In 2022 songwriter and satirist Tom Lehrer relinquished his copyright to all of his songs, allowing them to be recorded and performed by whoever wanted to without compensation.

Selah Dessert Theatre founder Mary Ruth Lynn decided to take him up on his offer.

The theater located above Selah Restaurant in Struthers will premiere “The Irreverent Mr. Lehrer, A Revue” for a three-weekend run starting May 9.

Lehrer, who is 96 now, was known for his ability to weave comedy and social / political commentary into his work. His 1953 self-titled album “Songs of Tom Lehrer,” launched his musical career, and he also wrote songs for such shows as “That Was the Week That Was” and “The Electric Company.”

Lehrer’s influence can be heard in the political musical comedy of The Capitol Steps and current social media stars such as Randy Rainbow.

Despite the fact that some of his songs are more than 70 years old, what struck Lynn is that most of those comedic tunes are not dated.

“The first question that comes to mind when you hear the lyrics is, ‘Have we really come very far?'” she said. “I really like his music, I really like his humor, and I could start to envision doing something with it.”

She approached Anthony Ruggiero to be musical director and asked local actor and playwright Terry Shears if he would be interested in creating a script to tie together such songs as “So Long Mom,” “I Got It From Agnes”, and “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park.” Selah had staged the premiere of Shears’ play “People Along the Way.”

“When Mary Ruth asked me to get involved, I had all these rushes of memories come back of songs I loved back in the day,” Shears said. “They were so irreverent and satirical, just plain funny. They outraged my parents, as I remember. Some of them are so relevant to today’s politics, it’s astonishing. He could be writing about now.”

To tie the songs together, Shears said he relied heavily on Lehrer’s own words. He watched and listened to Lehrer’s live performances, and Lehrer often talked about his songs before playing them.

“I adapted his words and put them in other people’s mouths with a throughline that kind of makes it make sense,” Shears said.

Originally, that dialogue was going to be delivered by an emcee who spoke in between the songs performed by the four-member cast – Vijay Welch-Young, Michelle Jones, Susan D’Amico and Tom O’Donnell. However, the actor originally cast as the emcee got a new job out of town and had to drop out, Lynn said. Rather than recast the role, she divided the lines among the four singers.

Since Lehrer quit performing more than 50 years ago, some of the cast had little prior knowledge of his work.

“I found a number of clips of his performances,” Lynn said. “I encouraged them to watch them and listen to the music, listen to the lyrics and think about what’s happening in the world today and how the lyrics relate to what’s happening now … His lyrics are just brilliant. He finds rhymes that nobody else would think of.”

Cabaret-style seating will be used to create a nightclub atmosphere in the performance space. In addition to dessert at intermission – which is included in the ticket price and part of all Selah performances – wine and appetizers will be available for purchase before the start of the show.

If you go …

WHAT: Selah Dessert Theatre – “The Irreverent Mr. Lehrer”

WHEN: 8 p.m. May 9, 10, 11, 17, 18, 24 and 25

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

HOW MUCH: Tickets are $22.50 (and include dessert at intermission) and are available online at www.selahrestaurant.com/theater-events.