There’s nothing subtle about the Egyptian Theatre Company’s production of “Someone Save My Baby, Ruth.”

It’s an over-the-top melodrama presented in film noir style, said director Amber Hansen.

“It’s about the actors stretching their abilities to fit these crazy characters which are really not of this world,” she said. “As a director, I like to see the actors pushing the boundaries.”

The plot revolves around a heroine named Penny Candy, who, along with her baby, Ruth, return to Sugar Buzz, a store run by her aunt Praline. There she meets the hero, Ernest Noble and is dogged by the villain Sydney Swindle and his partner Ada Sourball, who wants to obtain and destroy the Sugar Buzz to make room for a subway.

“Everything is so colorful,” Hansen said during an interview with The Park Record. “The characters are colorful and the costumes are outlandish and there is a lot for the audience to see and experience.”

In addition to the eye candy, there will be real candy thrown to the audience through out the performance.

“It’s all good, physical and light-hearted fun,” she said.

The Egyptian Theatre’s board of directors chose the play and asked Hansen, who is part of Jack Diamond’s IMPROVabilities improv company, to direct.

“I had been performing with Jack and asked him to collaborate with me,” Hansen said. “So there are a lot of Improvibilities members in the cast, as well as other local actors.”

Having a team of improvisers on the set of any melodrama is a good thing, she said.

“With this type of show, there is that flexibility to ad lib,” Hansen said. “Every character is unique and over the top in their own way. And, as it is with all melodramas, everyone can ad lib their own things to flesh out their characters.”

It isn’t easy coordinating the ad libs with the script, especially when it comes to getting the less-experienced actors on board, Hansen said.

“Comedy, in general, is harder to perform,” she said. “It’s about timing and energy and it’s been difficult getting the younger actors in the groove. They have the hardest time finding and committing to what they want in their character.”

The characters are not realistic at all, but the actors must make them believable for the audience, Hansen said.

“If there is an emotion the character must feel, then they have to push it to its max,” she said. “What Jack and I tell them is ‘If we haven’t told you have gone too far, you haven’t gone far enough.’ If we need to pull them back, we will.”

Still, the actors are slowly getting the idea, Hansen said.

“The play is a huge romp from beginning to end with non-stop action,” she said. “I will be surprised if the audience doesn’t find a favorite character.”

The actors ultimately designed their own costumes, Diamond said.

“We were fortunate to find some strong actors who built their characters into what they would become on stage and the wardrobes were built around them,” he said. “While the costumes are pretty much shaped after the classical villain and villainess costumes of old, they are accentuated by the actors’ personalities, which heightens the presentation.”

Also, there is a lot of audience participation, Diamond said.

“There are several points in the show when the character breaks down the fourth wall and speaks to the audience,” he said. “There is also a scene-within-a-scene where the villain brings people from the audience up on stage and has them do goofy things.”

Adding to the excitement is a live pianist, named Bill Avis.

“The piano is like what you would hear in a 1920s bar,” Hansen said. “Bill is good and he can even musically ad lib the emotion of a scene.”

In order to rope all the various elements into “Someone Save My Baby, Ruth,” the two directors split rehearsals into separate sessions.

“Not only did we practice the lines and the staging, but we also did a lot of improvisation exercises,” Diamond said.

“Someone Save My Baby, Ruth” will run Feb. 11-12, 13, 18-19 and 20, at the Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main Street. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30 p.m. And Sunday performances start at 6 p.m. All performances include an IMPROVabilities showcase which immediately follows the play. Tickets range from $10-$20 and are available by calling (435) 649-9371 or visiting www.egyptiantheatrecompany.org .