The Stage Coach Players of DeKalb will open their new musical comedy Curtains Thursday.

“Curtains is about a theater company in 1959, who are showing a preview of their new play when the lead lady is murdered on stage,” said director Tim Ball.

The mystery is complicated further when a police detective arrives and forces the cast and crew to remain in the theater.

“Lieutenant Frank Cioffi is a homicide detective, and he keeps everyone in place until the mystery is solved,” said Mike Scorzo, who plays Cioffi.

This is Ball’s first musical, and he said it has been a little challenging.

“I’d be lying if I said it’s been going totally smoothly, but I think everything will work out well,” Ball said.

As a musical, the play requires more choreographic elements than a traditional play.

“There’s a lot of extra things I have to keep track of,” Ball said.

The show is also made more difficult by the fact that the characters in the play are putting on a play of their own called Robbin’ Hood of the Old West.

Actors have to switch between the show within the show and Curtains itself, Scorzo said.

The experience of the cast was instrumental in helping the play come together.

“We have a great cast,” Scorzo said. “There are lots of Stage Coach veterans with lots of experience.”

The show’s opening night is this Thursday at 8 p.m.

Curtains runs at 8 p.m on Sept. 15 to 17. with a matinee 2 p.m. on Sept. 18, said Gloria Dennison, box office manager for Stage Coach Players.

The play will have a two-week run. It will also run at 8 p.m. Sept. 22 to 24, and at 2 p.m. on Sept 24 to 25.

The Stage Coach Players Theater is located on 126 S. Fifth St. in DeKalb. Tickets are $15 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under.