Maybe it's because Regina Mellina, my star-struck sister, would bounce around our postage stamp-sized bedroom, belting out Broadway tunes.

Or maybe it's because my college roommate once told me that, as a singer, I made a great typist.

But, whatever the reason, I've always hated musicals.

That is, until Mark Fleming brought his acclaimed Premier Theatre Company to Asbury Park last fall.

Fleming, who's made his living as everything from a licensed stockbroker to a window designer for Lord & Taylor's Fifth Avenue, Manhattan store, is one of those Renaissance types who seem to do it all and still remain calm - even on opening night, when Scrooge's flying ghost got his wires tangled in the Paramount Theatre ceiling pipes and nearly made his exit through a solid brick wall.

Mark had no burning desire to become a producer/director when a friend dragged him up on-stage to join the cast of the Spring Lake Community House in 1979. When the director stormed out of rehearsal one day, leaving the producer in tears, the 17-year-old Fleming grabbed a script and started directing the cast.

The following summer, he was named the new director.

The summer line-up eventually grew from one show to three, and in 1983 Mark directed a holiday performance of "Scrooge", which has been a standard there ever since.

He soon accepted the winter directing job at Lincroft's Henderson Theatre, and spent several hectic years working in Manhattan, living in Jersey City, and commuting to Lincroft at night.

By 1990, he had established his non-profit Premier Theatre Company, which played the Henderson in the summer and up to five shows each winter at Manasquan's Algonquin Theatre.

That's when Ruth Carr lured him to Asbury Park with a $5 donation and an invitation to see her senior group perform at Asbury Towers.

It was April, 2002, and Fleming wanted a permanent home for his burgeoning theater company. Carr - who attended his shows for years with daughter Ruthanne Harrison - was certain that Asbury Park was the perfect place for Fleming's productions.

Her enthusiasm was apparently irresistible. Before Mark knew what hit him, the company was shopping to buy its own theater in Asbury Park, a quest that is still continuing.

And, by mid-May, Fleming had negotiated to move Premier's winter theater program to the Paramount Theatre for the 2002-2003 season - a brave but risky move for a company that depends on ticket sales from a loyal but decidedly suburban fan base.

Within weeks, Mark also became an Asbury Park resident, and Ruthanne introduced him to the city's Broadway-averse councilwoman, who wound up buying a season ticket and renting her former gallery space to him.

Fleming's Stage Door Canteen at 721 Cookman Avenue now offers movie, dance, theater and music gifts and serves as the ticket office for the Premier Theatre Company. His second-floor Mezzanine Gallery - currently featuring photographs by Paul "Skweegee" Florio - offers gala opening nights complete with music, red carpets and revolving spotlights.

But that just scratches the surface of Fleming's dedication to his new home. Before the theater season even opened, his out-of-town company joined in a downtown clean-up day and they staged free, candelabra-lit concerts in Sunset Park.

Mark treated 1,500 Asbury Park school children to a free performance of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in the Paramount Theatre, and he has featured over 60 Asbury Park kids in his fall productions of "Joseph", "Titanic" and "Scrooge".

And when residents, merchants and city hall staged a festive holiday weekend in December, Fleming was everywhere. Costumed Premier actors sang carols at two tree-lighting ceremonies and greeted guests on the Saturday house tour; Fleming made and distributed hundreds of holiday schedules for local shops; and he reached into his own pocket to buy the glorious, 20-foot holiday tree that graced Bradley Park.

And that's just his first six months. So now it's our turn to support the Premier Theatre Company, and all it's doing to attract visitors and shoppers to Asbury Park.

On Saturday, March 1, Premier will sponsor a Mardi Gras fund-raiser, complete with dancing, entertainment, auction items, and Asbury Park's fabled Madam Marie.

But most of all, I hope you'll invite your friends to attend Premier's upcoming shows at our fabulous Paramount Theatre, including "West Side Story" on February 14-16 and February 21- 22. Adult tickets cost $22, seniors are $19, students aged 14 to 21 are $15, and children are $12, with a $2 discount per ticket during the month of January.

Compared to a night in New York City, that's a fun and affordable luxury, especially paired with dinner, a drink, and a late-afternoon shopping expedition in the new Asbury Park. (Call Premier at 732-774-STAR or the Stage Door Canteen at 732-774-7901 for more information.)

So, don't tell my sister or my college roommate, but even I'm thinking about auditioning for a part after seeing Premier's marvelous "Scrooge" at the Paramount last month.

I guess I should start tuning up that typewriter.