Musical theater is once again returning to the stage at Pleasant Valley High School. The students will be performing “Guys and Dolls” at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Seating is limited.

Dan Mulligan, the theater department teacher, said the number of people in the audience has to be kept small due to COVID-19, but they do have room for more people for their two shows.

Requests for reservations can be emailed to him at Mulligan.Dan@pvbears.org. They are also accepting people at the door until they reach capacity.

“If we reach our COVID guidelines capacity, we would have to turn people away,” he said.

The audience is required to wear masks at all times, and stay at least 6 feet away from people not within their family group. Contact information will also be taken in the event contact tracing becomes necessary. Other precautions are in place as well, he said.

When his search began for this year’s musical, Mulligan said he wanted one that could be flexible with the COVID-19 guidelines for practices. He also wanted to spotlight what he referred to as a particularly talented senior class.

“?‘Guys and Dolls’ seemed to fit the bill at the time, and now that we have seen what these students can do with the roles they’ve been given, it was the absolute right choice,” he said.

“This show is funny, even funnier than I remember, having seen it many times before. I can’t wait for these students to have a live audience laugh at all the funny moments they’ve created,” Mulligan continued. “This is what we all need right about this time.”

Rehearsals were anything but typical. To learn the show, the students practiced via many Zoom rehearsals, and eventually practiced in-person.

“We were adamant about COVID safety precautions and maintaining distance,” he said.

Mulligan said the audience will notice that the actors always have space between them on stage.

“After losing our production of ‘South Pacific’ last spring with the shutdown, we wanted to ensure everyone was healthy, so we could make it through a live performance,” he said.

The theater students managed to do it already once this year. They successfully held a live performance of the play, “Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus” this fall. The audience consisted of just family and close friends.

“But it was an audience nonetheless,” Mulligan said. “It was performed without incident.”

The cast for “Guys and Dolls,” beginning with leading roles from the senior class, include: Anthony Long as Nathan Detroit, Madison Jackson as Miss Adelaide, Jaxon Havens as Sky Masterson, Aubrey Sawyer as Sarah Brown, Josef Janak as Nicely-Nicely Johnson, Kyli Ramsey as Angie the Ox, Jamari Meade as Benny Southwest, Bella Lindner as Ethel Abernathy, Jeanna DiAngelis as narrator, Gabby Larregui as Big Jule, Miranda Chiong as Gen. Matilda Cartwright, Aleelah Thompson as Lt. Brannigan.

The underclassman include: Aidan Sawyer as Rusty Charlie; James Mauro as Harry the Horse; Molly O’Brien as Agatha (Mission Band); Madeline Zipp as Lucy (Mission Band); Ava Sinisko as Society Maxine; and Jillian Balbuena, Lindsey Birnbaum and Brianna Stanley as Hot Box dancers.