During Tony Bingham’s career at Point Park University, he landed a role in the production of “The Fantasticks.” Almost 25 years later, Bingham will take the stage again in “The Fantasticks,” joined by another alumnus of Point Park, Jason Shaver.

“I’m still compelled by the story. I’m still intrigued by the characters,” Bingham said in a phone interview. “I’m still blown away by the music. It’s so melodic, and it’s also strange at times.”

Pittsburgh Public Theater (PPT) is opening its 42nd season with the show “The Fantasticks” at the O’Reilly Theater.

Margie Romero, communication manager at PPT, said the show has a big story, but is told in a simple, imaginative way.

“Some of it is wildly funny and other parts are very heartfelt,” Romero said. “There is something for every generation and the songs are both catchy and moving.”

The musical started as an off-Broadway production at the Sullivan Theater in New York City. Due to its popularity, the show ran from the 1960s to 2002.

“The music is wonderful. It’s interesting and unusual and I think those are two of the reasons it ran so long on Broadway,” Bingham said. “It was an unconventional approach to a pretty standard convention to how to present a show on Broadway. They mixed it up.”

Shaver, a 2004 Point Park graduate, has worked in the local area and this his first time working with PPT. He’s portraying the character “The Mute.”

“[‘The Mute’] is an interesting little character,” Shaver said. “‘The Mute’ is there to basically facilitate the story, he’s there with props, he’s moving scenery. But he also gets to show his opinion of what’s going on in the show.”

Bingham has been in other production around the area and most recently in PPT’s performance of “Guys and Dolls.” In this production, he is portraying the character “Mortimer, known as The Actor Who Dies.”

“I play the sidekick to a couple of hired actors that are apart of the play, within the play… He has been dying as a part of his career for his whole life, since he was a little boy,” Bingham said. “It’s fun to be able to give him some sort of back story of my own that I filled in. It’s my little secret that I take on stage with me.”

Shaver said he finds motivation in the story and how universal it is for the audience.

“You sometimes think when you are living your life that things you’re going through are only happening to you. But when you see the story and realize somebody had to write it and someone had to get inspiration for it and sort of touches just about everyone,” Shaver said. “It makes you realize that everybody goes through the same thing.”

One of Bingham’s favorite aspects about the show and something he said he questions is, “what compels these characters to come together?”

“I think trying to solve that mystery as an actor is what makes doing this show so enjoyable,” Bingham said. “The ultimate challenge is to just to sort of figure out what bring this group together to do these wonderful, and strange songs.”

While Bingham said he wonders what brings these characters together, he said he also finds inspiration in the character’s mysteriousness and as an actor wants to get to the bottom of who he is portraying.

“You don’t really find out much backstory about the characters, maybe a sentence or two, or three or four. Some characters you get absolutely zero backstory,” he said. “Not getting very much information has been a very fun challenge for me.”

Romero said she thinks students would enjoy this show because it is centered around character’s their age.

“The story is about two people their own age and how they deal with love, parents and growing up,” Romero said. “But the musical also has a magical quality that really draws you in.”

After finishing the university’s musical theater program, Shaver said he learned a lot about theater and by the time he graduated he was a different performer.

“Everything from just basic singing, to dance, to learning how to interpret a character and learning about the business,” Shaver said. “So Point Park trained me greatly for my career as a whole.”

Bingham said Point Park was instrumental in making sure its students were ready across the board, and the program taught him a variety of different acting approaches.

“They were always pushing us to be ready professionally, to understand the process of creating a work of art and that was really important,” Bingham said. “We always had a lot of different ‘tools’ in our bag to approach each project. As an actor that’s a really important to have those different tools because no project is ever going to be the same.”

PPT is always welcoming Point Park alumni and students to be a part of previous and current productions. Romero said the students that PPT has worked with have been prepared for the professional world.

“Actors leave school with a respect for the process,” she said. “They know how to approach a play or musical and how to work well with directors and other actors.”

Shaver offered advice for students in the theater program at Point Park.

“Take it all in, learn as much as you can and if you’re going into the arts you [have] to build up, be resilient,” he said. “This career isn’t easy, but Point Park trains you greatly.”

“The Fantasticks” will run from Sept. 29 to Oct. 30 at the O’Reilly Theater located in the Cultural District. Student can receive discounted tickets at a rate of $15.75. For further information, visit ppt.org.