Shaw comedy, '60s rock on Utah stages

Holman cautions that the original Rat Pack's performances were not "G" rated and this production is not recommended for children, as the show may venture into PG territory. Performance dates and times are varied in the dinner theater, across the hallway from Desert Star's Cabaret Theater (266-2600 or www.DesertStar.biz).

• "THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE," being produced by Emerson-Smith College, is being staged through Nov. 3 at the SCERA Center, 754 S. State, Orem.

This version will have some special Halloween touches, with surprise appearances by Macbeth, Hamlet, Capt. Jack Sparrow and others.

The cast includes Charley Gardner as Frederic, Eric Blood as the Pirate King, Katie Young as Ruth, Erik Mikkelsen as Samuel and Jason Fullmer as the Police Sergeant.

Performances are Tuesdays-Thursdays and on Saturday, Oct. 29, all at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults, students and senior citizens and $6 for children, 11 and under. Group rates are available (225-2569).

• "DEATHTRAP," Ira Levin's humor-laced thriller about a successful playwright desperately struggling to overcome a dry spell, will play from Thursday through Nov. 1 in the Geary Theatre at the College of Eastern Utah, Price. Todd Olsen is directing the student production.

The plot revolves around playwright Sidney Bruhl, nearly broke after a string of Broadway flops, who receives a stunning script from a student in one of his seminars. He comes up with a devilishly clever plan to make the play his own — even if it's over the young student's dead body.

Levin's first Broadway hit was "No Time for Sergeants" (1956), which launched Andy Griffith's career, but he is best known for the novels "Rosemary's Baby" and "The Boys From Brazil."

Performances will be Thursday-Saturday and Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, all at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and high school students, $3 for CEU faculty and $2 for CEU students (435-613-5334).

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E-mail: ivan@desnews.com