Roger Bean is no stranger to Milwaukee premieres; in fact, all of his original shows have premiered on The Milwaukee Rep stage. He's had the honor of creating new musical productions season after season for The Rep since his debut with "Don't Touch That Dial!" in 1997-'98.

"The first show I wrote, besides the little musicals I wrote with my mom on my living room floor growing up, was right here at Milwaukee Rep," he says. "Audiences and The Rep really enjoyed the show, and I've had the honor of creating a new show here every year since."

Bean says that creating shows in Milwaukee and for The Rep is satisfying.

"The Rep is very kind to its artists, and I end up having a lot of leeway with how I go about creating the work," he says. "And I think the sensibilities of the audiences here have helped me tune and tone the work for a larger audience. My plays seem to be ready to play just about anywhere after I've worked out the kinks here in Milwaukee."

His original shows have gone places since closing in Milwaukee and have done well.

"I license my shows to other theaters through my own company (Steele Spring) out of Los Angeles, and four of them have gone on to many additional productions," Bean says. "I counted a while back, and it looks like there have been over 125 productions of my plays throughout the country. Kinda cool. I had no idea this was going to happen when I started. I was just trying to create work for myself."

When it comes to selling his shows after they close in Milwaukee, Bean says he doesn't really try to think about where the production could go.

"This business is very up and down, and the highs and lows can be pretty extreme. I've had some great highs and some real low moments. I try now to stay in this moment," he says. "So the creation of the new piece is really about what's happening right now, on that stage, and are we being true to the story at hand."

Bean's newest venture, "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?," debuts Friday Nov. 10 in The Rep's Stackner Caberet. He says that this show really wrote itself, but he found inspiration in the 1960s.

"For some reason, I really love the '60s. Like, I really, really love the '60s. I grew up in the '60s, and my mother always sang these songs around the house," Bean says. "I think this music just sank in and stuck. And I seem to write very well for the female voice; I guess my feminine side comes out and shines brightly."

Bean says he has a fascination surrounding "gaggles of girls." He finds the interactions, friendships and rivalries interesting because he never experienced such a thing.

"In our American society today, men don't get to have gaggles that act and react the same way. Generally speaking, and I know this is a huge generalization, when men gather, they talk about sports, electronics, work," Bean says. "They don't really dig into the stuff that theatrical songs are written about. So many of these great songs of the sixties are about love and relationships. They really scream to be dramatized. When the screaming stops, I put 'em onstage."

And there have been many songs that have been screaming at Bean, and he thanks his iTunes library for making his life easier.

"I've already done two shows about girl groups, utilizing girl group-type songs. For this show I could open it up and choose songs of the era sung by solo singers, male singers (and) other groups," Bean says. "I shuffle songs around in iTunes and storylines begin to take shape. As I'm writing, I do decidedly make an effort to include both famous songs as well as unknown gems. I love hearing an audience 'ooh' and 'aah' in recognition when a song they know begins. But I really love watching an audience get into a song they never heard before. Some of my favorite songs in this show are the ones you've never heard before. They're really terrific, and the songs never got their fair share of airtime when they were first released. They're hidden gems, I tell you. Gems."

"Why Do Fools Fall In Love?" has another one of Bean's gaggle of girls throwing a bachelorette party in the '60s to talk, eat, drink and sing the night away, which he hopes audiences will be able to relate to.

"We've had some pretty great and silly times in 'Why Do Fools Fall In Love?' and I do think it comes out onstage," Bean says. "It certainly has some serious moments -- but just hang out for a second or two. The rollercoaster of emotions will switch back to fun and merriment before you know it."

As for his next show, Bean says he'll be taking a few months off and wait for the writing bug to hit him once again.

"I've done two '60s shows back to back. I think my next show will venture elsewhere, but I'm sure I'll be coming back to the '60s again. I can't help it," he says. "And I have so much damn '60s music on my computer -- I've got to use it all up. I'm not sure where the next show will come from."

Bean is currently working on producing past Rep shows, "The Andrews Brothers" and "The Wonderettes," for the Los Angeles and Off-Broadway stages, whether it's prior to the end of the year or for next spring.

"My plate is full, but I certainly can't complain," he says.