By George Basler

BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier), which just finished its second season at the Cider Mill Stage, 2 Nanticoke Ave., Endicott, is not taking the summer off. The company has scheduled five productions for the warm-weather months of June, July and August.

The summer schedule gives actors and audiences more opportunities to perform in, or attend, live theater and “ties in with our mission of supporting local artists,” Rob Egan, BLAST’s artistic director, said.

On the schedule: a night of big band music, an appearance by a Vestal native making a mark as stand-up comic, a musical about middle school life featuring local middle school students, an old favorite musical and an original play by a local playwright.

Singing with the Big Bands

The summer fun starts June 23 and 24 with Singing with the Big Bands, a Las Vegas-style cabaret with John Penird singing big band songs of the 1940s through the 1960s.

Penird has appeared as an actor and singer in professional and community theater productions throughout New York and Pennsylvania. His appearance at the Cider Mill Stage coincides with the release of an album of him singing big band songs, Egan said.

The performance is billed as “a tribute to the glorious days of yesterday” and will feature such songs as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Come Fly with Me” and “All of Me.” Four dancers — Erin Gopie, Jean Graham, Mikayla Wright and Stefanie Willette — will perform wth Penird.

Penird is dedicating the show to his big band-loving mom.

IF YOU GO: Singing with the Big Bands will be performed June 23 and 24 at the Cider Mill Stage. Both performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at $25 can be purchased at cidermillstage.com or by calling the box office at 607-321-9630.

A night of comedy

Stand-up comic and actress Helen Keaney, who grew up in Vestal, will return to the Southern Tier Saturday, July 1, for a one-night show that is part of a national tour.

Keaney played Diane in the 1987 cult classic film Plutonium Baby, credited under her given name (Helen Rosenthal), and has voiced Nikki in the video game Pandemonium.

Her other credits include hosting television shows for Comedy Central, Discovery Health, TBS, Style Network and E! She hosted her own show, 10 FAVES with Helen Keaney, on HSN. She also has done national TV commercials and appeared in films and television shows, including Billy’s Got a Bad Brain. She was a cast member of 3 Blond Moms.

Her current national tour provides an “hilarious, interactive and spicy brand of comedy,” according to publicity for the show.

IF YOU GO: Helen Keaney will perform at 8 p.m. July 1 at the Cider Mill Stage. Tickets at $25 can be purchased at cidermillstage.com or by calling the box office at 607-321-9630.

An old favorite

Forever Plaid, an old favorite, will return to the Endicott playhouse for a weekend run July 7-9. “Our audience loves it. They come to see it again and again,” Egan said.

The musical revue, written by Stuart Ross, debuted Off-Broadway in New York in 1989. Since then, it has been performed nationally and internationally, been made into a movie, and spawned a holiday sequel called Plaid Tidings.

The show features the close harmony of “guy groups,” such as The Four Aces and The Four Freshmen, who reached the height of their popularity during the 1950s.

The upcoming summer production will feature the cast that has performed Plaid Tidings at the Cider Mill Stage for the last two holiday seasons. They asked if they could perform Forever Plaid this summer, Egan said. BLAST quickly gave the go-ahead.

IF YOU GO: Forever Plaid will be performed July 7-9 at the Cider Mill Stage. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 p.m. Sunday’s performance is at 2:30 p.m. Tickets at $27 can be purchased at cidermillstage.com or by calling the box office at 607-321-9630.

A teen musical

The musical 13 focuses on issues faced by middle-school students as they navigate the awkward years between elementary school and high school. It’s the only Broadway musical ever to have a cast made up entirely of teenagers.

This will also be the case with the BLAST production that will run Aug. 3-6. All the cast members are 12-15 years-old and come from local middle schools, said Egan, who is directing the production. Paula Bacorn is doing the music direction.

BLAST is staging the show to provide a performing opportunity for talented middle-school students, Egan said. The cast was picked through auditions, and the production is a full-scale one with a live orchestra.

13 was written by Dan Elish and Robert Horn with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, a three-time Tony Award winner. The musical’s main character is a young Jewish New Yorker who, after his parents’ divorce, is forced to move to a small, rural Indiana town where no one has ever met a Jew before. The action focuses on his preparation for his bar mitzvah, while also trying to fit in with a new social circle.

“We wanted to give these kids (the BLAST cast) the opportunity to play characters who are their ages and who might have some of the same experiences,” Egan said. The show also gives them the opportunity to play roles “they can put their teeth into,” he said.

IF YOU GO: The musical 13 will be performed Aug. 3-6 at the Cider Mill Stage. All four performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at $27 can be purchased at cidermillstage.com or by calling the box office at 607-321-9630.

An original play

The summer schedule will conclude with the comedic play Retail by local playwright and author Carson McKenna. Set in the retail store Bliss & Beauty World, it focuses on the misadventures of Collette, the store’s manager, as she futilely tries to stop shoplifting.

The production, to be staged Aug. 10-12, is part of BLAST’s “Launch Pad Series,” designed to showcase local playwrights, Egan said. Retail was first performed in the Lost Dog’s Violet Room in Binghamton. Egan said he saw that production and found McKenna’s play “incredibly funny and very real.” It especially hit home with him because he has worked in retail.

The 11-member cast will feature actors who were in the Lost Dog production.

McKenna has written a book of essays, Broke Babe in a Basement, about her time living in the basement of a Brooklyn apartment while trying to finish writing a novel and has penned the book Misercordias. Retail is her third play.

IF YOU GO: Retail will be performed Aug. 10-12 at the Cider Mill Stage. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets at $25 can be purchased at cidermillstage.com or by calling the box office at 607-321-9630.