Five mysteries appropriate to the Halloween season open this week.
"CLUE," a comedy based on both the popular Parker Bros. board game and the 1985 movie, brings Professor Plum, Col. Mustard and other "game-piece" characters to the stage of Rodgers Memorial Theatre, 292 E. Pages Lane, Centerville, for a Halloween season run, Friday through Nov. 13.
Like the film, the play has three different endings.
John Williams is directing a double-cast ensemble that includes Glenn McKay and Ken Fowler as Col. Mustard, Patrick Gibbs and Dave Marsden as Mr. Green, Eric Millward and Richard States as Professor Plum, Stefanie Turner and Kim Madsen as Mrs. White, Chris Brown and Alison Jensen as Peacock and Doug Caldwell and Josh Madsen as Wadsworth, the butler.
Performances are Mondays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $12-$14 for adults, $11-$12 for students and senior citizens, and $9 for children (298-1302).
"THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW," newly adapted for the stage by Utah Valley State College student playwright Mahonri Stewart, will be staged Thursday through Oct. 22 in the school's Black Box Theatre.
Stewart has added some new characters to the mix, giving the tale additional layers, themes, subplots and twists.
The cast includes Mark Pugh as Ichabod Crane, Tatum Langton as Katrina Van Tassel and Nate Drew as Brom Bones.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and Oct. 18-22. The Black Box Theatre is located in Room 627 of the Gunther Trades Building. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for senior citizens and children and $6 for UVSC students, faculty and staff (863-8797).
"SOMETHING'S AFOOT," a musical spoof of Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians," plays Friday through Nov. 6 in the Heritage Community Theatre, Perry.
Kris R. Polson, who is directing, will play the role of Clive. Other players include Kathy Rigby, Cheryl Polson, Nick Velis, Kurt Rigby, Keith Hoskins, Nathan Dunn, Shannon Barton, Rachel Carling, Colette Henderson, Mary Ellen Lykins, Anne Benson, Michelle Jeppsen and Jonathan Horton.
Performances are Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with one Saturday matinee on Oct. 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $7 for children and senior citizens, with a $35 "family night" ticket admitting up to six people (435-723-8392).
"BLACK COFFEE," an Agatha Christie thriller featuring detective Hercule Poirot, is being staged by the Pleasant Grove Players Friday through Oct. 25 in the Keith Christeson Little Theater, 30 E. Center, Pleasant Grove.
Poirot investigates the murder of Sir Claud Amory, a scientist whose formula for a powerful new explosive has been stolen, probably by someone in his household. Locking everyone in the library one night, Sir Amory switches off the lights to allow the thief to return the formula, no questions asked. When the lights come back on — Amory is dead.
Howard and Kathryn Little are directing a cast that includes Dennis Purdie as Poirot, with Mel Sundquist, Donna Bingham, Tharon Woody, Becky Gardner, Luone Brown, Jason Boren, Bill Brown, Verdon Walker Jr. and Brennen Miller in other roles.
Performances are 7:30 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays. Tickets are $7 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens and $25 for a family ticket (immediate family members only), available at the door.
"ARSENIC AND OLD LACE," Joseph Kesselring's classic comedy, is playing Friday through Nov. 6 in the Little Brown Theatre, 239 S. Main, Springville.
Director Daryl Tucker's cast includes Maureen Eastwood and Arlene McGregor as Abby and Martha, the kindly spinster aunts with a "killer" recipe for elderberry wine, and Dane Allred as their nephew, Mortimer. Also in the cast are Robinne Booth, Larry McLay, Neils Adair, Mel Taylor, Ben Wake, Kevin Mackley and Kent Flowers.
Performances are Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and students and $6 for children (489-3088).
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com