The 40th anniversary of the Rohnert Park Kitchen Kut-Ups will be celebrated this year in Spreckels Performing Arts Center on July 7, 10, 12 and 14. Four shows on the main stage, and they all have a 1 p.m. curtain time.

Like all musical productions headed for the big stage, the Kut-Ups have been performing a series of “Mini Shows” in other venues as a preview and fundraiser for their RP “Broadway” debut.

They’ve already done three shows in April, and the next is Saturday April 28, in Emeritus Retirement Home in Santa Rosa’s Fountaingrove hilltop. The troupe will also perform Saturday, May 5, at Creekside Village in Sonoma; Thursday, May 17, at Oakmont in Santa Rosa; and Saturday, May 26, at Merrill Gardens in Sonoma. The month of June will see the Kut-Ups settled at home for strenuous rehearsals in Burton Avenue Rec Center and final rehearsals in Spreckels Theater.

It’s been 40 years since Betty Ferra gathered a cast of seniors, gave them kitchen implements and kazoos to play, rehearse their songs and dances and found pianist Larry Broderick to conduct the music from his keyboard. Ferra has retired to Alaska, but Broderick is still with the group. But now, he’s also in charge of a bigger 12-piece pit band of senior instrumentalists.