Spoof, musical and drama among offerings this week

An original parody, a Broadway musical and a classic drama are on local stages this week.

• "THE SOAP-RANOS," Desert Star Cabaret Theater's spoof on the popular cable TV drama, opens Thursday and continues through Nov. 6.

Written and directed by a group of veteran Desert Star performers, including Jordan Richardson and Liz Christensen, the plot revolves around a New Jersey mobster who is forced (by his fed-up wife) to move to Utah, where the action touches on everything from thrift stores to stolen merchandise and a Pampered Chef party.

The double-cast production includes Phillip Lowe and Justin Berry as mob boss Tony Soaprano; Lynette Perry and Liz Edmiston as Tony's wife, Vanilla; and Bonnie Wilson, Natalie Banks and Mary Parker Williams sharing the role of Tony's elderly mother, Mezzo Soaprano. Other players include Ashley Mayfield and Heather Ferguson as Dr. Milf, Tony's therapist; Ben Millet and Erik Johansen as Stanford Generic, a security guard; and Jessica Sullivan and Liz Edmiston as Agent Smith, a crooked FBI agent. Tony's henchmen, Big Kitty and Uncle Junior, are played by Lee Daily, Justin Berry, Jack Drayton and Erik Johansen.

All performances will also include an olio segment with a "Radio Days" theme.

Tickets are $11-$13 for adults, $6 for children, and $10 for students and senior citizens (only at specified performances). Optional food service is also available (266-2600).

The newly named Cabaret Theater is being joined next month by Desert Star Dinner Theater, a new venue located across the lobby, where the company's recent hit comedy, "My Big Fat Utah Wedding," will resume performances for an extended, open-ended run.

• "YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU," George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart's classic Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, will have a five-week run in Hale Centre Theatre in West Valley City, from Saturday through Oct. 2.

David Neiman, assisted by Annie Fields, is directing a cast that includes Neal Barth as Martin Vanderhof, the lovable, eccentric patriarch of an wildly off-the-wall family, with Marissa Young and Alexis Owen as Alice Sycamore, the only "normal" one in the clan. Ryan J. Poole plays Tony Kirby, the straight-laced son of an affluent Manhattan couple who brings his elitist parents to dinner — on a night when Alice, his fiancce, is not expecting them.

Performances are Mondays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday matinees at 12:30 and 4 p.m. Tickets range from 12 to $19 (www.halecentretheatre.org or 984-9000).