"In This House," Composed by Mike Reid, Is at Two River Theater Company Mike McLaughlin COUPLES The composer of "In This House" hopes audiences will recognize themselves onstage. From left: Jeff Kready, Brenda Pressley, Chuck Cooper and Margo Seibert. Writing for musical theater is the hardest thing the Grammy-winning songwriter Mike Reid, of Nashville, has ever done, he says, adding, "I'm not smart enough to know why, but it is." "I've written chamber music, an opera, songs for a string quartet," Mr. Reid said in a recent phone interview from Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, where "In This House," the musical he has composed, is scheduled to have its world premiere March 4. But nothing in my life compares with getting a musical theater piece correct, so that at the end of the evening people walk out having rooted for or against compelling characters. In this case, the characters have "real muscle and believability," said Mr. Reid, 62, whose hits include "Stranger in My House," which was recorded by Ronnie Milsap and won a Grammy Award for best country song in 1984. The lyricist for the show at Two River is Sarah Schlesinger; Jonathan Bernstein co-wrote the book, with Mr. Reid and Ms. Schlesinger. "In This House" tells the tale of two couples, one young and one older, who meet accidentally and spend New Year's Eve together. "Each couple unexpectedly learns something about their own relationship from the other couple," said John Dias, Two River's artistic director since 2010. Over the course of these hours there's a sense of hope that they'll find ways of being better together. Mr. Dias, 48, who divides his time between Manhattan and Red Bank, brought the musical to Two River after attending a reading of it four years ago in New York. Mr. Reid and Ms. Schlesinger, who have been working together since the mid-1990s, started their collaboration on it roughly five years ago. They previously wrote "The Ballad of Little Jo," which was produced by Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago in 2000, and was later staged in London. "In This House" runs 90 minutes and contains 14 songs, with live accompaniment provided by cello, reeds, violin and piano in Two River's black-box, 110-seat Marion Huber Theater. The four lead actors are Brenda Pressley, Jeff Kready, Margo Seibert and Chuck Cooper, who won the Tony Award in 1997 for best featured actor in a musical for his role in "The Life." Mr. Reid said that if he and Ms. Schlesinger got the songs right - "and I think we did," he said - audiences will recognize themselves onstage. "I've been married a long time, and I see a lot of what my wife and I have been through in this," he said. "In This House" will be at the Two River Theater Company, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, March 4 to April 8. Tickets, $45 to $65 ($24 for ages 30 and under). (732) 345-1400 or www.trtc.org.