Plays aim for funny bone, religious, family soft spots

A popular musical drama from the LDS Church and a slightly revised popular wedding parody are among this week's new stage productions.

• "MY BIG FAT UTAH CHRISTMAS WEDDING: THE CULTURAL HALL IS RESERVED" puts a holiday spin on the long-running hit parody at Desert Star Dinner Theater, 4861 S. State, Murray. The cast is nearly the same as the original, non-Christmas version that opened earlier this year, but artistic director Scott Holman's barbed-wire wit should be intact.

The comedy tackles such local situations as unmarried girls pining for a husband (at the ripe old age of 25 going on 26), wedding planners running amok and parents distressed about the prospective in-laws. And there's always the thorny problem of how to decorate the basketball hoop to keep it from looking like a basketball hoop. The post-show olio is a "Joyful Noise" journey through seasonal classics.

Since this show has moved across the lobby into Desert Star's new dinner-theater venue, the format has changed somewhat. Instead of choosing various items from a menu, this production has a preset wedding dinner — chicken cordon bleu, salad, etc., plus wedding punch and wedding cake. And, because it's a Utah wedding, there will also be green Jell-O. (After the holidays, "My Big Fat Utah Wedding" will return for an open-ended run.)

Ticket prices include the full meal and show. Admission is $26.99 to $29.99 for adults and $14.99 for children under 10. Performances are Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 5:30 p.m., Fridays at 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m. and 2:30, 5:30 and 8:30 p.m. (266-2600).

• "THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD," a musical production based on scriptural accounts of the birth and resurrection of Jesus Christ, is returning to the LDS Church Conference Center Theater for the Christmas season.

All tickets for the 30-performance run, Friday through Dec. 31, have been distributed. Call 240-0080 or 1-866-537-8457 for updated "standby" ticket information. Tickets are $8 for evening performances and $5 for matinees.

• DINO ROCK'S "THE GREAT DINOSAUR MYSTERY" is Park City Performing Arts Foundation's latest "Pillow Theater" presentation, scheduled for Saturday at 2 and 4 p.m. in the Eccles Center's American Express Blue Box Theater.

The company, based in Silver Spring, Md., is bringing its award-winning puppets, plus a clever detective and professor, to Park City, where audiences will help solve a prehistoric case — aided by some sing-along antics.