The emphasis in this week's new stage offerings is on "little," "intimate" and even "new."
Two one-act plays in the Backroom at D.B. Cooper's, a brand new drama about a highly publicized AIDS victim on USU's Studio Stage, a little-known Broadway musical by Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt (the "Fantasticks" team) at Westminster College . . . a new Christmas comedy at Pages Lane . . . and a new adaptation of "Pinocchio" at City Rep are on the docket.There are also some additional performances of Hunt Mystery & Company's latest do-it-yourself sleuthing experience, "More Mystery on the Moor."
- "CELEBRATION," played barely three months on Broadway in 1969, but a critic for The New Yorker called Jones & Schmidt's new musical "welcome, merry, tuneful and imaginative" while "The World of Musical Comedy" said it's "light and lovely in a `Fantasticks' sort of way."
Set on New Year's Eve, the show is a comic ritual based on an ancient battle between a young and old man.
Director Tamara Compton's cast includes Steven R. Beckstead, Jim Martin, Keely Baisden, Tres Eberhard, Reba Anderson, Michael J. Alphonse, DeeLayna Carter, Cheyenne Correia, Jennifer Gyllenskog, Daisy Lee, Jerry Rapier,Michael Robinton, Amy Spafford, Stephanie L. Tobey and Angie Urie.
Performed by the Westminster Players, the production is scheduled for Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 3-5, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. in the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts, 1250 E. 1700 South. All performances are free of charge and the public is welcome.
- TWO ONE-ACT PLAYS - Ethan Phillips' "Penguin Blues" and David Mamet's "Duck Variations" will be presented for 12 performances Nov. 5-Dec. 3 in the Backroom at D.B. Cooper's.
"Penguin Blues," directed by Brad Schroeder, will feature Carolyn Wood as a nun with a penchant for beer, and Pat Collins as a voice-over artist who has "the serenity of a subway." The two characters are thrown together in a rehab center where they challenge and console each other.
"Duck Variations," with Wood directing Schroeder and Collins, could be the sweetest play David Mamet has written. It involves two men who spend their days sitting on a park bench discussing life, friendship, politics, sex, nature, death and . . . of course . . . ducks.
Wood previously directed "Speed-the-Plow," "Sea Marks" and "Private Wars" in D.B. Cooper's Backroom theater.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 4-5, 9-10, 17-19 and 25-26 and Dec. 1-3. Seating is limited. Reservations are recommended. Tickets are $12 each with general admission seating. D.B. Cooper's is located at 19 E. 200 South. Pre-performance dinner specials are also available.
For further information or reservations, call 532-2948.
- "THE PLIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS," is a melodramatic spoof on the Ebenezer Scrooge tale.
Directed by Bruce Craven, the cast includes Roger Barker as Ebenezer Humbug, Steve Reed as Bob Scratchit, Brady Cash as Slim Dickens, Devin cash as Slim's Deputy, Alison Jensen as Aunt Fuzziwig, Kera Hall as Felicity Fuzziwig, Addie Gibson as Cheyenne, John Kilpatrick as a mysterious boarder (on the order of Marley's ghost), Shelley Clements as the narrator, and Sue Jarrard as . . . well, as a character who contstantly breaks into the action with assorted olio routines.
The show is full of puns and one-liners. The narrator's chief job will be to explain the fine art of "melodrama" to youngsters, who may not be old enough to know what booing and hissing are all about.
The production is part of the Pages Lane Theatre's "Saturday matinee" children's series, being performed every Saturday at noon from Nov. 5 through Dec. 17. For reservations, call 298-1302. The theater is located at 292 E. Pages Lane in Centerville.
- "PINOCCHIO," adapted by City Rep Artistic Director Joanne M. Parker from the classic Italian fable by Carlo (Lorenzini) Collodi, is scheduled for 22 evening and matinee performances from Nov. 5 through Jan. 16.
Parker, who is also directing, has a cast that includes such familiar City Rep players as David Fetzer in the title role and Collyn Kreuzer as Geppeto, with Shawna Fuller as the Blue Fairy, Thomas Marcus as Vincenzo, Pinocchio's conscience.
Others in the cast are Emily Holmgren, Nigel James, Marey Bishop and Keith Holland.
Evening performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Nov., 5, 7, 11, 21, 25 and 26; Dec. 2, 10, 12, 23, 26 and 30, and Jan. 6, 7, 13 and 16, in repertory with "The Christmas Child" (Dec. 3-24), with matinees scheduled for 2 p.m. on Nov. 12 and 28, Dec. 17 and 31 and Jan. 14. Additional performances are also offered on weekdays at 11:30 a.m. for area school field trips at discounted rates. Those interested should contact the City Rep box office for further information and scheduling.
Admission to regular performances is $7.50 for adults and $4.75 for children (16 and under). All seating is reserved.
For reservations, call 532-6000. City Rep is located at 638 S. State.
- "PATIENT A" is a brand new play commissioned by the family of Kimberly Bergalis - the young Florida girl who claimed she contracted the AIDS virus from her dentist, setting off a firestorm of controversy and speculation.
Utah State Theatre at Utah State University, Logan, is presenting the production as part of its 1994-95 "On the Studio Stage" season in USU's Chase Fine Arts center.
"Patient A" will be USU's entry in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival - the nationwide competition that saw three Utah schools going to the national finals last year (Brigham Young University's "Prisoner," Weber State University's "The Pirated Penzance" and the University of Utah's "Kiss of the Spider Woman").
Director Kevin Doyle said the Bergalis family commissioned the play to explore the issues and emotions raised by the unusual case.
Performances will be at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3-5 and 10-12 in the intimate Studio Stage. All seats are $2, with tickets available at the door at 7:15 p.m. each night. Patrons may also use a six-ticket PassCard, available for $10 from both the Spectrum ticket office (797-0305) or at the door.
Members of Doyle's three-member cast are Tara Thomas as Kimberly; Steve Terry, the playwright, as Lee, and Aaron Pugh as Matt, a composite of gay American men.
Doyle said the concept is different from others the audience may have seen.
"It takes the form of a debate in the mind of the playwright, who is actually represented by a character in the play," he said. "Each of the actors takes on other roles to facilitate the dialogue of the play, representing family members and the press."
"At the end, no one necessarily agrees on anything, but each has changed and has come to better understand the others' points of view," said Doyle, noting that the focus is on ignorance and fear.
- "MORE MYSTERY ON THE MOOR," a gothic murder mystery comedy written by Utah actress and playwright Laura Bedore, will be performed in conjunction with the Bountiful Community Theater Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Nov. 3-5, at the Red Flame Restaurant in Bountiful.
The Hunt Mystery & Company show subsequently will be staged at The Camelot Restaurant in Layton on Thursday, Nov. 10.
The dinner audience will take a trip back to the moors of Victorian England, where Maxwell DeWintergreen (Andy Airriess), Lord of Reilbahd Manor, is about to announce his engagement to the lovely Emily Ingenue (Julie Carlson), the manor's governess. But is the wolf on the moor howling for Rebecca, the late Lady of the Manor? Maybe the housekeeper, Inga Glous Strychnine (Kera Hill), is causing the poor predator to moan?
Cast members also include, Vic Groves (Henry Haithe), Sue Jarrard (Dr. Helen Emtry), Cindy Potts (Alice Shady) and Gary Thompson (Sheerluck Homes).
The doors open at 7 p.m., and dinner and mystery at 7:30 p.m.
The dinner and mystery at the Red Flame cost $19 per person, and $26 at The Camelot Restaurant. Visit the Red Flame at 1346 S. 500 West in Bountiful for tickets to the Nov. 3-5 mystery shows, or call the Camelot Restaurant at (1-801-773-1336) for reservations to the Nov. 10 dinner show.