SALAMANCA — With the sounds of music from the 1950s and the look and feel of an old highway diner from the 1980s, the nostalgic musical “Pump Boys and Dinettes” will be performed this weekend on the Ray Evans Seneca Theatre stage.

And unlike most performances in the theater, everyone in the audience will have a seat better than being in the front row — they’ll be right up on the stage with the actors and musicians.

“You’re singing to someone closer to you than your TV at home. In fact, we have a couple of songs where I have them going out and sitting in the audience,” Dr. David Merwine, the show’s director, told the Press. “We’re not going to have any microphones, so no crackling in the speakers or popping in and out.”

An original take on the biographical jukebox musical about a group that didn’t really exist until the show’s creators and stars made it in 1981, “Pump Boys and Dinettes” is a lighthearted and fun concert of rockabilly, rhythm and blues, gospel and honkey tonk tunes, Merwine said.

“It’s very family friendly, very fast and upbeat. Almost all the songs are up-tempo,” he said.

On Highway 57 somewhere between Frog Level and Smyrna, stands a gas station. Across the blacktop is a roadside eatery called the “Double Cupp Diner.” The four guys at the station — Jim, Jackson, Eddie, and L.M. — have been known to do some auto repairs, but only when aided by quantities of time and beer. The Cupp sisters, Prudie and Rhetta, celebrate their home cooking with the same zeal they bring to being neighborly with the boys.

The cast is fairly small — Justin Blakesslee, Jeremy Fuller, Tristan Duhan and Edward Hennessy play the gas station boys with Andrea Harris and Rhayne Smith as Rhetta and Prudie, respectively. The ensemble is filled out with Brianna Coder, Genecis Easton, Hannah Kloss-Gleason and Jimmy Carr.

“So many of the members of my cast are musicians, and normally you have to incorporate the pit at the last second,” Merwine said. “Two of the actors play the guitars in the show.”

This is the first production Merwine has directed at the Ray Evans Seneca Theater, but he is a veteran of the stage, having previously performed and directed shows in Bradford, Pa. He credits his crew for helping realize the vision and bringing the show to life.

Because summer is a busy time with vacations, Merwine said he got rehearsals underway earlier than normal in hopes of combating any potential hiccups with scheduling. He said everyone is a fast learner and had no trouble becoming their characters.

“But they’re all so good — I have two music educators in the cast,” he said. “I got a really lovely mix. I have two of them playing (guitars), and two of the guys are free to move around and both Dinettes are free to move, and then I have the bass, drumkit and keyboard in the back to support.”

When first proposing this show to the Cattaraugus County Living Arts Association board, Merwine said there had been discussions about doing a dark, more serious show, but he wanted to avoid anything too heavy for a summertime production.

“I want this one to be fun, and I want the audience right up there on stage,” he said. “I’ve got songs where the cast gets to interact with them, and I have songs where we’re going to try to get them to clap and sing along.

“It’s country and rock and fun and fast,” Merwine added. “Beat the heat, come into the air-conditioned theater for an hour and a half and listen to some fun songs.”

Performances of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” will take place at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. Sunday at the 10 Main St. theater. Tickets are $15 at the door or pre-ordered online at showclix.com. Limited seating is available.

The cast of “Pump Boys and Dinettes” rehearse Monday at the Ray Evans Seneca Theatre. Performances begin Friday.

Kellen M. Quigley