I achieved one of my dreams this weekend. I performed the world premiere of The Secret of Fifty, Fatherhood & Facebook, a solo show I wrote. I also did all the promotion and publicity. It’s been a one-man production from beginning to end. What a trip.

I had no idea it would come to this. I started writing a few years ago about all the feelings I was having that I never wanted to share with anyone. If you asked me how I was doing, my answer was, “I’m fine.” But I wasn’t. And then I saw an interview with Elton John on the Actors Studio and it burst a creative bubble in me I never knew I had.

My first thoughts were, “What is Elton John doing on the Actors Studio? He’s not an actor. It’s not called the Musicians Studio.” But I watched his story and it blew me away.

All of sudden, at around midnight, I woke up in a sweat. I went in my bathroom and wrote a poem in perfect verse about my dad. He had passed away in 1986. When I was finished, I sat on the floor and cried uncontrollably for an hour. You know the kind of cry where you can’t catch your breath. Then I went to bed.

The next morning, I read it. It was the first thing I’d written since I was a kid. And you know what? It was good.

That experience seemed to open a door in me to the fears and emotions I had stuffed away my entire life. By putting pen to paper, I had found a way to let go of the power they had on me. They finally had a voice.

I began to trust my gut more and more. I started writing everything from my childhood to on-line dating to becoming a dad. I also wrote about “The Secret” and “Facebook” and turning Fifty. All of a sudden, I had a bunch of material. And in March of this year, my inner-voice said, “Write a show.”

Vince Cefalú

I immediately questioned whether it would be good enough or really, whether I was good enough. How would the pieces fit together? Who would want to watch my life’s story?

But the voice became louder saying, “Just do it. It’s time.” So I made the decision to listen to my soul instead of my head. I said out loud, “I am good enough. My writing is good enough. This show is going to be great”.

I called a friend of mine, Lori Tubert, a really talented director and writer, and asked her to read my stuff. I knew I would be really lucky to have her help me and I also knew she was the right person to join me on this journey. She said to come on over.

Guess what? Lori loved my work. She then asked me to go back and write a few pieces that would make them all connect. She wanted one on my stepfather and another one about my father that I didn’t want to write. She wanted to flush out the parts of my life that were buried the deepest and crying out most to be heard.

I had never written like that before. No one had ever said, “Here, write about this.” I had always just put down thoughts that came to me. I decided to take her direction and wrote four stories in less than two weeks. They were some of the best things I had ever written.

Together, with God and the universe, we cut and pasted and molded them into a wonderful show. I could not have written it as a whole. I was guided to write them individually and on their own. It was magical.

I have learned a lot on this ride. I’ve learned to trust my gut and turn down the voice that tells me I’m not good enough. I’ve learned my life’s experiences have value and they touch other people’s lives. I’ve learned I’m a good writer as well as a good actor, and that I have found my place in this world as an artist.

This show is my life. There’s strong language and some adult themes that might not be for everyone. But I refuse to edit my story to get a PG rating. That’s not me. People who have seen it say during the show, they watch my life on stage, and when it’s over, they are thinking about their own. That means I made contact. What a gift.

For the next five weekends, the curtain will go up on a life-long dream. I will walk out on that stage, nod to the audience and smile a smile that has been buried deep inside of me my entire life. I am finally giving a voice to all the feelings and emotions I’ve hidden away for so long and setting them free.

Thank you Elton. Hello Yellow Brick Road.

The Secret of Fifty, Fatherhood and Facebook, presented in association with Bryan Rasmussen, continues Fri.-Sat., 8 pm; through Oct. 9. Tickets: $20. The Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks; 866.811.4111 or TheaterMania.com