But this time, instead of throwing it in the trash, he used it as a departure point for an autobiographical one-man show.

Mirroring his real life, it was as directly autobiographical a show as he's ever performed.

Solo autobiographical shows are so popular now that it's easy to walk into one with a chip on your shoulder.

The autobiographical one-man show has become quite the crowded genre.

The autobiographical show, which follows the life of a struggling composer as he turns 30, opened simultaneously at three theaters in Seoul on Dec. 1.

"This is an autobiographical show; it covers the same decades that I cover," he said.

(During the early 1980s, he paid tribute to the song that encouraged him to play guitar by including "Heartbreak Hotel" in his autobiographical show).

The same truncated limbs are found in both versions of "The Artist and His Mother," the works this autobiographical show is built around.

Mr. Butler's largely autobiographical show at the Actors' Playhouse makes a similar point.

In 2011 and 2012 he has been developing and performing an autobiographical one-man show entitled Musical Being.