Every year, Barbara Nutter swears she’s not getting onstage with the Y-Players. But for seven years, the Hampden resident has been lured back by the group’s volunteer artistic director, Pam Martin.

Some of the women in the troupe of mostly senior citizens, such as Betty Buckingham of Orrington, have managed to take a year or two off from the annual review that benefits the Bangor-Brewer YWCA.

This year, however, Brewer resident Martin did not need to use her considerable powers of persuasion to sign up Buckingham or any of the other Y-Players. She just told them what songs they’d be singing, and the ladies lined up to perform the music that defined their generation.

Martin, who over the years has spoofed cowboys, gangsters, the Great White Way and the Grand Ole Opry among others, decided to recapture the patriotic mood of the 1940s with “A Command Performance & A Tribute to the Red, White and Blue.” The show includes 40 songs, as well as a lot of information about the important role women played in the war effort. The first performance will be Tuesday, May 14.

“I couldn’t resist this ’40s music,” said Buckingham of her decision to appear in this year’s show. “I was a Marine wife and this patriotic music kind of gets to me. I’m not the only one crying though.”

That’s not unusual with this show, according to 50-year-old Martin. She is the only member of the group who did not live through the war years. She’s also the youngest Y-Player. The group is reserved for performers over age 40, but Martin lied about her age to get in 13 years ago.

“I had it in my mind to do this kind of a show with patriotic music,” she said during a recent rehearsal break. “Then, when September 11 came along, that made it all the more pertinent. There have been quite a few movies lately about World War II, and the songs from that era are surfacing in commercials. This time period and the patriotism seem to be out there and on American’s minds.”

Martin culled the Internet, old movies and histories of women in the armed forces. She listened to hours of tapes of the original “Command Performance” radio show, hosted by Bob Hope. Martin also designs and, with help from her cast members, makes nearly all of the costumes, which for this show include gloves, hats and jewelry as well as red, white and blue ensembles complete with patriotic aprons.

Every one of the 15 women who will appear in this year’s show said that while they enjoy singing and performing, the most important reasons they keep coming back are the friendship and support they get from other Y-Players. The women range in age from Martin, the youngest, to accompanist Anna Wareing, who’ll turn 90 in September.

Marion Tozier of Bucksport is a relative newcomer to the group. This will be her third production, and she admitted that the group has been very important this year since she was diagnosed with leukemia.

“It’s been special to have all these special ladies caring about me,” she said. “And, I love to sing. I think I could sing before I could walk. This is the music I cut my teeth on.”

While the singers were recovering last week from their afternoon practice, the youth group at All Souls Congregational Church was just getting started on a rehearsal of “Telling Wilde Tales,” a compilation of six fairy tales by Oscar Wilde. The group will perform at a dinner theater show in the church vestry on Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11.

For the past two years, the youth group has mounted a musical with the youth group from St. John’s Episcopal Church. Last year, they performed “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” by Andrew Lloyd Weber, in the sanctuaries of the two churches. But mounting a musical every year was a huge task, according to the Rev. Renee Garrett, minister of Christian nurture at All Souls.

Members of the youth group wanted to perform and the group needed to raise funds for a trip to Honduras in 2003, so they decided to scale back and do a dinner show.

Sharon Zolper, former director of Penobscot Theatre Company’s education programs and an experienced actress and director, agreed to direct a show. Garrett left the choice of a script up to her.

“Telling Wilde Tales” fit Zolper’s needs because she could use as few as seven or as many as 15 actors. Also, its structure allowed for performances in between courses, and the tales taught lessons without being overtly religious.

Zolper asked Will Evans, 14, and Tyler Garrett, 14, both of Bangor, to play hand drums to underscore particular sections of the tales, and to help bridge the transition from one tale to another.

Jessica Warren, 14, of Bangor plays the Star Child in the tale of the same name. She explained after a recent rehearsal that her character “starts out very arrogant,” but then his fortunes are reversed. “People treat me badly,” she added, “so the moral really is the Golden Rule – treat others as you’d like to be treated.”

Zolper described stories as “a little offbeat” and not like the usual fairy tales children read. Yet, several stories, including “The Star Child” and “The Fisherman and His Soul,” have themes about redemption.

While the Y-Players have a 15-year tradition of mounting a production to raise money for a good cause, the youth group at All Souls has been doing theater for only three years. The young and old members of both groups have found that not only is theater a good way to raise money for a worthy cause, it’s also a lot of fun and the friendships formed are essential to everyday life.

The Y-Players ask for donations at the door to fund Y scholarships and the Encore Plus program, which serves women who have had breast cancer. In all, the women will give 10 performances at the Y, in area nursing homes and churches.

Public performances of “A Command Performance & A Tribute to the Red, White and Blue.” Will be held at the YWCA, 17 Second St., at 2 p.m. May 14, 19, 28 and June 2, and at 7 p.m. May 17 and 31. For information call 941-2808.

Tickets for “Telling Wilde Tales” are available at All Souls Congregational Church for $12.50, or $10 for senior citizens. Dinner will be served at 6 p.m., with the show starting at 7 p.m. May 10 and 11 at All Souls, 10 Broadway. For information, call 942-7254.