Courtesy Photo "The Marvelous Wonderttes: Caps & Gowns" is showing tonight through Sunday and again next weekend at Thunder Bay Theatre. Pictured, from left to right, are Sierra Glosson, Desi Rodriguez, Emily Ahrens, and Erica Werner.

This cast might be small, but their dreams are big! The girls are back, and ready to graduate in “The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps & Gowns,” opening Friday night at Thunder Bay Theatre.

Get ready for an exuberant ride back to the 50s and 60s, where soda pop shops hopped, and musicians came only in fours. The jukebox will be playing the best of these decades, and the Wonderettes will have you singing right along as they twist and jive and come alive in this upbeat, family-friendly show.

“We are so excited for the beginning of our fall season,” said Thunder Bay Theatre Producing Artistic Director Jeffrey Mindock. “So ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes: Caps and Gowns’ is the sequel to ‘The Marvelous Wonderettes,’ which was produced at Thunder Bay Theatre three falls ago.”

The musical, written and created by Roger Bean, follows the lives of four ladies known as “The Springfield High School Chipmunks.”

“It is their graduation day, so they are experiencing all of the ups and downs, and trials and tribulations of graduating from high school and everything that comes along with that, right after high school.”

The cast includes Erica Werner as Betty Jean, Sierra Glosson as Cindy Lou, Desi Rodriguez as Missy, and Emily Ahrens as Suzy.

Ahrens and Rodriguez are returning from the 2019 summer core company, and Werner is back after traveling all over the country performing. She was a year-round core company member in 2017, Mindock said. Glosson is a fresh new face at TBT.

Directed and choreographed by Lucas Moquin, this musical’s crew is bigger than its cast. Jacob Kerzner is the music director, Tabitha Camp is production stage manager, Eileen Thoma is costume designer, Cassie Lentz is scenic designer, Chris Riley is lighting designer, Thomas Jore is run crewman, and Jordan Hand is spotlight operator.

Mindock said new resident music director and vocal academy director Kerzner just returned from Scotland where he earned his master’s degree in music.

“He was most recently the assistant music supervisor on the Broadway production of ‘Oklahoma!’,” Mindock said. “So we’re very excited to have him here to not only lead our musicals, but also teach our young people in the community.”

He said audiences of all ages will enjoy this show.

“It’s a night full of lighthearted, fun entertainment that will be like going back to high school for all of the wonderful retirees in this community,” Mindock said.

He said it’s time for some fun at TBT.

“We did have a darker summer, with ‘Into The Woods’ and ‘Carousel,'” he said. “This show could not be any more different. This is what musical theatre is meant to be. It is light, it is effervescent, it makes you feel good every single moment. Everybody is going to be singing in their seats and toe-tapping in the aisles.”

He added that the shows sold out the last time they did “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” so he expects to see a large crowd again.

“This musical is going to put a smile on everybody’s face,” Mindock said.

Major sponsors include Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, and the Community Foundation of Northeast Michigan. The sponsor for this musical is the Alpena County Regional Airport.

Fall shows are at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday. This musical is showing on weekends through Oct. 20.

Tickets are $20 per adult, $12 per teen 13 to 17, $8 per child 12 and younger, and $16 for military with ID. For more information or tickets, call 989-354-2267 or visit thunderbaytheatre.com.