VALDOSTA – Nate Blakley steps away from the rest of the cast. A purple-plaid slash of color breaking away from the other performers dressed in a vivid palette of suits and ties, shoes and hats.

Blakley kicks, steps, leaps. Arms and legs windmill out. Up, up, legs doing a full mid-air split. Faster than snapping a finger. Quicker than tapping a toe. Back to earth, shoes back on the stage, Blakley’s feet moving to join the other dancers. Colorful suits strutting, gliding, twirling, sliding under the brims of crisp fedoras.

Just one rhythmic, non-stop motion of dance and song from “Five Guys Named Moe,” Peach State Summer Theatre’s second show of the 2024 season of musicals.

“This show is a good time,” said Timothy Letheic Goins, show director and choreographer. “It’s a real party.”

The show revolves around Nomax, who is broke and his girlfriend has dumped him. Stewing in his room, Nomax turns on an old radio and the songs come to life. The songs step out of the radio as Big Moe, Four-Eyed Moe, Eat Moe, Little Moe and No Moe.

“They school Max,” Goins said. “They old school him on how to deal with life.”

That’s the framework of a plot but “Five Guys Named Moe” is really a showcase of the music of Louis Jordan, a songwriter/saxophonist whose jazz notes have been credited with making way for rock & roll. Jordan was known as the “King of the Jukebox.”

And he piled up the hits. “Five Guys” rolls them out: “Caldonia,” “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Cryin’,” “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie,” “Is You or Is You Ain’t My Baby,” “Reet, Petite and Gone,” “Five Guys Named Moe” …a total of about two dozen songs.

The Peach State show synopsis states: “Very much in the spirit of our 2022 production of ‘Ain’t Misbehavin,’ ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ is an exuberant tribute to the music of rhythm and blues pioneer and alto saxophonist Louis Jordan. ‘Five Guys Named Moe’ is an international sensation. Initially produced in London’s West End by the legendary Cameron Mackintosh, this exhilarating, all-embracing theatrical experience moved to Broadway in 1992 and was nominated for two Tony Awards.”

And while performance may be a “real party,” the cast and crew have been hard at work rehearsing the past couple of weeks. Goins is used to the toil necessary to bring a show to stage.

He’s been working with the Brooks County School System the past two years where he is the manager of the new performing arts center and has built a dance program of 80 students and a theatre program with 50 students. He also sits on the Peach State Summer Theatre board.

Goins has directed numerous shows, including “SHOUT!: The Mod Musical,” “Our Place,” “The Play That Goes Wrong,” “Big River,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “The Little Mermaid,” etc. He’s performed in productions that have toured the United States, Europe and Asia, according to his PSST! biography. He has “appeared on Broadway, national and international tours, regional theater, television and as a guest entertainer and production vocalist for cruise lines and theme parks throughout the world.”

Now, he’s ready to bring “Five Guys Named Moe” to South Georgia as the second show in the PSST! 2024 lineup.

“Moe” opens Friday and Saturday, June 14, 15, then continues on several dates through July 20. “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” opened last week and continues Sunday afternoon, June 16, then several other dates. “Annie” opens June 28, when all three shows play in rotating repertory through July 20.

THE CAST: Braxton Allen, Keemar Davis, Nate Blakley, Trey Harrell, Kameron Porter, Steven Isaac Rice.

DIRECTION, PRODUCTION: Timothy Letheic Goins, director/choreographer; David Springfield, music director; Joe Mason & Maila Gutierrez Springfield, co-vocal directors; Drake Miller, technical director; Alex Battenfield, stage manager; Jason Lee Courson, scene designer; Christian Specht, lighting designer; Clara Jean Kelly, costume designer; Zach Cramer, sound designer; Erica F. Hunter, hair designer.

Peach State Summer Theatre’s “Five Guys Named Moe” opens 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 14, 15, Sawyer Theatre, Valdosta State University Fine Arts Building, corner of Oak and Brookwood. Show continues on several dates through July 20. For more information, visit www.valdosta.edu/psst; call or visit the box office, (229) 259-7770, outside of Sawyer Theatre. Box office hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, noon-2 p.m. Sundays. The Valdosta Daily Times is the Peach State Summer Theatre corporate sponsor.