COEUR d'ALENE - Memorize 22 songs in two weeks?

No problem.

Not for the five-person cast in "Pump Boys and Dinettes" at the Coeur d'Alene Summer Theatre.

"The characters are ridiculous and fun and just kind of push themselves to the limit," said Kasey RT Graham, who is also the choreographer.

Let's set the stage.

The pump boys, Jackson, Jim and LM, sell high octane on Highway 57 in Grand Ole Opry country in North Carolina. The dinettes, Prudie and Rhetta Cupp, run the Double Cupp diner next door.

Together, they serve up gas, food and an evening of country western songs.

While the boys play electric and acoustic guitar, mandolin, keyboard and accordion, the girls accompany them with whisks, spoons, pots, pans and cheese graters, "anything they can get their hands on," Graham said.

The result is great theater and a great concert. It's a show with high spirits, high octane and lots of laughs, Graham said.

"It's unlike any show I've ever done before," he said.

Which brings up the difficulty of this musical, where the performers are also the musicians and are on stage pretty much the entire 1 hour, 20-minute production.

"It's definitely a challenge figuring out how much movement," he said. "There isn't a lot of stuff you can do while playing a guitar and you don't want to stand there for two hours."

But they came up with the answer in the two weeks since rehearsals began.

"We've stretched these boys as far as they can go, with everything you can do while playing a guitar, and they look great," he said.

It works.

According to the New York Times, "it's "both musically and theatrically ... a triumph of ensemble playing. It doesn't merely celebrate the value of friendship and life's simple pleasures, it embodies them."

Graham graduated from Whitworth College in 2003 with a major in theater and minor in music.

He's turned his attention to directing and this is his first time directing a show at the Summer Theatre.

"I'm very excited. I worked here for so many years, it's like coming home," he said.

"'Pump Boys and Dinettes' incorporates the audience into the show. There's really no 'fourth wall.' The music and dialogue is a conversation with the audience. They become pump boys and dinettes themselves," a release said.

There's a raffle during the show and one person will go home with a prize.

"The audience will also get to show their appreciation so they better not forget to tip their waitress!" the release said.

The cast is Steven Dahlke, also musical director, as LM, J. Michael Zygo as Jackson, Dane Stokinger as Jim, Jessica Skerritt as Rhetta Cupp and Jillian Zygo as Prudie Cupp.

There are two real-life couples in the show: J. Michael and Jillian Zygo have been married five years, and Stokinger and Skerritt are engaged.

All are "great performers, movers, dancers and actors," Graham said, and a main reason this works so well on a larger stage instead of a smaller one where its traditionally performed.

"The show is like spending the morning in Mayberry, the afternoon with the boys of Dukes of Hazards, and an evening at the Grand Old Opry," the release said. "After the first few minutes, it's easy to see that they may not get a whole lotta work done, but they know how to have a good time."