The vibe Saturday at the Lawrence Arts Center will be Guy Lombardo meets Dave Clark with a little Ed Sullivan shaken — not stirred — into the mix.

Drama director Ric Averill hopes the swanky nightclub atmosphere, the promise of a little bubbly and some local musical talent will lure people to a benefit for the arts center’s drama program.

The champagne corks will pop and the bubble machines will churn into action at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for Uncle Ricky’s Champagne Hour, a champagne reception and retro variety show featuring the Victor Continental Orchestra, among others.

Averill calls it a “people’s fund-raiser” and contrasts it with River City Revue, the Seem-To-Be-Players’ benefit in March that costs $30. Admission to Uncle Ricky’s is $10 this time.

“We had such a good time with that event (the River City Revue), but we also felt like we couldn’t get everybody in that we wanted to,” Averill said.

Musicians accompanying the Victor Continental Orchestra will be The Singing Averills, Kitty Steffens Mitchell and Company and the Alferd Packer Memorial String Band. Averill will head up a handful of comic hosts, including Erin Girard, Chris Waugh and Doug Weaver.

The male musicians will don powder-blue tuxedos; the women, sequined ball gowns, all donated by Randall’s Formal Wear.

Sponsors already have donated more than $2,500 in sponsorships, Averill said, and the goal is to fill the house Saturday night. With 300 people at $10 a pop, the total contributions would top $5,000 — a much-appreciated drop in the bucket of the arts center’s $250,000 annual drama budget.

Entertainers, from left, Trish Averill, Kitty Steffens Mitchell, Lauren Parsons, Steve Mason and Ric Averill rehearse for Uncle Ricky's Champagne Hour, a fund-raiser for the Lawrence Arts Center's drama program. The variety show will be Saturday evening at the arts center.

The arts center’s drama education program enrolls more than 400 youths, ages 5-18, each year. It’s Lawrence’s only comprehensive theater education program for young people.

Sally Schriner said her 13-year-old daughter, Alex, had reaped the benefits of the program. Since the family moved back to Lawrence two years ago, Alex has been taking drama courses at the center and has performed in several plays. She’s preparing to play Wilbur in an upcoming Summer Youth Theatre production of “Charlotte’s Web.”

“She’s just really blossomed in the last year,” Sally Schriner said of her daughter. “I truly believe it’s because of the experience she got at the arts center.”