Selah Dessert Theater will stage its first musical with “Thrill Me,” which opens May 11 for a three-weekend run.

Mary Ruth Lynn, the theater’s founder, has directed plenty of musicals in the past and comes from a singing background, but the intimate performance space doesn’t lend itself to big casts, elaborate choreography and other elements many associate with the genre.

“Thrill Me” is uniquely suited to the space, a two-character show that only requires a pianist for musical accompaniment.

“Anthony Ruggiero, my music director, played this at a theater in Cleveland and said it’s really good and the piece would fit in our space,” Lynn said. “You don’t need an orchestra, just a piano and two characters. And the story is intriguing.”

The music is based on the true story of Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopold, two young men from wealthy families who embarked on a crime spree in Chicago in the 1920s that ended with the pair murdering a young student.

Leopold and Loeb were dubbed the “Thrill Killers” and the case was called the “crime of the century.” They were defended in court by Clarence Darrow, who grew up in Kinsman.

The Stephen Dolginoff musical made its New York debut in 2003 and played Off-Broadway in 2005. It received Drama Desk nominations for best musical and best musical score and an Outer Critics Circle nomination for best Off-Broadway musical.

Lynn originally planned to stage “Thrill Me” in 2020, and rehearsals were underway when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down live theater. Post-pandemic those actors no longer were available.

This production features Mitchell Sharp and John Bearss, who were double cast in the male lead in Youngstown State University’s production of “The Last Five Years” in February.

“We started putting out feelers for a new cast last summer,” Lynn said. “Anthony gets around to a lot of productions and had seen them both before. We brought Mitchell in to sing for us and liked him very much. Then John came in, and they worked well together in terms of appearance and worked well for the characters.”

Even with a small cast, the show still presented some challenges.

“We don’t have a lot of depth on the stage,” Lynn said. “Talking with Brian Palumbo, who designed the set, I told him I wanted something very architectural, where we could create spaces with lighting. We don’t have a lot of furniture pieces.”

She credited Palumbo and lighting designer Jeff Chann with developing creative ways to tell the story, and Lynn sees the potential for more musicals there.

“I don’t know if we’d do one a year simply because of the logistics, and the other piece is the financial cost of putting on a musical,” she said. “It’s not something we’re going to do all the time, but if we find another show we can do here, we will.”

If you go…

WHAT: Selah Dessert Theater — “Thrill Me”

WHEN: 8 p.m. May 11, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26 and 27

WHERE: Selah Restaurant, 130 S. Bridge St., Struthers

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $23 and are available online at www.selahrestaurant.com/theater-events.