The musical debuted at Canadian Stage Company in Toronto in 2006 starring Brent Carver and Jeffrey Kuhn and premiered on Broadway in February 2009, closing after nineteen previews and five regular performances.
Best-selling author Thomas Weaver has come back to his hometown to deliver the eulogy for his childhood friend, Alvin Kelby, but finds himself desperately scrambling for something to say.
Thomas attempts to explain the struggles of creativity using a failed "work in progress" as an example but Alvin's rebuttal pushes him to the edge of a nervous breakdown (Nothing There) desperately searching for anything to put this eulogy behind him.
[6] It opened at the Dongsoong Art Center in central Seoul, Korea, on July 13, 2010, produced by the OD Musical Company.
The Northern California premiere opened at Contra Costa Civic Theatre in El Cerrito, CA on November 4, 2010.
The Atlanta premiere opened at Centerstage North on May 11, 2012, starring Kelly David Carr as Alvin Kelby and John Stanier as Thomas Weaver.
"The Story of My Life" premiered in Denmark at the Fredericia Theater and ran from November 19 to December 14, 2014, and starred Søren Scheibye and Lars Molsted.
Also in December 2014, The Story of My Life had its German-speaking premiere (entitled "Die Geschichte meines Lebens") in Vienna's Theater Center Forum, starring Andreas Bieber and Daniel Große Boymann who also created the German version.
[10] In April/May 2018 "The Story of My Life" was played at Himmerlands Teater in Hobro, Denmark, and starred Sune Kofoed as Alvin and Ronny Sterlø as Tom.
In 2022, The Story of My Life ("La Storia della mia vita", adapted into Italian by Sara Moschin) is to debut in Italy.
The production stars Fabrizio Voghera as Thomas Weaver and Francesco Nardo as Alvin Kelby and is directed by Ilaria Deangelis.
[12] "The Story of My Life" debuted Off-West End at the Stage Door Theatre, in a limited run from September 10 to October 19, 2024.
[13] In Germany, The Story of my life debuted at the Musiktheater in Revier in Gelsenkirchen in 2024, featuring Sebastian Schiller as Thomas Weiver and Benjamin Lee as Alvin Kelby, directed to a five star review by South African director Vongani Bevula.
Michael Kuchwara, in his Associated Press review, wrote "The Story of My Life is a heartfelt little musical that has the courage of its sweet-tempered, low-key convictions.
In a Broadway world of big musicals determined to sell themselves, this gentle new show celebrates softly but with an emotional pull that slowly wins you over.
So perfectly matched in ways both subtle and large, they deliver splendidly calibrated performances that are simply flawless....This is an impressive collaborative effort that, despite its minimalism, has the power to pack quite an emotional punch.
"[16] Paul Vale, writing for The Stage magazine, said about the London premiere "From this low-concept story, Bartram and Hill create a thing of beauty, drawing heavily on the butterfly effect and how a person may not realise the influence that they have on others.