From left to right, Harpers Ferry resident Elody Mackey, Harpers Ferry resident Carol Goldthorpe, Shepherdstown resident Eileen Elliott and Charles Town resident Brenda Hooper pose in their costume, inspired by the Broadway's new musical, "The Great Gatsby," in New Street United Methodist Church on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — A table full of flappers slowly sipped tea together on Saturday afternoon, as they watched a group of five local musical theater performers singing “Another Op’nin, Another Show” from Cole Porter’s 1948 musical, “Kiss Me, Kate.” The group was one of many inspired to dress up like characters from their favorite Broadway musicals, whether that be the ladies in “The Great Gatsby” or Elphaba and Glinda in “Wicked.”

According to Margaret Rose Peterson, the bi-annual ladies tea’s theme, “Broadway: The American Musical,” was brought to life through the work of community members invested in raising funds to care for New Street United Methodist Church’s historic building. Through their collective efforts, each table was decorated with musical theater inspiration, such as with a yellow brick road made of Hershey’s Nuggets, a children’s book of “The Wizard of Oz,” a selection of tea bags in rainbow order and a rainbow-and-clouds centerpiece, referencing three related musicals, “The Wizard of Oz,” “Wicked” and “The Wiz.” Old Broadway playbills were donated by church members toward the decor. Costumes posed on mannequins throughout New Street United Methodist Church’s dining room further brought the theme together, with dresses like Dorothy’s gingham one from “The Wizard of Oz,” as well as costumes from other musicals like “The Sound of Music,” “My Fair Lady,” “Sister Act,” “The Addams Family,” “The Pajama Game,” “Finnian’s Rainbow” and “Oklahoma.”

“The costumes came from a variety of places. Some were personally owned, like the ones I loaned for ‘The Sound of Music’ display and the ones loaned by Margaret Rose from the many years her family has been involved in theater. Still others were loaned to us by the Old Opera House,” said Bonnie Costello, who co-organized the tea with fellow church member Jen Wabnitz. “It truly was a collective effort here.”

All 75 tickets being sold for the show had been purchased ahead-of-time, according to Wabnitz.

“I couldn’t be happier with how the tea turned out,” Wabnitz said, mentioning all of the tea salads, sandwiches and desserts were made by the women of the church. “It’s a lot of work. It’s all a fundraiser for the church — hopefully we made a decent profit!”

Community members, old-and-young alike, attended the tea in New Street United Methodist Church on Saturday. Tabitha Johnston

On top of all of the ladies’ work, about eight men from the church volunteered their afternoons to serve as waiters for the tea. Wabnitz’s own husband, Steve, served as one of the waiters, as well as one of the set designers, having painted the New York City skyline as a stage backdrop for the musical theater program.

“The Great White Way has influenced American culture since the turn of the century, providing millions of people with high-quality entertainment,” said Peterson’s daughter, Meg Patterson, who co-organized the program with her friend, Paul Cabell. “I kind of stole the idea from a PBS series. We had to have a starting point, as to what we were going to do with a program on such a broad subject.”

Patterson and Cabell were joined by Megan West, Daniel Rossbach and Jack Dempsey, who are familiar faces in the local theater world, to perform 10 noteworthy songs from the past 100 years of musical theater.

“It’s hard to cover a hundred years in just a few songs! Although some favorites had to be left out, we knew that we couldn’t do them all,” Patterson said. “We tried to pick stuff that would appeal to the broader masses, even if they weren’t familiar with them.”

"Another Op'nin', Another Show" from "Kiss Me, Kate," was performed at Saturday's tea in New Street United Methodist Church by, from left, Jack Dempsey, Paul Cabell, Daniel Rossbach, Megan West and Meg Patterson. Tabitha Johnston

A member of New Street United Methodist Church waits on a table at the ladies tea on Saturday.