Simon, Christie plays are opening

One Utah theater festival opens its second season this week, and another — one of the state's oldest — adds the fourth (and last) of its repertory summer-stock productions.

THE UTAH NEIL SIMON FESTIVAL, based in Cedar City, will have "The Star-Spangled Girl" rotating in repertory with "Come Blow Your Horn," alternating matinees and evenings from Friday through Aug. 14 in the Heritage Center Theatre, 105 N. 100 East.

— "Come Blow Your Horn," Simon's first Broadway play, opened in 1961. Two years later, there was a film version starring Frank Sinatra.

The Cedar City production is being guest-directed by festival co-founder Connie Fulton, who has returned to Cedar City after working in the film and theater industry in New York and Los Angeles.

The cast includes Valleen Archibald of Idaho Falls as Mrs. Baker, with Barry Alexander, Torrence, Calif., as Alan; Nicholas Dunn, Midway, as Buddy; Matthew Nickerson, Cedar City, as Mr. Baker; Kameron Lopez, Salt Lake City, as Peggy; and Angela Roundy, Price, as Connie.

— Simon's 1966 comedy, "Star-Spangled Girl," will be directed by theater veteran Arnold Leibovit, who is also a film producer ("The Time Machine," 2002, and "The Puppetoon Movie," 1987). His cast includes Gabe Combs of Flagstaff, Ariz., as Andy, with Barry Alexander as Norman and Kameron Lopez as Sophie.

Tickets are $16 on weekdays and $18 on weekends. Performances are 2 and 7:30 p.m., Tuesdays-Saturdays, except for opening weekend when "Star-Spangled Girl" debuts on Friday evening, followed by "Come Blow Your Horn" on Saturday.

Tickets may be reserved at the www.simonfest.org Web site (or 1-435-327-8673 or 1-866-337-4666).

THE OLD LYRIC REPERTORY COMPANY opens its fourth production of the 2004 summer season, Agatha Christie's murder mystery, "The Hollow," playing Thursday through Aug. 7 in the Caine Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center, Logan.

The company's artistic director, Colin Johnson, is directing "The Hollow" — and taking a slightly different approach to the show's design. Instead of a traditional, stuffy drawing-room look, this production will have a stylistic, slightly surreal look.

The cast includes Lee Daily as Sir Henry Angkatell; Kindra Steenerson as Henrietta Angkatell; Chrislynn Call as Midge Harvey; Kent Hadfield as Edward Angkatell; and Ron King as Inspector Colquhoun. Also in the ensemble are Phillip R. Lowe, Amy Lewis, Richie Call, Amber Dawn LaBau, Emily Heap and Jed Broberg.

In typical Agatha Christie style, all of the parties involved have a motive for dispatching the victim. The plot is a tangle of romantic liaisons and marriages, centered around a well-known physician and his prominent family. The problems multiply when a beautiful young actress appears at the front door.

Performances are Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., then July 24, 27 and 29 and Aug. 4. The entire summer stock series closes Aug. 7, including repertory performances of "Song of Singapore," "Moon Over Buffalo" and "Enchanted April."

Tickets are $10-$15 evenings and $5-$10 for matinees (435-297-0305). Or visit the www.usu.edu/lyric Web site.

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E-mail: ivan@desnews.com