From Bard to Broadway

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jul 27, 2003 by Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret Morning News

Everything from Shakespeare to Broadway musicals are among this week's theater openings.

"THE COMPLEAT WORKS OF WLLM SHKSPR (ABRIDGED)," the London-based Reduced Shakespeare Company's goofy spin on the Shakespearean canon (still playing in London), will be presented Thursday-Aug. 17 by Salt Lake Shakespeare on the Babcock Stage of Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre.

Three actors attempt to pack all 37 of Shakespeare's plays -- plus some sonnets -- into a single two-hour production. The warp-speed effort includes the "history" plays performed as a football game, "Othello" as a rap and "Hamlet" done both forward and backward.

Directed by Craig Rich, the cast includes Whit Hertford, Joel Stanley Huff and Jay Perry.

Performances are Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students, available at Kingsbury Hall (581-7100), any ArtTix outlet (355-2787) or online at www.arttix.org.

"BING! CHERRIES," a one-man show featuring 37 of Bing Crosby's hit songs, was originally produced in New York City, where it ran for 12 weeks. Owen-Paul Greene, the show's producer-performer, who recently moved to Salt Lake City to be closer to his Wyoming-based family, will present the show for nine performances in the Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre of the Rose Wagner Center, 138 W. 300 South.

Greene said he first became interested in developing the project through a friend of his -- the grandson of lyricist Johnny Mercer. At first he considered building a revue around Mercer, then discovered that all of the songs had first been introduced by Crosby . . . "and he was a much more fascinating person."

A superstar of his day, Crosby appeared in movies, and on radio and television, in addition to making hit records. His face was featured on more sheet-music covers than any other single artist, according to Greene.

Most of the songs in the revue are familiar -- "If I'd Known You Were Coming I'd Have Baked a Cake," "Accentuate the Positive" and, of course, "White Christmas." One of Greene's favorite Crosby songs is "The Folks Who Live on the Hill," which he said is an underexposed tune with beautiful lyrics.

The show will feature Wayne Egan on piano, along with a bass player.

Performances are 8 p.m. on Saturdays and 2 and 8 p.m. on Sundays. All tickets are $25 (355-2787 or 1-888-451-2787).

"MACBETH," Shakespeare's classic drama, will be staged Friday- Aug. 3 for four performances by Black Dog Productions at Trasa (the old Utah Pickle Company), 741 S. 400 West. It's being directed by Jaq Bessell, formerly of the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and Shakespeare's Globe, with Jan Knightley, also formerly from the Globe, in the title role. The remainder of the company is composed of current students and recent graduates of the University of Utah Actor Training Program. The post-industrial space at Trasa will feature a setting that is spare and hard-edged. All tickets are $5 (544-7681).

"ANNIE GET YOUR GUN," Irving Berlin's classic musical about sharpshooters Annie Oakley and Frank Butler, is the final production in this summer's Utah Musical Theatre lineup in Ogden. Directed by Pamela Hill, the cast includes Kelsey Shearer in the title role, Paul Cheney as Butler, Joseph Batzel as Buffalo Bill and Timothy Goins as Sitting Bull.

The musical, revived in recent years both on Broadway and as a national tour, showcases such tunes as "There's No Business Like Show Business," "Doin' What Comes Natur'lly," "Anything You Can Do" and "I Got the Sun in the Morning," among others.

Performances are Friday-Aug. 16, with curtain at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays-Saturdays, and one matinee at 2 p.m. next Saturday, in Peery's Egyptian Theater, 2415 Washington Blvd. Tickets are $22 for adults, $20 for senior citizens and $10 for WSU students. Call (801) 626-8500 or 1-800-395-3227 for reservations.

"ANNE OF GREEN GABLES," a musical based on the popular series of books, opens Friday in the Bountiful Performing Arts Center, 745 S. Main, where it continues through Aug. 16. Director Beth Bruner's cast includes Hannah Gibson as Anne, Darcy Zenger as Marilla Cuthbert, Don Bright as Matthew, Greg Johns as Gilbert, Megan Brown as Josie and Melissa Robinson as Miss Stacey.

The music and script for this version were originally written for an annual summer production that has been staged since 1972 at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, home of the book's author and the setting for the story.

Performances are Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for students and senior citizens. Group discounts are also available. For reservations, call 294-7469.

"A HEART DIVIDED," a free staged reading of a new play commissioned and workshopped by U. Youth Theatre -- written by Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld -- will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Salt Lake City Library auditorium. Bennett and Gottesfeld have been in Salt Lake City over the past few weeks to direct the Youth Theatre's recent production of "John Lennon and Me," based on one of Bennett's books.