A lively tale of reinvention, forgiveness and small town friendships will take place at Wichita State University when the School of Performing Arts presents "The Spitfire Grill" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 25-27, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, in Wilner Auditorium. General admission is $16, $14 for military and seniors, $6 for non-WSU students and free for WSU students with ID.

This family-friendly Broadway musical is adapted from Lee David Zlotoff’s 1996 indie film, and revolves around Percy Talbott, newly released from her five-year prison sentence, and the impact she has on the residents of little Gilead, Wis.

"The Spitfire Grill" will be directed by Wayne Bryan, artistic director of the Music Theatre of Wichita. John Stefansen, a WSU undergraduate majoring in musical theater, will serve as assistant director. The production features a folksy bluegrass score with musical staging by Associate Professor Amy Baker Schwiethale and musical direction by alumna Emily Pirtle.

The cast features students Hannah Fernandes as “Percy,” Matthew Hale as “Joe,” Emily Monrad as “Hannah,” Liz Jarmer as “Shelby,” Max Wilson as “Caleb,” Rachel Gorman as “Effy” and Alex Castaneda as “The Visitor.”

The design team for “The Spitfire Grill” includes design and technical theater students Chelsey Erskin (scenery), Jacob Locke (costumes), Cody Buettgenbach (sound) and Associate Professors David Neville (lights) and Ed Baker (technical direction). School of Performing Arts alumna Maddie Nevins is the production stage manager. Current musical theater student Kristen Bock is assistant stage manager for the production.

Wichita State’s presentation of “The Spitfire Grill” is made possible, in part, by gifts from the Brown Charitable Trust, and is sponsored by KMUW.

Get ticket information by calling the WSU Box Office at 316-978-3233 or online at wichita.fineartsboxoffice.