Infectious laughter tickles the air, filling in the space not taken up by adrenaline from some of the Triangle's most talented, creative people.

Musicians, writers and actors who have volunteered to donate their talents are rehearsing for the inaugural Murphey School Radio Show, a live 90-minute variety show set to take place Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $50.

The fundraiser will benefit four Triangle nonprofits that serve people dealing with mental health issues: Club Nova, Freedom House Recovery Center, Mental Health America of the Triangle, and XDS Inc.

Jaki Shelton Green, 2009 Piedmont Laureate, was thrilled when host Georgann Eubanks and producer Donna Campbell asked her to perform her poetry. A long-time mental health advocate and fundraiser, Green has a close family member who struggles with mental illness.

"I am so glad that Georgann and Donna and the other people involved saw how important it would be to use music and poetry and improv and laughter as a tool to bring the community together," she said. "We can't save the world with our efforts, but if we scratch long enough in the space where we are, if we come together and unify, we can change things. There is nobody else coming; it is us."

Old-timey radio show

The idea to put on an old-timey radio show grew out of the Murphey School's history and the brainstorming of current owners Jay Miller and Ebeth Scott-Sinclair.

The Chapel Hill couple bought the deteriorating school building in April 2008, restored it and situated within its walls the Shared Visions Foundation they founded in 2002 to assist local non-profits. They envisioned the school as a retreat center for groups of all sorts but especially nonprofits that needed an inexpensive place to put on meetings and fundraisers.

Both have a personal interest in mental health issues because of family history, and Miller serves on the boards of the groups the fundraiser is helping.

"Jay had committed to helping with fundraising for each but knew that fundraiser burnout was a huge issue to consider," Scott-Sinclair said. "We were on a trip in the car brainstorming, and I started thinking about the rich history of the school."

WPA project

The Murphey School was built in 1923, and in 1935 the adjoining auditorium was built as a Works Project Administration project.

Although the auditorium was part of the school, it was intended to serve the larger community, and did so until the school closed around 1960, Miller said.

Community members told him that artists such as Bill Monroe, Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff and Hank Snow performed there.

"So I had this vision of that type of community event and came up with the idea of a radio show based on that feel of the auditorium in its heyday," said Scott-Sinclair, who will perform on the show with The Piedmont Players.

The show will be recorded as a podcast and put on the Murphey School website.

"We are hoping people may be inspired to donate as they hear it, and our fantasy is that we could get future shows broadcast live from there and have it be a community event," Scott-Sinclair said.

Miller and Scott-Sinclair recruited to Eubanks and Campbell to help put the project together.

Eubanks used to host her own show on Durham radio station WDBS in the early 1990s and did a short stint on a WNCU show playing a character, a sort of on-air advice columnist named "Miss Demeanor."

"She may visit this show," Eubanks said. "We are doing a Triangle News Update with hokey news stories from the Triangle."

Jingles are being written for the real underwriters of the show, as well as some imaginary ones.

"One show is not enough to contain all of the ideas we have had," Eubanks said.

Campbell, who runs Minnow Media with Eubanks, said one of the first underwriters for the show was Adam and Eve, the adult novelty company in Hillsborough.

"They are very generous in their community work," she said. "To incorporate them into the show was fun."

Another nice surprise?

"We have found some of the Murphey School's former students, who are now in their 80s," Campbell said. "We have invited them to attend the show."

The cast will open the radio show by singing the old Murphey School song.

For Miller and his wife, the investment is not just in the building or the show but also in the community.

"This is part of why we set this place up," he said. "I called it the double bottom line kind of work. It refers to doing something that helps and is a win-win situation and helps more ways than one. In this case you would say we are doing something fun that is actually helpful."