HOLMES! was presented in four workshop performances November 1-4, 2003, as part of PLAYFEST: the Orlando Festival of New Plays, sponsored by the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival.

The performances featured the most extensive revisions in the show's development to date — seven new songs, reworks of several others, and some surprising turns in the story.

"We've taken most of the past year to get down to the foundation of the show, to make some changes we've really been wanting to make," says bookwriter/lyricist Brett Nicholson. In fact, the writers refer to the results as "HOLMES! 2.0" — and only half-jokingly. "We've done a lot of work. The spine of the story is intact, but there are a LOT of new things going on."

These performances also offered the writers a new opportunity: because there were four consecutive shows, changes and revisions could be made from night to night, and the writers could see the results the next evening, along with the audience reaction. 

Much of the cast returned for the PLAYFEST performances: Kevin Vaughn as Holmes, Steven Eubanks as Watson, Gary Life as Moriarty, Amy Jordan as Elizabeth, Cassie Boyd as Cricket, Tony Whitten as Benjamin, Michelle Knight as Tommy, and Company members Lori Engler, Joelle Hall, Mary Kaltenbach, Katrina Johnson, and Alecia Sanders. Cast members joining the show for the first time were Stephan Jones as Lestrade, Dan Black as Gregson, Doug Neville as Nigel, Kane Prestenback as Weasel, and Denise Scholle as Pug. The workshops were directed by Gene Bastarache, who also played Wiggins.

Following each performance, there was a talkback discussion with the writers and cast, where the audience was able to ask questions and share their thoughts on the production.

"We're very pleased with the PLAYFEST workshops," says Nicholson. "We were honored to participate in the Festival, we had great attendance, and the feedback sessions went very well."