With the doors of the Windham Hill Church flung wide open, the windows triumphantly raised and the pews packed to the back of the building, the sounds of the last weekend’s seventh annual A Night of Broadway fluttered out across the yard and into the warm summer sky, at times gently, at other times boldly, and always followed by a heartfelt thunder of applause.

“We try to make the program a mix of older classics and fresh material,” said performer Matthew Small, 27. He lives in Boston but grew up Windham.

Small and four other veteran performers spent the time before the performances on Friday, Saturday and Sunday by reminiscing, embracing and bursting into song one or two lines at a time.

“We’re all friends, so the opportunity to have a reunion every year is good for us,” said Small. He said they didn’t know one another when they started performing together in 2001, but have all become close through the annual concert.

“I come back because we’ve developed such an amazing friendship between us,” said 32-year-old performer Jennifer McLeod of Portland.

Bryan McLeod, 27, of Westbrook and the brother of Jennifer, said at this point, when he thinks of the month of July, his first thought is the concert. He said he took a week off from work to get ready for this year’s performance.

“We laugh a lot during rehearsal,” said Jennifer McLeod. “I think we laugh more than we rehearse.”

In past years, the group had more flexible schedules and was able to schedule more rehearsals. Now that Small works for Emerson College in Boston and Dan Strange, who directed, produced and played accompanying piano for this year’s performance, attends the University of Miami, the five members of the group have a tougher time getting together.

“When we all started, we were just out of high school,” said Strange, 24, and the youngest of the five. With busy schedules, the group was able to hold a single six-hour rehearsal together this year.

“I think it’s a sense of responsibility to the community that supported us, and it’s about giving back,” said Strange as to why they come back to Windham each year.

Kelly Caufield Ellis, 27, of Standish, said they don’t like to use the same songs over and over again, so there was a lot of effort put into learning and mastering new material.

“Some of our concerts bring in a lot of seniors, this one brings in a good mix,” said Terry Moore, who chairs the Music on the Hill Concert Series program for the Windham Hill United Church of Christ. The program runs four consecutive weekends and has been in place for the last 10 years.

She said A Night of Broadway raised a total of $1,414 this year.

After a brief singing introduction, Kelly Caufield Ellis sang the first solo, “Meadowlark” from the musical, “The Baker’s Wife.” The program mostly bounced between solos and duets, from broadway musicals, but Bryan McLeod did pull out “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” of Monty Python fame.

After an intermission newcomer, Ashley Liberty-Strange played “My Funny Valentine” on the violin. She married Dan Strange two weeks before the performance and has played with performers such as Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Bernadette Peters.

Jennifer and Bryan McLeod said they have a tough time each year finding a non-romantic duet for a man and a woman.

This year they took a big chance.

“Most male-female duets are love songs,” Bryan McLeod told the crowd Saturday evening during the second half of the performance. “So we’ve resorted to cannibalism.”

The siblings sang “A Little Priest” from the 1979 musical “Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street.” It was about a pair of murderers in a London meat pie shop who cooked and ate a slew of people.

“This was a little risqua,” said Jennifer McLeod. “It was all about murdering people, so we asked (for permission first).”

“The church council said they, like any group of performers, have artist freedom,” said Rev. Sally Colegrove. She said she is a big broadway fan, especially of works by Rodgers and Hammerstein, and enjoyed the performance.

“It is lively, professional broadway entertainment,” she said.

“The performance was wonderful, the voices are absolutely amazing,” said Norman Ouellette, 68, of Biddeford. He was in town visiting friends and he said he’s planning to come back next year with more people.

“Probably some of the nicest voices I’ve heard in a long time,” he added.

“They always get a pretty big crowd for these (performances) said Shirley Jennings of North Bridgton. “It looked like a full house.”

“A few of these songs we saw performed in the late 40s,” her husband Ted Jennings said, adding that the quality of performance was comparable to the originals.

Broadwaynight1: Performer Matt Small signs a comical headshot for a fan at the reception for the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ.Broadwaynight2: Performer Jennifer McLeod (at the left in black) mingles with the crowd at the reception for the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ.Broadwaynight3: Performer Kelly Caufield Ellis (in the back in black) and director Dan Strange (at the right in red) mingle with the crowd at the reception for the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ.Broadwaynight4: Performer Bryan McLeod (on the right) mingles with the crowd at the reception for the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ.Broadwaynight5: New this year was violinist Ashley Liberty-Strange. She married director Dan Strange two weeks before the performance and has played violin with performers such as Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Bernadette Peters.Broadwaynight6: Director Dan Strange (at the left in red) mingle with the crowd at the reception for the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ.Broadwaynight7: Performer Kelly Caufield Ellis spreads her arm for emphasis while singing “Meadowlark” by Stephen Schwartz at the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ.Director Dan Strange, at left, mingles with the crowd at the reception for the seventh annual A Night of Broadway at the Windham Hill United Church of Christ. Strange and four other Windhamites have performed seven straight times for Music on the Hill, the main musical offering of the year in Windham.