Two locally written premieres — one a musical comedy derived from Shakespearean dialogue and the other an edgy adult drama — are among this week's new stage productions.
"A MARRYING MAN," written by playwright Christopher Clark, adjunct professor at Utah Valley State College, mixes scenes and bits of dialogue from William Shakespeare's comedies and dramas to create a fictional work surrounding his marriage to Anne Hathaway at the age of 18.
"Every word spoken in the play was written by Shakespeare," Clark said in a UVSC news release. Shakespeare fans will recognize lines from such plays as "The Comedy of Errors," "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," "As You Like It" and others.
UVSC student Stephen Driggs has composed original music for the production, and the cast includes Joel Petrie as Shakespeare and Tonya Quinn as Anne.
Performances will be in the Black Box Theater (Room GT-627 of the Gunther Trades Building). Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday of this week and Nov. 21-22, 29, 30 and Dec. 1-3. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for senior citizens, children, UVSC employees and non-UVSC students and $6 for UVSC students (863-8797).
"PUSSYCAT," a provocative and disturbing play by Troy Deutsch, a former student of the University of Utah Actor Training Program, will be staged for six performances, Thursday through Nov. 20 in Studio 115 of the U. Performing Arts Building, directly west of the campus bookstore.
The drama is set in the rave scene of the late 1990s, among the abandoned warehouses and back alleys of the city. The action follows Stephen, a teenage loner, as he flees from the confines of rural suburbia into the pill-popping world of Pussycat, "a candy girl with a short skirt and a big heart."
"Pussycat," directed by Sandra Shotwell, had its first staged reading this past fall at the Rose Wagner Center under the auspices of Tooth and Nail Theatre Company.
The cast includes Sam Wessels as Stephen, Brighton Hertford as Pussycat, Shanna Jones as Mary and Lizz Knaphus as Jeanette.
The U. Theatre Department cautions that the play contains adult themes and language.
Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 2 p.m., with one matinee at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and one additional late-night performance at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $7 for general admission or $5 for all students (581-7100 or www.arttix.org).
"A BROADWAY TRIBUTE," a musical revue co-directed by Marc Navez and Bradford Garrison, is being staged by the Draper Arts Council. Performances will be Friday and Saturday in the Adventure Foursquare Church, 352 W. 12300 South, Suite 100. Curtain is 7:30 p.m. both nights with one matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
Tickets are $6 at the door.
"HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH," the acclaimed rock musical first produced here in 2003, is returning to Plan-B Theatre Company for a nine-performance run, Thursday through Nov. 27 in the Rose Wagner Center's Black Box Theatre, 138 W. Broadway (300 South).
The original cast — Aaron Swenson as transsexual rocker Hedwig
Schmidt, Jeanette Puhich as Yitzak and the Angry Inch Band, under direction of David Evanoff — will be reunited for this revival.
Performances are weekdays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. (Thursday-Saturday this week, then Tuesday-Saturday the second week) and 3 and 7 p.m. on Sundays, with additional matinees at 3 p.m. on Saturdays and on Friday, Nov. 25. There will be no performances on Thanksgiving Day. All seats are $25, with a special two-for-one student discount (355-2787 or www.planbtheatrecompany.org).
"THE MURDER ROOM," the late Jack Sharkey's spoof of British mysteries, is playing Wednesday-Saturday in Snow College's Eccles Performing Arts Center, Ephraim. Brad V. Olsen is directing. Curtain is 8 p.m. Tickets are $6.50 for adults, $6 for senior citizens and youths (high school age and younger) or $2 for Snow College students with valid activity card (435-283-7478).
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com