It's beginning to look like Christmas on stage

A handful of this week's 18 new stage openings are nonseasonal, but the majority look a lot like Christmas.

• "MERRY CHRISTMAS, GEORGE BAILEY," adapted for the stage from the classic film "It's a Wonderful Life," is being jointly produced by the Babcock Performing Readers and the University of Utah Department of Theatre, with three performances (7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday) in the Babcock Theatre.

Shirlee H. Shields, long associated with the local readers' theater group, is adapting, producing and directing the show. Her cast includes both students and well-known local actors, including Duane Hill, E. Craig Costin, Richard Scharine, Julie and Brytt Blatter, Brad Nygren, Doug and Wes Brewer, Richard Russell, Tim Lineback and Mark Merkley. Also in the cast are Linda, Eric and Corrie Littlewood, Joyce Skidmore, Lisa and Ariana Grow, Boyer Jarvis, Kip Watanuki, James and Rachel Hancock and Max Doxie.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students. They're available at Kingsbury Hall (581-7100), any ArtTix outlet (355-2787) or at the door.

• "MINOR VOICES," written and produced by U. professor Xan Johnson's honors class ("Magic, Metaphor and Morality"), is an original piece about childhood and First Amendment rights. Presented by eight of Johnson's students, there will be two free public performances, at 7 p.m. on Thursday and 2 p.m. on Saturday, in the fourth floor meeting room of the new Salt Lake County Library. Both performances are free.

"Minor Voices" is an allegorical tale about intellectual freedom rights for minors, centered around the life and mind of a child named Mini. The project came together after Johnson's students visited the library and met with the director and teen librarian. Johnson notes that the writers saw and felt dramatic tension and possibilities existing within the topic of intellectual freedom in childhood.

Other characters include Amen, the assumed hero (representing the First Amendment); Chal, the challenger; Libby, of the American Library Association; Net, an Internet friend; and three treasured book friends, representing historically challenged books: Harry (the "Harry Potter" series), Bri ("Bridge to Terebithia") and Rye ("Catcher in the Rye").