Wife-and-husband duo Dorothy and Phil Smith of Salunga will have the first show they've written performed by an official theater organization for the first time when the Promise Players perform its spring musical in March.

The Smiths and their son, C.J., teamed to pen "Muddled Memories: A Bible Journey," a family-friendly, staged musical with a lighthearted look at Bible memories with something seriously muddled in the middle, including a monkey, an emu, and a super man.

Dorothy, the show's director, wrote the dialogue and contributed some of the lyrics. Phil, the musical director, and C.J., a professional musician who now lives in Allentown, wrote the music and the majority of the lyrics.

"Probably my favorite thing musically is directing and/or hearing something I've composed being performed. That is a big joy," said Phil, who is also the director of the Bainbridge Band and writes some arrangements for that group.

The Promise Players is a Christian theater group and a ministry of Lampeter Church of the Brethren, where its shows are held. The members of the cast are from all over Lancaster County. The cast is made up of Melissa Blasick, Kiara Hess, Linda Ross, Michelle Coblentz, Emily Bauman, Debbie Houck, Pat Gruber, Jean Ross, Emma Stahl, Marty Raine, Bella Sedano-Perez, Sofie Sedano-Perez, Elyse Hershey, Lena Good, Steve Quigg, Chris Gruber, Wayne Rhinier, Ken Hess, Jim Mahoney, Lanny Millette, Micah Raine, and Levi Livengood. Anna Breneman is the stage manager.

"Muddled Memories: A Bible Journey" is a comedy featuring puns and plays on words, Dorothy said. "We take a series of Bible stories, and we muddle something in the middle," she said. "We try to follow true to the message behind the Bible story, and we do emphasize that. It's just in the acting out of it we twist some things."

For example, the musical features Garden of Sweden instead of the Garden of Eden. "Rather than having people naked on stage and realize they're naked, we pretend they're in Sweden, and not realizing it's cold until the apple is eaten. Then they're freezing," Phil explained.

The group puts on two shows a year, a play in the fall and a musical in the spring. The productions traditionally raise money for a Christian nonprofit. This spring, the beneficiary is the Manheim Community Life Group's Home on Ferdinand, a transitional living program designed to provide support for women and children currently facing homelessness.

"It always feels good," Dorothy said. "We have benefited a number of nonprofits. They always are appreciative, and it's always nice to give back to the community."

The Promise Players group has been doing just that since Doreen Creighton founded it 25 years ago. Ken Hess was a member of the original troupe and is still active.

"I never thought I could act," Hess said. "Never, ever, ever. That wasn't on my radar. One time they needed a Lazarus and asked if I would do it. The choir director at the church I was attending asked me to do it. I said I had never done anything like this before. He said, 'Well, we'll teach you.' That was the beginning, and I fell in love with it. And I'm doing my 40th show this spring."

Hess has seen the Promise Players come a long way. "I didn't know much about the ministry until I started getting involved with it," said Hess. "The original director (Creighton) wanted something that was not secular, that was all sacred, all religious, that you could have fun with it and a lot of comedy. And it had to have a message. It started very slowly, and it built and built and built. There were times where they were less than 50 people in the audience."

"Muddled Memories: A Bible Journey" will be performed Thursday, March 20, to Sunday, March 23, and Thursday, March 27, to Sunday, March 30, at Lampeter Church of the Brethren, 1900 Lampeter Road, Lancaster. Show times will be 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 2:30 p.m. Sundays.

Reservations are strongly encouraged, although seating is general admission on a first-come, first-served basis. The Smiths suggest people make reservations at https://promiseplayers.org, as Promise Players shows are often sold out. For more information, call the church office Mondays to Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at 717-464-2050.