For a long time, David Conaway and Monique Nee were regulars on the arts scene around the region and beyond.

He played Mozart for nine months on a national tour of "Amadeus" and was a lead in "Best Friends" off-Broadway. All told, he has acted in more than 100 plays, many of them in southeastern Connecticut.

She won a best supporting actress award at the New York International Film & Video Festival for the film "Seeds." When she was a reporter/producer for LI News Tonight, she earned an Emmy for a report about the Gateway Playhouse on Long Island.

The duo met when they were acting in "Stone the Crows" with Groton Regional Theatre.

When Conaway and Nee married and had children, though, family naturally took priority.

Now, their sons are older. Dylan is 13, and Patrick is 11. And, this weekend, they will all be back onstage.

The four Conaways are part of East Lyme Regional Theater's production of "Hairspray." Conaway gets to play Edna Turnblad, while Nee is Velma Von Tussle, and Dylan and Patrick are in the ensemble.

And they're not the only clan involved in "Hairspray."

"It's a great community and a lot of families," Conaway says.

Indeed, wife and husband Erin Lee Sousa Stanley and Chris Stanley run East Lyme Regional Theater, with Sousa Stanley directing and producing "Hairspray" and Stanley providing musical direction. Son Lucas Sousa-Ross, 18, stars as Link. Their 13-year-old son Spencer and 7-year-old daughter Scarlett are both part of the ensemble.

Sousa Stanley notes that several other families are involved, too, including relatives of Jaron Wilbur, who has had lead roles with East Lyme Regional Theater before. Here, Jaron plays Stuart, and he is part of the gospel ensemble, along with his cousins and godmother. His father, Ken Wilbur, has a few ensemble roles, and his mother, Carolyn Edwards, is Motormouth Maybelle.

Since East Lyme Regional Theater was formed six years ago, it's seen a growing number of families participating.

"It became a really wonderful place for families to do something together," Sousa Stanley says. "I think it's really neat because there's not much like that. You know, it's not like there's a family sports team that you can be a part of. It's pretty special when you have people of all ages working together on a project, coming together, being dedicated and giving all of their heart and soul to the production."

Not only that, but Conaway, who says he feels as though he's made 45 new friends, has been impressed with the quality of the work.

"The talent — the bar is so high. I look at it and go, 'Is this community theater?'" he says.

This marks just the second time the full Conaway contingent has worked together on a show. The first was six years ago in "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" at the Ivoryton Playhouse.

The Conaways moved to East Lyme four years ago, and, David says, "When we moved here, we started checking out the East Lyme Regional Theater. ... I was blown away. It was something I'd always sort of hoped for, for community theater, and it was really good."

Patrick auditioned last year for East Lyme Regional Theater's "Seussical" and was cast as one of the central characters, Jojo.

"He was just amazing. Every time we were in the audience" — Conaway stops and looks at Nee — "well, I won't speak for you, but I cried a lot. I mean, he really got bit with the bug."

When it comes to "Hairspray," Conaway doesn't just appreciate the artistic side of things; he also sees the show's themes being particularly relevant. The musical comedy — which, based on the 1988 film, debuted its Tony-winning production on Broadway in 2002 and was adapted into a 2007 movie musical starring John Travolta and Michelle Pfeiffer — is set in 1962 Baltimore, where teen Tracy Turnblad works to racially integrate "The Corny Collins Show."

"For me, it's such a timely play right now because of all the race tensions that are going on in the world," Conaway says. "To have a play that's really about acceptance — it's a black community and a white community coming together and integrating."

The irony for Nee, who is now a middle-school English teacher in Middletown, is that she has been heavily involved with a student anti-bullying program. Yet, her character in "Hairspray" is rather villainous.

"I play the biggest bully in the show, and it's horrible," she says.

She told her husband she wasn't sure if she could play the role. He convinced her, reminding her she's part of this story that's ultimately about inclusion.

"It's also about effecting change. That's the beauty of theater, right? ... If you want the message to get out there, you want to effect change, playing that role is going to help do that," Conaway says.

The kids are certainly getting the message. Nee recalls Dylan saying, "This is really about stereotypes, isn't it?"

Conaway, meanwhile, portrays Edna, Tracy's loving but self-conscious and agoraphobic mother. The character was originated by Harvey Fierstein on Broadway and then taken on by John Travolta in the movie.

"It's a great role. It's a cool thing," Conaway says.

Playing a female character does, of course, come with challenges beyond the obvious of having to shave a goatee. Conaway was, for instance, experimenting with trying to find Edna's voice, until Sousa Stanley and Stanley advised him just to do his own voice, only a little higher. He says the realized he could trust his instincts and not "put on" a voice.

SUBHEAD: A band of their own

The Conaway family has a definite gift for the performing arts, whether it's acting or playing music.

Dylan and Patrick had done a few commercials with Nee when they were younger — one for Lee's Toy and Hobby, and another for Mystic Aquarium, which also included Conaway and is still running.

The parents and kids are quite musical, and they have performed at a monthly open mic at the Music & Arts store in Waterford. They all sing; Dylan plays the drums, Patrick and David are on guitars, and Monique jokes that she plays "a mean tambourine."

"We're the modern-day Partridge Family," Conaway laughs.

Nee had wanted them to have a gig to work toward, a goal beyond just practicing. And they did, with their first official Conaway family gig a few weeks ago at Cowlick's Creamery in Waterford. An example of the type of music they perform is Fall Out Boy's "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark (Light Em Up)."

Conaway now works as a video producer at United Technologies, where he manages their video studio and all their video communications. He has helped build their new video department, and they create about 650 videos a year.

In his recreational time, Conaway is also part of the band Hit Play, which plays at various venues around the region.

"My midlife crisis was a band," he laughs.

With a band, he notes, he could do a single gig, as opposed to committing to, say, six weeks of rehearsals for a stage production.

In the case of "Hairspray," the fact that the whole family was part of that rehearsal period made it much more doable and enjoyable. It's clearly been a happy experience.

Nee says she asked Dylan, "'What do you like best about doing the show?' He said, 'Oh, it's the people.'"

If you go

What: East Lyme Regional Theater's "Hairspray"

Where: East Lyme High School, Chesterfield Road

When: 7:30 p.m. Fri., 2 and 7:30 p.m. Sat., and 2 p.m. Sun.

Tickets: $15 adults, $12 students, seniors and military

Call: (860) 460-1001