ASHLAND — Ashland native Suzanne Blunk will stretch her acting muscles this summer when she appears as a pioneer, Washington woman, slave and soldier in the new outdoor musical drama titled “A. Lincoln: A Pioneer Tale.”

Blunk, daughter of Thomas and Bola Blunk of Flatwoods, said she is part of an ensemble of 39.

“Even though we don’t have speaking parts, the ensemble brings the musical to life with big, choral pieces and dance numbers,” the recent graduate of Northern Kentucky University said. “The ensemble drives the musical along.”

The two-act show, which includes an original score of 10 songs, portrays Lincoln in various stages of life and four different actors take on those roles. Blunk said she was drawn to the show because the chairman of the theater department at her alma mater, Ken Jones, wrote and directs the show and asked her to be in it. She even turned down a job in New Hampshire to appear in Jones’ work.

“The (musical drama) was created and is performed to save the amphitheater and to help the locals get the word out about Lincoln growing up in Indiana,” she said. “He was born in Kentucky and lived in Illinois, but he grew up in Indiana. This is where he lost his mother and sister and where he grew up and had experiences that shaped him as a man.”

She said Jones first wrote the work as a drama but found it to be too dark; he rewrote it three times and eventually turned it into a musical, which has its serious moments, Blunk said, including a re-enactment of a battle of the Civil War and two funerals.

“The audience really appreciates the uplifting ending that we have,” she said. “The finale, ‘Hopes and Dreams of Indiana,’ shows that we’ll be chasing our dreams like Lincoln chased his.”

The setting lends intensity to the show; the Lincoln Amphitheatre is on the grounds Lincoln walked as a boy. Lincoln lived in Indiana from the time he was 7 to 21, receiving his less than one year of formal education in Indiana.

Jones said he believes in the importance of the show.

“This new musical will show that as the boy grew to a man in Indiana, and through determination of spirit and a compassion for the people, this common American achieved greatness. With this new musical play, audiences will experience and celebrate the life and times of this extraordinary man through song, dance and spectacle,” Jones said.

Songs were written  by Christine Jones and composed by Jamey Strawn.

 Blunk said although the setting for the play is remote, it’s an attractive place.

“We realize we’re in the middle of nowhere and in the middle of two time zones and in a gorgeous state park,” she said. “It’s more for locals than tourists.”

She said the amphitheater can seat 1,500; the show has averaged about 200 per night.

This is Blunk’s second job following graduation from college. When the show ends its run, she said she plays to move to New York and audition for shows, following in the footsteps of Steve Kazee, an Ashland native who won a Tony Award on Sunday for his lead role in the musical “Once.”

“I’m hoping to meet him soon,” she said. “My mom knows his aunt and mentioned to him a girl from Ashland hopes to meet him after the show is finished.” She said she’d love to get a part in the musical “Book of Mormon.”

She said her parents are very supportive of her goals.

“The only reason I’m able to do this so easily is because of my parents,” Blunk said. “My mom is a major supporter. They’re both engineers who are math and science oriented and probably wondering how they created an arts-oriented child but they have been nothing but supportive and that’s very fortunate for me.”

Blunk, 22, attended Paul G. Blazer High School through her junior year and was accepted into the North Carolina Conservatory of the Arts’ drama program in Winston-Salem, N.C. After graduation, she earned her bachelor of fine arts degree in musical theater from Northern Kentucky University.

Blunk also has appeared on stage as Alice Miller in “My Favorite Year,” Millie Davis in “Trouble in Mind” and various roles in “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Colored Museum” and “Much Ado About Nothing.”

LEE WARD can be reached at lward@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2661.