Salt Lake Acting Company's annual production of "Saturday's Voyeur" (now in its 12th season); a University of Utah Lab Theatre staging of "Talking With"; four performances by the Junior Shakespeare Company of "Will Shakespeare's Greatest Hits;" the grand opening of two theaters - the Desert Star Playhouse in Murray and Hampton's Ford Stage Stop in Collinston, between Logan and Tremonton; a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at Weber State College; and "Tintypes" at Brigham Young University are on this week's calendar of theatrical openings.
-"SATURDAY'S VOYEUR," SLAC's devastating satire on local incidents and events, is already sold out for its entire six-week run.SLAC tried - unsucessfully - to retire the show a couple of seasons back, but patrons wouldn't let them. SLAC Artistic Director Edward J. Gryska said that on Oct. 1, when "Voyeur" tickets first went on sale to the general public, "The ticket line stretched out to the street for hours and the phones were ringing off the wall."
This year's production marks the return of Elthora's "Nutcracker Dream Ballet," with a Tchaikovskyesque number on Utah's bid for the Winter Olympics.
Co-author Nancy Borgenicht notes that "part of Voyeur's appeal is that it remains current satire. What was funny to me this year was cold fusion and James Levoy Sorenson's $15 million gift to the University of Utah. There will also be a special number called `This People' sung by a women's group we call The Murmurers."
Becki Mecham and Mark Chambers are returning to the cast as Mother Elthora and her son, Darrell. Also in the cast are Duaine V. Stephens, Toni Lynn Byrd, Betsy Nagel, Joe Pitti, Michael James Anderson, Calvin Johnson, Jayceen Marie Craven, Kitchell Jones, Roger Stephenson and Annie Draper.
"Saturday's Voyeur" (inspired by the equally phenomenal musical "Saturday's Warrior") was originally written and created in 1978 by Borgenicht and Michael Buttars. Since 1979, it has been modified and updated by Borgenicht and Gryska.
Gryska is directing this year's show, with Ron Van Woerden as musical director and Jim Hill as organist. The "Nutcracker" choreography is by Marina Harris. Others assisting are Cory Dangerfield, sets; Megan McCormick, lighting; and Sylvia D. Flem, costumes.
Some tickets are still available for the New Year's Eve Gala at $50 each, a portion of which is tax deductible. The gala includes the performance, food, live music and dancing.
-"TALKING WITH," Jane Martin's collection of 11 monologues presented by women who "talk with" earnestness and sincerity to their audience, will be presented Thursday, Nov. 16, through Sunday, Nov. 19 in the Lab Theatre, located in the Performing Arts Building on the University of Utah campus.
Characters in the play include a baton twirler, an ex-rodeo rider, a fundamentalist snake handler (and her snake), a woman who holds her life symbolically in her hand (one clear glass marble), and an old woman who claims she once saw a man with a "cerebral walrus" walk into a McDonald's and be healed by a Big Mac.
Director Hester Schell believes this play is a "collage of life, both touching and humorous; it is a play about real people, with real beliefs and real problems who take a risk and share their personhood with us."
Performance dates are Thursday, Nov. 16; Friday, Nov. 17, and Saturday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m., with a 5 p.m. show on Friday. The final performance will be Sunday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m. Call the Pioneer Memorial Theatre box office at 581-6961 for ticket information.
The Performing Arts Building is adjacent to the book store on the U. campus.
-THE JUNIOR SHAKESPEARE COMPANY will present "Will Shakespeare's Greatest Hits" at 7 and 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 17, and Saturday, Nov. 18, in the Little Bowery theater (upstairs) at Promised Valley Playhouse, 132 S. State. The company of theatrically gifted teenagers will present scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Romeo and Juliet" and "Macbeth."
Director is Pam Blackwell.
Tickets are $3.50 each or $10 for a family of four. Call 485-3555 for reservations and further information.
-"FLOWER OF THE SOUTH, OR NIPPED IN THE BUD," a musical melodrama by the Desert Star Theatrics troupe, will premiere on Friday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. at Desert Star Playhouse, 4861 S. State, Murray. The former Vista Theater has been remodeled into an Old West saloon-type of theater for family-oriented melodrama productions.
The opening had originally been scheduled for Nov. 3 but was delayed two weeks because of construction work. The interior of the historic old Vista (built in the 1930s as the Iris Theater) has been covered with rustic-looking barnwood. The theater will feature cabaret style seating, with free popcorn on the tables. Soft drinks are available and within the next few weeks pizza and ice cream will be added to the menu.
"Flower of the South" will be presented on Mondays and Thursdays through Saturdays, Nov. 17 through Jan. 6.
Admission is $5 ($3 for those under 12) and group rates are available. For further information or reservations, call 266-7600.
-"BUNDLE OF TROUBLE," a comedy by Ruth and Nathan Hale about an eccentric inventor wrestling with a rapscalion child, his ex-wife, an overbearing bureaucrat and other problems, will be the opening production of the new Hampton's Ford Stage Stop in Collinston.
Hampton's Ford is a historical site on the Bear River between Tremonton and Logan. The 320-seat, arena-style theater, being operated by Jody and Soni Barrus, is inside a 100-year-old barn on the property.
Soni Barrus, the company's artistic director, is directing "Bundle of Trouble." Her cast includes Varlo Davenport, Treen Fronk, Jennifer Christensen, Mary Goring, Celia Bennett, Christine Caldwell, Brad Brown, Ron Taylor and Troy Jenkins.
The show opens Friday, Nov. 17 and will continue through Saturday, Dec. 16, with performances on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. There will be no performance on Thanksgiving night.
(The "grand opening" performance, however, will begin at 7:30 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.)
Season tickets for all seven shows in the Stage Stop's 1989-90 season are $24. For reservations or further information, call 257-7330. Individual tickets are $4 each. Group rates and special dinner/theater packages in combination with the adjacent Hampton's Ford Inn are also available.
-"TINTYPES," described as a musical montage that frames social and philosophical insights, opens Thursday, Nov. 16, in the Pardoe Drama Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center at Brigham Young University, where it will continue on Tuesdays through Saturdays through Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a matinee at 4 p.m. on Nov. 27.
"Tintypes" will take place on a sepia-toned stage designed by Karl Pope that reflects turn-of-the-century America. An old tintype camera will flash scenes that depict the era. Teddy Roosevelt is U.S. president, and issues of the early 20th century are cloaked in a refreshing spirit of native optimism.
Director Marion Bentley's cast includes Alex Perez, Lezlee Stoker Tingey, Lita Little, Shaun Marty Morgan and Marcie Jacobsen.
"We are having great fun and we're already ready for performance," says Bentley. "The show is actually a musical revue with threads of story woven through song and dance. Auditions brought a gifted cast, primarily from the audition-only musical theater program, and we have a wonderful ensemble."
The story was conceived by Mary Kyte with Mel Marvin and Gary Pearle and was produced on Broadway by Richmond Crinkley and Royal Pardon Productions.
Familiar, popular music characterizes the show. Among the offerings are "Yankee Doodle Dandy," "Ta Ra Ra Boom-De-Ay," "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight," "In My Merry Oldsmobile," "America the Beautiful," "Shortnin' Bread," and "Bill Bailey, Won't You Please Come Home." The music is so singable, Bentley has even incorporated a singalong as part of the finale.
For tickets, contact the BYU drama ticket office at 378-7447.
-"ROMEO AND JULIET" will be presented by Weber State College's department of performing arts nightly from Tuesday through Saturday, Nov. 14-18.
Director Larry West, who joined the WSC faculty this fall, is alterting audiences that this production of "Romeo and Juliet" will be different than the movie or traditional versions of the Shakespearean classic.
"Even though I'm updating and taking liberties with the play," West says, "my intent is to communicate as best we can the real passion of this story. Hopefully we are serving the play and a contemporary audience.
"We've taken some risks in making it very simple, sparse, nontraditional, with minimal scenery and costumes. I want to focus on the passion, excitement and joy in life - death. I want people to come away saying, `Wow, what a great story!' "
West's cast includes Susan Seifert and Samuel Payne in the title roles, with Chris Stegen, Eric Coyer, Greg Duffin, David McConnell, Celeste Robinette, Neil C. Johnson, Brad Schroeder and Marilyn Mills.
Tickets are available at the Dee Events Center ticket office during regular weekday hours or at the Browning Center box office one hour before showtimes. For ticket information, call 626-8500.