More than 40 Napa High School drama students present “Stage Door,” opening Thursday in the school’s Little Theater.

Written by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, “Stage Door” was first presented on Broadway in 1936. It later became a film starring  Katherine Hepburn, Ginger Rogers, Lucille Ball and Adolph Menjou.

The play is set in the Footlights Club, a boarding house for aspiring actresses in New York in the 1930s. They include a southern belle, a wise-cracking cynic, a tap-dancing hoofer, a talentless amateur and a girl with a past.

Terry Randall (Zoe Drew-King), trying for a big break in show business, faces a number of challenges: Can she survive the early closing of her play? Will she sell out for easy fame and money like her roommate Jean Maitland (Olivia Barker) ? Will her boy friend Keith Burgess (Alexander Lyman) give her a starring role in his new play? What does the Hollywood talent scout David Kingsley (Isaac Beauchane) really want from her?

The production is directed by Craig Craven who is filling in for NHS drama teacher Sharon Rogers, who is spending this year teaching in Beirut, Lebanon.

“The playwrights have provided a fine balance of serious moments and comic interludes that promise to provide an evening of great entertainment, “Craven said. “Many of the familiar elements of story telling are present in the script. Girl meets boy; girl loses boy; girl wins boy back — all set against the hopes and dreams of struggling actors and actresses seeking to make it big on Broadway.

“I had a small role in ‘Stage  Door’ when I was in high school and I’ve loved the play ever since,” he said. “It was one of the first plays I chose to direct when I became a high school drama teacher 13 years ago.”

Also in the cast are Sophia Vandagrill, Michelle Soriano, Katherine Potter, Alexis Pierce, Berkeley Rousseau, Thinus Vinter, Jake Nuernberger, Adam Boe, John Guirguis, Brogan McCuen, Derek Hanton, Amy Papgi, Matt Ringard, Alex Cave, Sarah Barry, Annie Groves, Hana Yamate-Morgan, Genesis Zendejas, Christine Brace, Grace Blackman, Shelby Lanterman, Kaili Espinoza, Jennifer Barley, Sarah Curtis, Megan Smith, Molly Stevens, Ashley Sousa and Alexandra Gittings.

Performances are  Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 general admission and $7 for students, seniors and active military. The Little Theater is on the Napa High campus at 2475 Jefferson St.