The Homer High School choir program will premiere “Singin’ in the Rain” this weekend, with shows Friday and Saturday. The show is a culmination of nearly a semester’s work for the students, who learned of casting decisions just before winter break.

Choral Director Kyle Schneider has been producing the annual spring musical for Homer High School since he began in his position in Homer, back in 2013. He’s also responsible for teaching choral music at Homer Middle School, meaning he often works with musically inclined students from seventh grade until their graduation.

He said in an interview Monday that this year’s high school choir is a unique mixture of students, in that it involves the first group of kids coming from Homer Middle School choir post-COVID and the last group of students who experienced music learning during the pandemic.

“This group of seniors lost a year of middle school music,” he said. “And while that doesn’t seem like a lot, it really changes the academic and psychological dynamic of the ensemble. This year’s freshmen are kids who don’t really have a memory of not having special classes, and so this group of upperclassmen had more of other students chomping at their heels than they’d experienced in the past. And, you’ll see that in the casting.”

Six of the roles in this year’s production are double cast, allowing students the opportunity to learn from senior or more experienced members of the choir.

There are 50 high school students involved in this year’s production and 20 musicians who have donated their time to play in the pit orchestra.

“We’ve been rehearsing with the orchestra once a week for three hours on Sundays for about the past two months,” Schneider said.

The stage musical version of “Singin’ in the Rain” is based on the 1952 movie musical starring Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. Schneider said that means the plot and characters will be familiar to audience members who have seen the film.

The storyline centers around a group of actors in Hollywood in the 1920s as they learn to adapt to motion picture-making that includes sound.

“We see how Hollywood has changed even in just the past 25 years, as technology has pushed the extremes of what’s able to be done by human beings,” said Schneider. “This was another time in our recent history that technology was pushing what human beings felt they were capable of, only to find out that they were capable of it, even though they may not have agreed.”

Schneider serves as musical director of the production, with Jennifer Norton of Pier One Theatre as stage director, and Beth Schneider as production manager.

Performances will be March 21 at 7 p.m., and March 22 at 3 and 7 p.m. at the Homer High School Mariner Theatre.

General admission is $15. Admission for seniors is $12, $10 for students and $40 for families. Tickets are available in advance at The Homer Bookstore or at the door, cash or check only. All proceeds directly benefit the Homer High School Choir Program. For any questions or accommodations, call 907-235-4607.