Comedies and dramas, ranging from mainstream to "alternative," are opening this week throughout the region, including "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at the Grand Theatre (see today's Arts Section cover) and the premiere of an original musical melodrama - "Star Wrek" - at Desert Star Playhouse.
Theatergoers will also find a one-man comedy in Park City, a tragicomedy by Lanford Wilson at the Lab, and a "cowgirl poetry" piece in the intimate Back Room at D.B. Cooper's.- STAR WREK: WHERE NO MELODRAMA HAS GONE BEFORE will take Desert Star Playhouse aboard the Starship Boobyprize for an adventure beyond the "final frontier."
Locally written by Bob Bedore and directed by Jansen Davis, the production has a cast that includes such DSP favorites as Eric Jensen, Mike Westenskow, Melissa Bridge Porter and Bedore, along with Russell Peacock, Barbie Christensen, Jack Drayton, Kimberlee Hart, Ben Porter and Davis.
The "Star Trek" spoof will pit Captain Smirk, Mr. Shlock and Dr. McPoi and the rest of the crew against the evil Ramen Commander Sa-Raak and his sidekick, Victor the Borge, who are plotting to destroy the planet Amzamada.
The laughs, puns and gimmicks are bound to travel at warp speed in this new musical melodrama, followed by a "Salute to Kids" olio musical revue directed by Kimberlee Hart.
Performances at Desert Star Playhouse, 4861 S. State, will be Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays at 7 p.m. from Jan. 14 through March 5. Additional 9:30 performances are scheduled on many weekends as reservations demand. Reservations are required. Call the box office at 266-7600. Admission is $8 for adults and $6 for children under 12. Seating is cabaret style with pizza, soft drinks, popcorn and ice cream available.
There will also be a preview performance on Thursday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m., with all seats priced at $6.
- BLACK VELVET PASTURES, subtitled "An Evening of Contemporary Cowgirl Poetry," was co-written by Belle Bendall and Calamity (Gail) Wronsky.
It originated as correspondence between the two authors, progressed into a published poetry manuscript, and was then developed into a fully scripted play for three women and was successfully produced at a small venue in Los Angeles.
The production, directed by Ellen Graham, will feature Carolyn Wood, Laurie Johnson and Karen Nielsen in the cast, at D.B. Cooper's, 19 E. 200 South.
Johnson was last seen in the Salt Lake Acting Company production of "The Kathy and Mo Show: Parallel Lives," and co-wrote SLAC's "Salt Lake Salt Lake: Utah Tour '93."
Nielsen has appeared in "Salt Lake Salt Lake" and the D.B. Cooper's productions of "The Woolgatherers" and "Speed-the-Plow."
Wood also directed "Private Wars" at D.B. Cooper's and appeared in TheatreWorks West's "A Child's Christmas in Wales" and "A . . . My Name Is Alice."
"Black Velvet Pastures" is a series of funny, tender and outrageous vignettes that illuminate the longtime friendships between three wild and modern cowgirls and tells exactly how they feel about men, their horses, line dancing and Dwight Yoakum.
Performances will be Jan. 14-15, 21-22 and 27-29 and Feb. 3-5 and 10-12 at 7:30 p.m. The $12 admission includes entry into D.B. Cooper's, which is a private club. In addition, the venue is offering an "early bird" dinner priced at $8.95 between 6 and 7 p.m. Reservations are required. Call 532-2948.
- PIANO ROLL, mime/comedian Alan Schoenberger's acclaimed one-man vaudeville piece, is scheduled for three performances Jan. 13-15 in Park City's historic Egyptian Theatre.
The show has received rave reviews in ski resorts and other theaters across the country and in Europe.
Schoenberger combines elements of ballet, mime, clowning, music, theater and skiing (sometimes on three skis, not just one or two), to perform a variety of hilarious characters.
Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Egyptian, 328 Main St., with tickets priced at $14 for adults and $8 for children. For reservations, call 649-9371.
- BURN THIS, Lanford Wilson's comedy/drama about Anna, a young dancer who shares a Manhattan loft with two gay roommates, Robby and Larry, will play for five performances in the University of Utah's Lab Theatre.
As the play opens, Robby has been killed in a freak boating accident and Anna is recovering from his funeral and she is being comforted by her well-meaning boy friend, Burton, whose persistent proposals of marriage keep getting spurned.
Things take a sudden, explosive turn when Robby's older brother, Pale, arrives.
Richard Mathews is directing the production. His cast includes Adam Middleton-Watts, Trevor Black, Chris Ivins and Angel Hayes-Sabala.
Jack Kroll of Newsweek, in his review of the New York production, said it is "a comedy that laughs at its own tragic roots, a love story . . . that has voracious vitality and an almost manic determination to drive right into the highest voltage that life can register."
The Lab Theater is located in the Performing Arts Building, just west of the campus book store. Performances will be 7:30 p.m. Thursday, 5 and 8 p.m. on Friday, 8 p.m. Saturday and at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 16. All seating is general admission. Tickets are available at the door ($3.50 for adults, $2.50 for students). Tickets may also be reserved by calling the Pioneer Memorial Theatre building box office at 581-6961.
- RAPUNZEL, City Rep Artistic Director Joanne M. Parker's new dramatic adaptation of the classic fairy tale, will run for 17 evening and matinee performances, Jan. 15-March 14, at City Rep's Family Theatre, 638 S. State.
City Rep's version of the Grimm Brothers' tale, directed by Parker, will show Rapunzel in three progressive ages - as a young child, a preteen and as a young woman (played respectively by Rachel Hales, Karissa Fuller and Tiffany Casper, with Marey Bishop as the evil sorceress and Collyn Kreuzer as the Prince.
Other cast members include Jim Dunnigan, Shauna Fuller, Bruce Henroid, Patty Gierloff, Jim McCrea, Thomas Marcus, Megan Bunker, Aaron Jensen, Brooke Marshall, Kimber Martinson-Sawyer, Justin Coates, Tiara Fuller, Brooke Burningham, Katie Barnes, Laura Alsop, Elizabeth McCrea and Michelle Egli.
Evening performances (7:30 p.m.) are scheduled for Jan. 15, 17, 21, 29 and 31, Feb. 4, 12, 14, 18, 26 and 28, and March 4, 12 and 14, with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. on Jan. 22, Feb. 12 and March 5, in alternating in repertory with "The Scarlet Pimpernel," which opens Feb. 5.
Tickets are $7.50 for adults and $4.75 for children 16 and under. All seats are reserved. For reservations, call 532-6000.
- ALADDIN, a stage adaptation of the popular children's story, will run Saturdays at noon at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse, 99 E. 4700 South, Ogden (Washington Terrace), from Jan. 15 through March 5. For reservations, call the box office at 393-0070.
- THE FANTASTICKS, the classic musical by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (who, incidentally, will be visiting Utah as keynote speakers for the Utah Theatre Association convention Jan. 27-29 in Logan), is being mounted Jan. 13-15 in the Randall L. Jones Theatre in Cedar City by senior theater students at Southern Utah University. Performances are at 8 p.m. and tickets are $9 for adults, $7 for children and senior citizens and $2 for SUU students.