The hottest historical figure around these days?

Benedict Arnold.

The notorious turncoat and Norwich native is the centerpiece of all sorts of happenings and hoopla.

New London-based Flock Theatre is burning Arnold in effigy as part of a Sept. 14 theatrical history program during the Connecticut Schooner Festival. A Benedict Arnold impersonator comes to Norwich's Leffingwell Inn on Sept. 21. Historian Matt Reardon just lectured on the 1781 New London/Groton invasion involving Arnold at New London's Hempsted Houses.

And the Spirit of Broadway Theater in Norwich is staging a musical based on Arnold's life.

Why the uptick in all things Benedict? Well, September is appropriate timing; it was on Sept. 6, 1781, that he led a British raid on New London, burning the city. And the adaption of the phrase "Still Revolutionary" to promote Connecticut tourism certainly brings renewed focus to the state's history.

Whatever the impetus, though, Brett Bernardini, who is Spirit of Broadway's artistic director, was a bit ahead of the curve. He had been contemplating a stage work about Arnold for a while. The result: the Spirit of Broadway Theater commissioned "Benedict Arnold: The Musical."

The piece is penned by Richard Vetere, Jeffrey Lodin and William Squier. Lodin and Squier's "Rebels" was produced at Spirit of Broadway, where it became the theater's highest-growing new musical.

It won't be just a stand-alone musical, either. Bernardini's idea all along has been to create a significant tourism event in the area.

"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be cool if Norwich embraced and claimed its own history with Benedict Arnold, if we created a weeklong series of events in conjunction with the musical and built it into a national tourism event?'" he says. "So we'll keep doing 'Benedict' every year. Let's keep building these events, and let's eventually market this as a huge opportunity to sell Norwich to the rest of the world for our rich Revolutionary War history - not just Norwich, but the entire region."

More on those related events later. First, a little about "Benedict Arnold: The Musical."

The Spirit of Broadway audition notice describes Arnold as being a mediocre businessman before the war who becomes a courageous figure on the battlefield.

"He becomes a leader with self-destructive streak of anti-authority attitude in his nature. ... He (later) has serious gout and limps from a canon wound to his leg," it says. "He dies penniless and regretful because he didn't die rich as he would have if he stayed loyal to the American cause. Simple resentment is his downfall."

It's a rich history, but Bernardini says that, when initially considering the project, Arnold's story "scared the bejesus out of me."

"The problem with Benedict Arnold is, most people immediately go to the deeds of the person. There is no way for anybody ... to write about Benedict Arnold's deeds without choosing sides. So what more fascinated me wasn't his deeds - because everybody has an opinion, whether you believe him to be this Revolutionary War hero, which he was, or this traitor, which is arguable - then what's left? What really fascinated me was: who is the man? I thought, that's really the story, isn't it? Who's the man?" he says.

Another question is how much of who he was - and what decisions he made - were influenced by his wife? His second wife, Peggy, after all, had parents who were British loyalists who believed America was losing the war.

"Benedict Arnold: The Musical" delves into all that. It opens on a scene of the Arnolds, late in life, sitting in a private box in a British theater, watching a performance of "Macbeth."

"Before the first three minutes are done, everything the audience sees and believes will change," Bernardini says.

Book writer William Squier came up with the idea that Benedict Arnold might be America's Macbeth, Bernardini says. (The show's creators, Bernardini notes, all have a great fascination with American history, along with impressive resumes.)

Bernardini recently met with the writers in Stamford and went through all the show's music, which has some rock and pop and, Bernardini says, "is not at all what you expect."

"It was an amazing experience. I'm so glad I'm working with these three guys, because they're delivering a piece of theater that will be talked about as much as Benedict Arnold was talked about," he says.

Originally, the plan was to get all the necessary funding by January and have a full-fledged production ready to go now at the Spirit of Broadway. But investors pulled out, and Bernardini eventually turned to a Kickstarter campaign to finance the project. Through that, Spirit of Broadway raised more than $32,000 to stage the play, with $15,000 of that coming from the Norwich 350th anniversary committee. It reached its financial goal in late August.

Rather than rush the production, the decision was made to do staged readings now. So, from Sept. 11 to 21, actors will do readings of the piece at the Norwich theater. The creative team will take what they learn from the experience to alter the musical afterward. Bernardini is inviting theatergoers to stay after the readings to give feedback.

In February, after the writers have reworked the piece, it'll return to the Spirit of Broadway in February for more staged readings. In June, the plan is to do an industry reading in New York City.

And then, finally, "Benedict Arnold: The Musical" will have its official world premiere run July 2 to Aug. 3, 2014, at the Spirit of Broadway.

As for the notion of expanding this beyond a stage show into a wide-ranging tourism event, Bernardini met with William Champagne from the Norwich Historical Society and Jason Vincent from the Norwich Community Development Corporation. They signed onto the idea and are developing other Benedict-Arnold-related activities - a 37-stop Benedict Arnold walking tour of Norwich, for instance.

The Norwich Historical Society has been in touch with some guest lecturers and has been working with a museum in Lake Champlain that has a significant Benedict Arnold exhibition, with the idea of bringing the show here.

Among the other possibilities: bringing in authors and historical reenactors and presenting academic sessions, a period ball and a high tea.

Bernardini thinks that having all these activities happen over the course of a week would attract people from across the country.

"Cultural tourism is the #1 reason that people travel, so let's give them a reason to discover our region," Bernardini says.

He knows, of course, that Benedict Arnold is a polarizing figure. People around the world know his name as synonymous with being a turncoat. But, he says, "We have a huge, huge Revolutionary War history in southeastern Connecticut that nobody seems to want to claim or hasn't claimed, so why not give everybody a reason to say, 'Oh, this is ours. Let's own it.' And maybe help the communities find an identity through it."

IF YOU GO

What: Staged readings of "Benedict Arnold: The Musical"

Where: The Spirit of Broadway Theater, 24 Chestnut St., Norwich

When: Opens Wednesday, Sept. 11, and runs through Sept. 21; 7 p.m. Wed. and Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., and 2 p.m. Sun.

Tickets: $32

Call: (860) 886-2378