All the summer's a stage

The summer-theater season kicks off this week, and audiences will find classic dramas ("King Lear," "Picnic"), Broadway musicals ("Show Boat," "My Fair Lady," "Ragtime") and even a rare world premiere among the offerings.

The season officially gets under way with the debut of Salt Lake Acting Company's annual "Saturday's Voyeur," this year built around Mayor Rocky Anderson leaving office at the end of this term.

Desert Star Cabaret Theatre's original parody "Spamlet: Where Mystery 'Meats' Comedy" opens Aug. 30, and it will run concurrently with the national touring company production of "Spamalot."

Missing in action this season are the Utah Musical Theatre, which Weber State University has ceased funding,

and Salt Lake Shakespeare, which is taking at least one season off.

In southern Utah, St. George Musical Theatre is temporarily housed in Dixie State College's Eccles Center.

And the historic Empress Theatre in Magna, now home of the Oquirrh Hills Performing Arts Alliance, has scheduled "Bye Bye Birdie," "School House Rock Live Jr.," "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" over the next few weeks, with specific dates to be announced (347-7373 or www.empresstheatre.com).

SUMMER FESTIVALS

• Tuacahn Amphitheater's "Broadway in the Desert" series in Ivins, west of St. George, opens June 13 with Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella," playing through Oct. 17, with "My Fair Lady" running June 14-Oct. 19, and "42nd Street" playing Aug. 30-Oct. 20.

Tuacahn also has a student production of "The Little Shop of Horrors," July 11-Aug. 4, in the indoor Hafen Theatre.

Amphitheater tickets range from $24-$44, depending on date and seat location. Discounts are available for senior citizens and groups of 25 or more. All seats for "Horrors" are $12.50. Optional pre-show Dutch oven dinners are $11 for adults and $8 for children.

Curtain times for the outdoor shows vary throughout the season: 8:30 p.m. June-August, 8 p.m. in September and 7:30 p.m. in October (800-746-9882 or www.tuacahn.org).

• The Pickleville Playhouse, located in Garden City on the shore of Bear Lake, opens its season June 14 with "A Pirate's Life: Groovin' on the Seven Seas," an original, swashbuckling musical, in repertory with "The Little Shop of Horrors" through Sept. 1 (dates vary). Tickets are $7-$11 with optional dinner-show combis $14-$23 (435-946-2918 or www.picklevilleplayhouse.com).