"Macbeth" and More

   In today's Herald-Dispatch, my pal Dave Lavender provides a great overview of some of the shows taking local stages this month, starting with one that premieres on Friday: Macbeth.

   You can read that story (and see a few photos) right here. 

   Here's an excerpt:

   There will be blood at the Renaissance Center as long-time Shakespeare fan and actor Mike Murdock is in the director's chair taking a stab at updating Macbeth, one of Shakespeare's bloodiest, most popular, and most quotable dramas. 

   Starring Greg Morris as Macbeth, Kate Morris as Lady Macbeth as well as such theater veterans as Paul Neace, Bil Neal and Sarah Diamond Burroway, Macbeth is ready to run Friday through Sunday and next weekend as well splaying open the timeless tale of political ambition, fate, deception and treachery of men vying for glory and the crown. 

   Dates are Oct. 12-14 as well as Oct. 19-20 with 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday shows and 2 p.m. Sunday matinees. Tickets are $10 and dinner and a show reservations (Friday and Saturday only) are $25. 

Into the witching hour 

   Starring American Idol finalist Chase Likens as John Proctor, The Crucible is now burning up the stage at Marshall University's Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center. 

   Directed by Jack Cirillo, The Crucible, which won a Tony Award for Best Play in 1953, will continue at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 11-13. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door. The lobby will open at 7 p.m. for coffee and conversation prior to the show. 

   Arthur Miller's parable of mass hysteria draws a chilling parallel between the Salem witch-hunt of 1692 and the McCarthyism which gripped America in the 1950s. The story of how the small community of Salem is stirred into madness by superstition, paranoia and malice is a savage attack on the evils of mindless persecution and the terrifying power of false accusations. 

   Call the box office at 304-696-2787. 

'Alice' in high school land 

   Huntington High School's award-winning theater department dials back the pocket watch to childhood to present the always entertaining and mind-bending Lewis Carroll tale, Alice in Wonderland. 

   Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 11-13; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14. Admission is $5 and free for children under 2 years of age. 

   Dylan Parker, a co-captain on the speech and debate team, will play the March Hare and is creating the Mad Hatter's costume. Sarena Johnson, Luke Hagely and Chloe Donahoe also star in the show. Johnson will play Alice, Hagely will play the Cheshire Cat, and Donahoe will play the caterpillar. Carley Claudio will play the White Rabbit, Jacob Eastman the Mad Hatter, Liz Dyer the Queen of Hearts, Kiersten Oldham the Dodo, with Jamia Shook and Chad Arthur as Tweedledum and Tweedledee.