The second show of Ensemble Theater Company’s (ETC) 40th Anniversary Season is The Legend of Georgia McBride, written by Matthew Lopez and directed by Jenny Sullivan with choreography by Jamie Torcellini.

The Legend of Georgia McBride previews Thursday, Dec. 6, and runs Saturday, Dec. 8, through Sunday, Dec. 23, at The New Vic, 33 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara.

Performances are 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays; 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays; with an added 7 p.m. show on Tuesday Dec. 11 and a 4 p.m. Saturday matinee Dec. 15.

A dance-filled comedy for the holidays, the show is set in a run-down bar in the Florida Panhandle: Casey’s (played by Stephen Spencer) career as an Elvis impersonator is not going well. With his young wife, now pregnant, his luck changes when he meets an aging drag queen.

Note: the play contains adult language.

“We are just thrilled to spend the holidays with this hilarious and touching new show that has been wowing audiences from coast to coast,” said Jonathan Fox, ETC artistic director.

“It’s a funny, moving and uplifting story for the season that I know our subscribers and audiences are going to adore,” he said.

Playwright Lopez is the author of The Whipping Man, one of the most celebrated new American plays of the last decade. The Manhattan Theatre Club production received Obie, Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle awards including the John Gassner New Play Award.

The Legend of Georgia McBride premiered at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and ran off-Broadway at MCC Theatre in a production that received multiple Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle nominations, including Best Play.

Lopez’s other plays include Somewhere, Reverberation, The Sentinels and Zoey’s Perfect Wedding.

Sullivan is a Santa Barbara director who has charmed ETC’s stage with award-winning productions. ETC directing credits include Baby Doll, I Am My Own Wife, Good People, Tea at Five (with Stephanie Zimbalist), The Year of Magical Thinking (with Linda Purl), and The Lion in Winter (Indy Award).

Sullivan’s productions have been seen in Los Angeles, at Long Wharf Theatre, and off-Broadway.

Torcellini is an actor and director, as well as choreographer. He appeared in ETC’s recent production of The School for Lies and starred in The Mystery of Irma Vep. He directed ETC’s productions of The 39 Steps and Tell Me on a Sunday.

Torcellini has performed in a number of Broadway shows since 1980, including Cats, Little Johnny Jones, Me and My Girl, Jerome Robbins Broadway, Man of La Mancha and the original company of Billy Elliot.

The Legend of Georgia McBride features cast members from around the country:

Spencer, who is popular at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, plays the lead role of Casey, a young Elvis impersonator who gets pressed into service as a drag queen.

Bill Brochtrup, who plays Casey’s mentor Tracy, is best known for his long-running roles on ABC’s NYPD Blue and TNT’s Major Crimes, and was most recently on stage in South Coast Repertory’s The Sisters Rosensweig and Shakespeare in Love.

J. Stephen Brantley, who joins the cast from New York City, is the 2017 recipient of the Doric Wilson Independent Playwright Award and winner of the Micheál MacLiammóir Award for Best Actor at the 2013 Dublin International Gay Theatre Festival.

Carlton Byrd performed in Seattle Repertory Theatre/Arena Stage’s co-production of Two Trains Running.

Keiana Richard was recently producer/assistant director of the American saga Gunshot Medley: Part 1, and starred in Wood Boy Dog Fish with Rogue Arts Ensemble.

Scenic design is by Keith Mitchell, lighting design by Jared A. Sayeg, costume design by Alex Jaeger, sound design by Randall Robert Tico, and properties design by John McElveney. Production stage manager is Abigail Strange.

The Legend of Georgia McBride is made possible through the generosity of the 2018-19 Season Sponsor Leatrice Luria. Additional sponsorship is provided by Parm and Frank Williams and The Corwin D. Denney Foundation through Andy and Jo Gifford.

All preview tickets are $40. Regular adult ticket prices are ­­$60-$75 with discounts available for seniors. Student tickets are $25 each, and tickets for patrons age 29 and under are $40.

Single tickets are available through the ETC box office, 805-965-5400, or online at etcsb.org. For group sales information, call 805-965-5400. Prices subject to change.

— David Elzer for Ensemble Theatre Company.