New musicals, comedies opening

Musicals and comedies, including a rarely produced Stephen Sondheim classic and Rob Becker's "farewell tour" of his one-man show "Defending the Caveman," are among productions opening this week.

• "CHRISTMAS VACATION: THE BI-POLAR EXPRESS," Desert Star Cabaret's newest holiday spoof, opens Thursday and plays through Jan. 7 at Desert Star Theater, 4861 S. State, Murray.

Written and directed by Scott Holman, the cast includes Erica Hansen, Ed Farnsworth, Bob Longoria, Lisa Grow, Heather Ferguson, Phil Lowe, Brian Bahr, Brooklyn Pulver, Ashley Mayfield, Aaron Swenson, Justin Berry, Kerstin Davis, Jennifer Tanner, Matt Mullaney and Matt Kohler.

The plot centers around a highly dysfunctional family, which is brought together at Christmas — not only for a holiday celebration but for the reading of a will.

All shows will include a tune-filled, Christmas olio routine and possibly a visit from Santa Claus. Admission is $8-$13, with optional food service available at additional cost. Performances are 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays-Thursdays, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Fridays, and noon, 3, 7 and 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays, through Nov. 26, with additional performances Mondays-Thursdays, 6 and 8:30 p.m., from Nov. 28-Jan. 7 (266-2600).

• "ASSASSINS," Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman's dark satire on the American dream, set against the macabre backdrop of a carnival barker introducing a succession of presidential assassins, will play Wednesday through Nov. 23 in the Babcock Theatre, located in the lower level of Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre on the University of Utah campus.

"Assassins" examines the lives of three successful presidential killers and six who tried but failed — John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, Charles Guiteau, Leon Czolgosz, Giuseppe Zanbara, Samuel Byck, Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, Sara Jane Moore and John Hinckley.

The cast includes Thomas Marcus as the Proprietor, Hannah Stone as Fromme, Nicholas Dunn as Booth, Benjamin T. Brinton as Oswald and Khristal Jeremy Curtis as anarchist Emma Goldman.

Weekday and Saturday performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 17-19, with Sunday performances at 7 p.m. on Nov. 13 and 20, plus one Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. on Nov. 19. Tickets are $12 for general admission and $6 for all students (581-7100 or in person at the Kingsbury Hall Arttix box office).