Take a cotton candy colored trip down memory lane complete with 1950s and 1960s nostalgic tunes to add to the ride when the Meridian Community College Fine Arts Department presents The Marvelous Wonderettes.

Set for July 28 and 29 in the Tommy E. Dulaney Multi-Purpose Center, this musical will be a dinner theater production; the dinner will start at 6 p.m. and the show begins at 7.

The musical begins at the 1958 prom where the audience meets meet four girls, The Wonderettes, and follows their lives and loves from prom night to their 10-year reunion. The score highlights over 20 chart-topping hits of the eras, including “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid,” “Son of a Preacher Man,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” and “It’s My Party.”

The Marvelous Wonderettes are Susie, played by Anna Edwards Brown; Missy, played by Amy Poole McMinn; Cindy Lou, played by Jamie Chaney, and Betty Jean, played by Morgan Davidson. “They’ve put in an enormous amount of time in this production,” said Dr. Todd Brand, chairman of MCC fine arts division and director and producer of the show.

“It’s about vocals and really tight choreography. They’ve worked for a solid month on the vocals. It’s one of the best casts. These actors have done a lot of shows together, but not all four together in one show,” Brand said.

Also working with the production are Rachel Gibson, vocal director, who is a doctoral student at the University of Southern Mississippi, and Hannah Thaggard, assistant director who is a theater major graduating from MCC in August. Andy Rainey is technical director; Sidney Covington is accompanist.

The Marvelous Wonderettes dinner show is also a scholarship fundraiser with proceeds earmarked for the Stephen Nabors Scholarship fund. Nabors was a theater instructor who worked with Lauderdale County high school youths in connection with MCC theater productions. Nabors died in the fall of last year. “That was a project Steve put his heart and soul into for the last nine years and we thought this production was a fitting tribute to start the scholarship,” Brand said.

There’s more nostalgia connected with the show, too. “This was something Steve and I had talked about doing but we never got to it because we were always busy. But I’m doing it now,” Brand said. “I’m not letting this go.”

Nabors trained all the actresses in the Marvelous Wonderettes in theater arts. “They represent a cross section of all nine years Steve was here,” Brand said, “That was really important to me.”

Another connection: The show’s costumes, 1950s style prom dresses and 1960s style minis – have been made by Laura Reinstatler, Nabors’s widow. Reinstatler is an instructor at the College as well.

Valley Foods is catering with the menu including sweet tea chicken, garlic green beans, macaroni and cheese, roll, apple cobbler, tea, water.

Tickets for the dinner show are $25 each and may be purchased by contacting the MCC Foundation, 601-484-8688.