The Clampetts are taking center stage in Soldotna starting this weekend with the Kenai Performers’ premiere of “The Beverly Hillbillies, the Musical.”

Terri Burdick, the director and producer of the show, said cast members have been practicing for a little less than two months.

“Rehearsals have been going really good,” she said Tuesday.

Burdick said she has been busy directing performances this summer. While she was still spearheading the Kenai Performers’ youth drama camp this summer she was holding “Beverly Hillbillies” auditions. On top of all that, she said, many of the cast members for the current musical were also finishing out their roles in the “Little Mermaid” in Soldotna Creek Park.

The musical chronicles the lives of members of the Clampett family, who move from rural America to Beverly Hills and learn humorous lessons about civility and refinement.

The production itself, Burdick said, has a live orchestra and works with all original songs.

“The songs are really cute. They’re really catchy,” she said.

Burdick said the writer of the book and script of the original musical will even be traveling from the Lower 48 to attend one of the performances in Soldotna.

Social distancing is encouraged in the venue and masks are encouraged, Burdick said. There will also be hand sanitizer available upon entry.

Opening night will be 7 p.m. Friday at the performance facility on 44045 Kalifornsky Beach Road behind Subway. The show runs for the next three weekends in September — Friday and Saturday evening showtimes at 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday matinee times at 2 p.m.

Tickets are available online at kenaiperformers.org or at the door. Show tickets are $20 each and a show and chicken picnic-style dinner combination is $35. Dinner combos must be reserved online ahead of time.

Reach reporter Camille Botello at camille.botello@peninsulaclarion.com.

Members of the cast of Kenai Perfomers’ “The Beverly Hillbillies, the Musical” pose in September 2021. (Photo courtesy Terri Burdick)