shortly before he began teaching. He discovered that Mullen was a fan of Jolson and Company, a biographical off-Broadway musical Berkow had written about Al Jolson.

Mullen was interested in creating a biographical theater piece about Gene Kelly, and he commissioned Berkow to write it.

Berkow, a fan of Kelly, knew he wanted the story to be tighter than a drawn-out biography, so he focused on a conflict-ridden moment of Kelly's life.

What a Glorious Feeling is based on a somewhat little-known true story that happened behind the scenes of the making of Singin' in the Rain," Berkow said, yet "it's much more of a pastiche of (Kelly's) life and less of an intensive story."

The plot focuses on the relationship between Kelly and Stanley Donen, his first assistant on Singin' in the Rain. The two men were both in love with Jeanne Coyne, a former student of Kelly's whom he brought to Hollywood to work on the film.

Kelly was married to another woman at the time, although they were estranged.

"Gene was -- for lack of a better word -- Catholic and respected traditional values," Berkow said.

Donen married Coyne, and the two men never spoke again after Singin' in the Rain. Donen and Coyne divorced after a couple of years; Kelly divorced his wife, married Coyne, and they had several children and remained together until Coyne's death in 1973.

"It's a juicy story, and it's really interesting to look at this back story in an important moment in musical-theater history," Berkow said.

In the play, the love triangle plays out during the filming of the last of the great big-budget movie musicals MGM ever produced, and the music should be highly recognizable to any Gene Kelly fan.

"The music in this piece is all familiar music," Berkow said. "There are flashbacks to `New York, New York,' from On the Town, Take Me Out to the Ball Game."

One of Berkow's favorite numbers is "How Could You Believe Me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All My Life?" which comes from the Fred Astaire musical Royal Wedding. In What a Glorious Feeling, the song is performed as a duet in the middle of a divorce.

Berkow once met Donen at a party in Manhattan and had been intrigued by his role in -- and his sudden disappearance from -- Kelly's life. Berkow said Kelly had been an intensely private man and very little is known or written about him. When Berkow read in a biography that Kelly was married, divorced and then married again rather quickly, he thought there might be a story there.

Berkow began research for the play last October and wrote a first draft of What a Glorious Feeling during winter break from teaching classes. Since then, he's written an additional 11 drafts and counting, and continues to change the musical during the rehearsal process, with the input of the actors and director.

"When you're lucky, it's done this way," Berkow said. "Musical theater is hands-down the most collaborative art form in the world if it's done properly."

The grueling revision process has been a joy, Berkow said, largely because the cast is terrifically talented.

"When I hear their voices, things occur to me and they have suggestions. It's a great collaborative process," Berkow said. "It's just amazing to me. Two of my leads are from the (Broadway) musical Contact. It's so exciting to see them working and bring this choreography to life."

The intention is that the show will ultimately land on Broadway.

"Tom really believes in it. He's really excited. He wants to just take the show and move it, so they've gone out of their way to get people who have played these roles on Broadway," Berkow said.

"You don't want to jinx it, but I think the show is really great. It's quite commercial in what it's about, and I think it's really entertaining. I mean, who knows? I'm still writing it," Berkow said.