In addition to the Broadway Stage's engagement of "Nothing Like the Sun" starring Patrick Page (see today's cover story), 10 productions are opening this week in the region, including Salt Lake Acting Company's new musical satire, "Salt Lake Salt Lake"; Desert Star Playhouse's mounting of Bob Bedore's original sequel to "A Christmas Carol," and a one-night touring production of "Ken Hill's Phantom of the Opera" in Logan.
Here are the details:- SALT LAKE SALT LAKE is not just a rehashed, cleaned up version of Salt Lake Acting Company's former fund raiser, "Saturday's Voyeur."
Coauthored by SLAC Artistic Director Edward J. Gryska, musical director Ronald Van Woerden and Richard Jewkes, the musical revue (containing - at last count - at least 35 songs) promises an insider's perspective on life in this Pretty Great State.
It even has something of a plot, the gist of which is, instead of a "fun bus" to Wendover, a bunch of tourists have chartered a "Siegel Tours" bus from Wendover. The tour guide will lead SLAC patrons on an adventure around and beyond the Wasatch Front, tweaking the noses of politicians and Beehive State foibles en route.
The cast includes Duane Stephens as Buster Bee and Annette Write as Lottie, his cohort, joined by Becky Mecham, Stephanie Capner, Toni Byrd, Brenda Myers, Kimberlee Hart, Alan Brodine, Adam Turner, Terry A. Harrison, K.C. Eldrdge and Roger Stephenson.
"Salt Lake Salt Lake" opens Wednesday, Nov. 18. Admission is $12 during "premiere week" (Nov. 18-22), after which tickets will be $16 on Wednesays, Thursdays and Sundays, $20 on Fridays and Saturdays, and $15 for weekend matinees. Student, senior citizen and group discounts are available. All seats are reserved.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. on Wednedays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 and 7 p.m. on Sundays. For reservations, call the SLAC box office at 363-0525.
Post-play discussions are scheduled for Nov. 22 (following the matinee) and Dec. 3.
Both "Salt Lake Salt Lake" and SLAC's next production, "The Kathy & Mo Show: Parallel Lives" (Jan. 20-Feb. 21) feature cabaret seating.
- A CHRISTMAS CAROL, PART II: A DICKENS OF A CHRISTMAS is local actor/writer Bob Bedore's musical melodrama sequel to the Dickens classic, being presented at Desert Star Playhouse.
Directed by Jansen Davis, the cast includes Scott Curran as a very large Tiny Tim, Michael Claridge as Scrooge, Gail Hayes as Belle, his true love, and Ken Grazier as Bob Cratchit. Others in the cast, playing a variety of roles, are Jansen Davis, Marilyn Alldredge, Ron Johnson and Konni Kendell.
The post-show holiday olio will be "Season's Greetings."
Some performances are already sold out and early reservations are recommended. On opening weekend, Nov. 20-21, performances will be at 7 p.m. only. Starting Nov. 23, performances will be at 7 p.m. Mondays & Thursdays and both 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Fridays & Saturdays. There will also be some Saturday matinees at 3 p.m. Admission is $8 for adults, $6 for children. There is also a preview performance on Thursday, Nov. 19, for which all seats are $6.
There will be no performances on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Desert Star Playhouse is located at 4861 S. State St., Murray. The theater features cabaret style seating. Pizza, soft drinks and ice cream treats are available. Reservations are required. Call 266-7600.
- KEN HILL'S PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, a campy, comedic version of the popular classic, is being presented one night only on Tuesday, Nov. 17, in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center, Utah State University campus, Logan.
This is the only Utah stop on its national tour.
The production, not to be confused with Andrew Lloyd Webber's megahit, is being touted as "the original London stage musical." In fact, it did open in Great Britain before Lloyd Webber's more famous production. Critics on both sides of the Atlantic have said Ken Hill's version is funnier and campier than Lloyd Webber's - and that the music is better, too.
Admission is $15 ($6 for USU students) and season subscribers may purchase tickets for $12. Children under 5 will not be admitted.
Tickets may be purchased in advance at the USU Ticket Office in the Smith Spectrum or at the information desk of the Taggart Student Center. They will also be available at the door.
- CHILD OF BETHLEHEM, a new version of the Christmas story, will play for 14 performances, Nov. 21-Dec. 29, at City Rep, 638 S. State St.
Directed and adapted by Joanne M. Parker (from a 1909 story set in turn-of-the-century England) the cast includes H. Clayton Smith, Collyn Kreuzer and Brent Graham as three lonely, childless Britons (Prof. Biggleswade, Lord Doyle and Sir Angus McCurdie) who have an experience that causes them to reflect on their worth and their ability to give.
Others in leading roles are Rosi Hayes as Mary and Michael Canham as Joseph.
The 30-member cast also includes Jennifer Krebs, Shellie Waters, Thad Goodman, Wayne Fuller, Angel Killpack, Marye Bishop, Robert Shinkoski and Elisa Brewerton.
Regular evening performances will be Nov. 21, 23 & 27 and Dec. 5, 7, 10, 11, 17, 19, 21, 23 and 29 at 7:30 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on Dec. 12 and 26. Two weekday matinees (11:30 a.m. on Dec. 9 and 16) have also been scheduled for area school field trips at discounted rates.
For reservations, call the City Rep box office at 532-6000. "Child of Bethlehem" will play in repertory with "Babes in Toyland" (Nov. 28-Dec. 30). All seats are reserved. Admission is $7.50 for adults, $4.75 for children.
- STAND UP AND ACT LIKE A LADY, Shaz Bennett's exploration of women's issues (some comical, some serious) will be presented for five performances in the Lab Theatre of the Performing Arts Building on the University of Utah campus.
Bennett, who worked with Stevie Ray Dallimore on the more than 30 monologues in the one-woman show, said she created the piece to not only showcase her own talent, but because it represents the kinds of material that have meaning for her. The productionthis week at the U. of U. is a culmination of writing, workshops and performances over the past year. Bennett recently submitted her work for publication and it was also seen as a video at the Utah Film & Video Center's recent "Sink or Swim" presentation.
Performances will be Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 19-21, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 22, at 7 p.m., with one matinee on Friday, Nov. 20, at 5 p.m. The Performing Arts Building is located just west of the campus bookstore. For reservations, call the Pioneer Memorial Theatre box office at 581-6961.
- HEDDA GABLER, Henrik Ibsen's classic drama, gets a slightly different twist in a new production opening in the Margetts Arena Theatre of the Harris Fine Arts Center at Brigham Young University, Provo.
While Hedda is usually depicted as a cold, indifferent and self-serving woman, director Barta Heiner notes that her research into the play indicates that the title character has the classic symptoms of prepubescent child abuse.
Heiner hopes that the audiences may at least understand that Hedda Gabler is a woman trying to make some cry for help and going unnoticed.
The BYU cast includes Hilary Russell, a senior in theater with an acting emphasis, as Hedda; Ryan C. Benson, Sara Hickox, Curtis Brien, Marc Radice, Jody Wright and Hester Devenport.
Following its opening on Thursday, Nov. 19, it will continue Tuesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. through Dec. 5, with one matinee on Monday, Nov. 30, at 4 p.m. Tickets are $7 for general public, $6.50 for senior citizens, and $6 for students, faculty, BYU staff and children. For reservations, call the Drama Ticket Office at 378-7447.
- THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER is the holiday classic about a bunch of ornery hooligans who bully their way into the cast of a small church's Nativity pageant, and end up with a new insight into the true meaning of Christmas.
It's being presented as a Saturdays-only "Young People's Theatre" production at the Pages Lane Theatre in Centerville. Performances will be at noon on Nov. 21 & 28, then at both 10 a.m. and noon on Dec. 5, 12 & 19. For reservations, call 298-1302.
- MURDER UNDER THE MISTLETOE, an audience-participation mystery staged by Chameleons, The Whodunit Company (directed by James Christian of the Weber State University theater faculty), will be presented on two nights,Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21 at 7 p.m., under the auspices of the Bountiful Community Theatre.
The two evenings of suspense and sleuthing will take place at the Red Flame Restaurant, 1342 S. 500 West, Bountiful. Admission will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Reservations are not required. Call the Red Flame at 292-3121 for further information.
- MOTHER WOVE THE MORNING, Carol Lynn Pearson's dramatic one-woman production, is returning for two evenings at Bryant Intermediate School auditorium. Performances will be 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 20-21. All seats are $12. Tickets will be available at the door beginning at 6 p.m. The school is located at 40 S. 800 East (between South Temple and First South).
Written and performed by Pearson, the production is now available on a 2-hour, 15-minute VHS format video (taped before a live audience at the New Conservatory Theatre Center in San Francisco). The video version, directed by Academy Award nominee Judith Montell and Gail Dolgin, features a musical score written by Eileen Jaffe and a theme song, sung by Emily Pearson (available separately on a single audio cassette).
To order the video ($34.95 plus shipping) call (510) 906-8835 for credit card purchases, or write to: Mother Wove the Morning, 1384 Cornwall Ct., Walnut Creek, CA 94596.
- THE RENTED CHRISTMAS, a family comedy about a lonely man who "rents" an entire family to celebrate the holidays, will be presented Nov. 20 through Dec. 21 at the Valley Center Playhouse, 780 N. Second East, Lindon. Call 785-1186 for reservations or further information.
Compiled by Ivan M. Lincoln, Deseret News theater editor, 237-2150. FAX: 237-2121. Information on stage productions or audition notices should be submitted at least two weeks prior to the opening or audition date.