6 musicals to open this week

Six Broadway and off Broadway musicals are opening this week along the Wasatch Front.

• "LA CAGE AUX FOLLES," Jerry Herman's 1984 hit, which won best-musical Tony awards in 1984 and this year for its Broadway revival, will be staged Friday through Aug. 27 by the Egyptian Theatre Company in Park City.

Directed and choreographed by Brent Schneider, it's a flamboyant musical comedy about "family values" in a wildly unconventional family — Georges and Albin, a gay French couple who run a St. Tropez drag club. They have to pretend to be straight for just one night when Georges' son announces his engagement and his ultra-conservative future in-laws come to visit.

The Park City cast includes Jim Pitts as Georges, Kenneth Wayne as Albin, Chris Johnston as the son, Ramona Mallory his fiancee, and John Ordway and Dee Macaluso as her parents.

Following the opening on Friday, "La Cage aux Folles" will continue on Wednesdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. through Aug. 27 at the Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St., Park City.

Opening-night tickets are $32 for adults, $26 for senior citizens, $18 for students and $16 for children, 12 and under. Tickets for the remainder of the run range from $10-$12 for children and $14-$16 for students, with those for adults and senior citizens ranging from $17-$19 on weeknights until June 30, then $20-$22 and $24-$27 on weekends (435-649-9371).

• "SIDE BY SIDE BY SONDHEIM," a musical revue showcasing the sophisticated works of Stephen Sondheim, is the second in this summer's Utah Musical Theatre productions, playing Friday and Saturday, then rotating in repertory with "Kiss Me, Kate" through July 9 in Peery's Egyptian Theater, 2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden.

Nearly 30 of Sondheim's best-known songs, including those from collaborations with Leonard Bernstein, Jule Styne and Richard Rodgers, are featured in the revue, including tunes from "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum," "Anyone Can Whistle," "A Little Night Music," "West Side Story," "Gypsy" and "Do I Hear a Waltz?" There will also be some rarely heard numbers.

Bruce Cohen, UMT's artistic director, is directing an ensemble with Jennifer Perry, Justin Ivie, Vanessa Cheney, Whit Baldwin, Polly Seale, Robert Anthony Jones, Ginger Bess Simons and Jessica Perry. Traditionally, the revue is staged with only two women and one man, but Cohen decided to expand his cast to five women and three men for a fuller sound for the large venue.