Buddy Reeder has waited his entire life for this moment.

The Pittsboro native and 1989 Tri-West High School graduate came back home this month to direct and choreograph “Cats,” the featured production through April 5 at Beef&Boards in Indianapolis.

“It is a dream come true,” said Reeder, 37, who lives in Chicago. “I love coming home, seeing family and being able to have them come see my work.”

Reeder even recruited one of his family members and her feline companions to help his cast prepare for the production. The group visited his mother, Cathy Burkert, who lives in Cloverdale, during rehearsals earlier this month.

Reeder wanted his actors to play with and study the mannerisms of Burkert’s eight cats to help them transition to their characters in the show.

“We watched how they stood, interacted, played and even cleaned themselves to gain the kind of details that turn this from a bunch of actors dancing around in cat costumes to a real show,” Reeder said.

One of Reeder’s 23 cast members is another local, Peter Scharbrough, who graduated from Ben Davis High School and lives in Indianapolis.

Scharbrough, 23, has become a Beef&Boards regular, having appeared in about six shows there during the past two years — but this one, in which he plays Quaxo, has been different.

“There is so much to learn in this show,” he said. “It goes beyond singing, dancing and the script. I’m not used to wearing this much makeup from my forehead to my neck, and trying to learn how to be another species is completely different and very challenging.”

Both Reeder and Scharbrough were active in their schools’ theater programs while growing up in the area.

Scharbrough participated in every spring musical at Ben Davis before graduating in 2004. That passion runs in his family: His father, Daniel, performed at Beef&Boards for 25 years.

Reeder started dancing when he was 7. By the time he reached junior high, the theater director let him participate in the junior high and high school musicals.

Though this will be his first time directing a show at Beef&Boards, Reeder isn’t new to its stage. Since moving to Chicago 18 years ago to pursue a theater career, Reeder has performed in “Cats” numerous times across the country, including at Beef&Boards in 2004.