YOUNGSTOWN — “[title of show]” isn’t based on a book, a movie or any marketable intellectual property. In its original New York production, it didn’t have any Broadway stars (although there’s a chance that Sutton Foster might be interested in a role) or even people who were famous for being famous to help boost the box office.

But it’s a funny and feisty love letter to creation, and Youngstown State University Theater’s production captures all of its manic energy and can-do-it spirit.

Two friends, Jeff (played by Liam Burk) and Hunter (Ben Podner), decide to write a musical from scratch in the three weeks until the deadline for submissions to the New York Musical Theatre Festival. They enlist two more friends, Susan (Lex McCaughtry) and Heidi (Natalie Horvath), along with a mostly silent accompanist (Sam Nabring), to help create a musical about creating a musical.

Dialogue about procrastination (and words that rhyme with it) become the lyrics to the songs, and the foursome works through their idiosyncrasies and insecurities to meet the deadline. When “[title of show]” achieves some unexpected success, the foursome has to deal with internal power struggles and the temptation to make changes in order to lure the investors necessary to make it to Broadway.

Now, the cynic might point out the irony of a musical celebrating originality that features a score that’s largely a pastiche of familiar song styles and references to shows that are oh-so pop-u-lar and those unknown to all but the biggest theater nerds.

But “[title of show]” manages to feel both contemporary and like something Mickey Rooney could have starred in almost 90 years ago (minus the four- and 12-letter obscenities). It has some great songs. I’ve had “Nine People’s Favorite Thing” playing on a loop in my head since I listened to the original cast recording to prep for the preview story. The “Schoolhouse Rock”-inspired “An Original Musical” is hilarious, and it’s made even funnier live with Podner performing it with a Jack Shelton-like bluesy growl and a paper hand puppet.

Burk’s and Podner’s interplay off each other is lively and engaging. The same goes for McCaughtry and Horvath, and the cast’s work as an ensemble. But it shouldn’t be a surprise that the show’s creators, Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell, who named the main characters after themselves and played the roles Off-Broadway and on Broadway, wrote the best characters for themselves. All four were strong vocally individually, but there was the occasional harmony that was a bit ragged when all four sang together.

Nabring provides solid musical accompaniment and is just as capable as the rest of the ensemble when it comes to getting a laugh from the audience with his reactions and his few lines of dialogue.

The actors and director Adam Day Howard give the musical the manic intensity of an improv show. For a musical, there’s almost no traditional choreography and no choreographer credited, but there are some intricate bits of motion designed to feel chaotic, and those kinds of things only work when they’re performed by a well-honed, well-rehearsed cast.

It’s also a musical perfectly suited to the Spotlight Theater. Howard makes great use of the space. Even with limited set pieces and audience members seated on three sides of the stage, there are little surprises throughout , such as cast members appearing like magic from behind an upright piano. It also allowed for some audience interaction, which added to that improv feel.

“[title of show]” may play best with musical theater buffs, but it’s an accessible, entertaining show. Don’t skip it just because it’s not based on a Disney cartoon.

If you go …

WHAT: “[title of show]”

WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday through April 13

WHERE: Spotlight Theater, Bliss Hall, Youngstown State University

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $16 for adults, $12 for senior citizens, YSU alumni, faculty and staff and non YSU students and free for YSU students and are available online at www.ysu.tix.com and by calling 330-941-3105.