GUILDERLAND — The masks are off. And the audience is live.

For the first time in three years, the Guilderland Players are back on stage in full force.

Thirty actors are performing more than 30 songs in the musical revue “Smokey Joe’s Café: The Songs of Leiber and Stoller” this weekend at Guilderland High School.

Lyricist Jerome Leiber and composer Michael Stoller together wrote over 70 chart hits. All of the songs in “Smokey Joe’s Café” were written by them, songs that became staples of the 1950s and ’60s.

“It’s really cool … There’s no dialog whatsoever; there’s no story,” says the revue’s director, Guilderland teacher Andy Maycock, in a video he made to entice students to try out for the show.

Standing with him in the video is Matt Pinchinat, Guilderland’s director for diversity, equity, and inclusion. “I moonlight as a major fan of theater,” says Pinchinat, excitedly listing some of the hits in the show: “Jailhouse Rock,” “Stand By Me,” “Hound Dog,” and “Yakety Yak.”

The Broadway show — with a cast recording that won a Grammy in 1997 — had more Black performers than white. “We wanted a variety of different voices,” said Maycock this week of the Guilderland production.

“And Matt said he would put his foot forward with a couple of the groups that he advises and so he got some more kids interested that way,” said Maycock, noting Pinchinat came to auditions and some rehearsals. “He’s just a really good ally to have on board.”

Maycock, who grew up on oldies, has “always liked those kind of harmonies and the doo-wop feel of the fifties,” he said.

He had been concerned that “musicals were off people’s radar” because of the pandemic. Two years ago, just before the Guilderland Players were to perform “Chicago,” COVID-19 hit, and the show was canceled as schools were forced to close.

Last year, the Guilderland Players, wearing masks to harmonize with their period costumes, put on “Little Women,” based on Louisa May Alcott’s classic novel, which was pre-recorded and live-streamed.

This year, the Players rehearsed for months in masks, only to have the school mask requirement lifted just the week before production. Maycock called the lifting of the statewide school masking mandate “great timing and also terrible timing because we’ve been rehearsing with masks for three months and now this will be a whole new experience if they choose to be unmasked.”

He went on, “Honestly, I’ve really liked having the rules to live by …. You have this kind of spacing and you have 50 percent capacity … and now, all of a sudden, that’s kind of disappearing and I don’t know what to expect.”

While the video and auditions brought the excitement of lots of new talent to the show, a number of the Guilderland Players regulars have been essential to the production, Maycock said, naming several.

Amelia Call is back with a voice that Maycock describes as operatic. “She’s a good sport with a great sense of humor,” he said. “She sings the finale and it’s just beautiful.”

Caroline Jameson, who plans on pursuing a career in theater, sings “Fools Fall in Love.” Maycock describes her aplomb on stage with admiration.

“She missed a rehearsal where we were staging … then we had a snow issue,” he recalled. Finally, over February break, Maycock said, “We were running the show with the pit band and I ran up to her and I said, ‘We’ve never done this number before. Can you just wing it?’ And she said, ‘Sure.’”

And she did.

“It’s a solo number. There’s no back-up singers, no ensemble. It’s kind of like a monologue. And so you’re delivering a story and you find different places to move and different parts to emphasize … In Caroline’s hands, there’s no worry whatsoever … It was great and it told the story and it was theatrical the way it should have been,” said Maycock, concluding, “She has a lot of great instincts.”

A third stalwart is Maia Regan, who played the lead in “Little Women” last year. “She’s a musician who comes to rehearsal and adds additional help,” said Maycock. “With 30-something songs to teach, that’s a big swing for a music director.”

Regan, on her own, made recording practice tracks for the songs and posted them to Google Classroom so the actors could rehearse at home. “They can work on it on their own. So she’s been an invaluable asset for us,” said Maycock of Regan.

Who should come to see “Smokey Joe’s Café?”

“This is a good show for everybody,” said Maycock. “It’s good for all ages. It’s going to be colorful. The music is fun. Each song tells a story.”

A friend told Maycock that he had never brought his young children to see a live show. “I said, ‘Well, this is the one, because, if your child gets restless and you need to leave for five minutes and come back in, it’s not like you missed any part of the story. It’s just a different song,’” said Maycock.

He also thinks the audience will be “wowed by the familiarity they have with the songs that these two guys wrote.”

Not only will the audience be impressed with the Guilderland Players’ performance, Maycock said, but with the realization this single writing team — Leiber and Stoller — “wrote all these songs and more — the birth of rock and roll.”

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“Smokey Joe’s Café” will run March 10, 11, and 12 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, March 13, at 2 p.m. Seating is limited to 50 percent capacity of the Guilderland High School auditorium, which means about 300 people can attend each performance.

Tickets will be on sale after school, from 3 to 4 p.m., at the box office outside the auditorium, and also starting 30 minutes before curtain time on the days of the show. 

People can also call 518-861-8591, ext. 6202, to reserve tickets, and pick them up at least 15 minutes before the performance.

Seats in the side sections are $5 each, and all other seats are $10.

Guilderland High School is located at 8 School Road in Guilderland Center.