Music, comedy, drama on local stages this week

Everything from Broadway musicals to Pinter dramas to classic comedies are on local stages this week.

URINETOWN, the edgy, Tony Award-winning musical, will be staged Thursday through Nov. 4 by the Westminster College Theatre Department in the Jay W. Lees Courage Theatre of the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts, 1250 E. 1700 South.

Directed by Michael Vought and choreographed by Jennifer Rouse, the cast includes Joshua Black as Bobby Strong, Natalie Noble as Hope Cladwell, Melissa Burridge as Penelope Pennywise, Tim Hinojosa as Caldwell B. Cladwell, Jennifer Niedfeldt as Little Sally, Andrew Waterhouse as Officer Lockstock and James Singer as Officer Barrel.

Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the general public and $8 for students and senior citizens (832-2457).

THE SECRET GARDEN, the Broadway musical based on the popular children's book, is playing Friday through Nov. 11 in the Grand Theatre, located on Salt Lake Community College's South City Campus, 1575 S. State. Narlene Mathie is directing a cast that includes J. Michael Bailey as Archibald Craven, Hannah Earl as Mary Lennox and Raine Thorne as Lily.

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday of this week, Wednesday-Saturday during the second week and Monday-Saturday the final week, with Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 11. Tickets range from $10-$24, with student and senior citizen discounts available. There is also a $45 "family pass" (957-3322 or www.the-grand.org).

ONE-ACT HAROLD PINTER PLAYS, showcasing three early works by the 2005 Nobel Prize-winning playwright, will be staged Thursday through Oct. 29 by the University of Utah Department of Theatre in Studio 115 of the Performing Arts Building, directly west of the campus bookstore.

Directed by students in the department, under Barbara Smith, the works include "The Dumbwaiter" (1957), "The Lover" (1963) and selections from "Sketches."

Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. on Oct. 29, and one additional matinee at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Tickets are $9 for general admission, $7 for U. faculty and staff and $5 for all students (581-7100 or www.kingtix.com).

THE FIEND OF FLEET STREET, an 1847 melodrama by George Dibdin Pitt, also known as "The String of Pearls," will have a staged reading on Wednesday and Thursday at StageRight TheaterCompany, 5001 S. Highland Drive (south end of the Cottonwood Mall in the old Carmike theater complex). The melodrama was drawn from the same stories and urban legends as the musical, "Sweeney Todd."