OPENING
CURTAINS | The Newton Country Players stage this musical comedy about a backstage murder mystery in 1959 Boston. "The supremely untalented star of Robbin' Hood of the Old West is murdered during her opening-night curtain call. Can a police detective who moonlights as a musical-theater fan save the show, solve the case, and maybe even find love before the show reopens, without getting killed himself?" Bill Doscher directs, with music direction by Brett Hinkel and choreography by Laura Espy. | Massachusetts Bay Community College, 50 Oakland St, Wellesley Hills | 617.244.9538 or newtoncountryplayers.org | August 6-14 | Curtain 8 pm Fri-Sat | 2 pm [August 15] or 8 pm [August 8] Sun | $20; $18 students, seniors
"FEVER FEST 10: LEFT OFF DREAMING" | Small Theatre Alliance of Boston continues what started as Whistler in the Dark's annual summer festival; it's now in its fifth year. On the bill: Bad Habit Productions in Rich Orloff's A Womb with a View, Kelly DuMar in her own Your Dream of Me, Fort Point Theatre Channel in Silvia Graziano's Heads or Tales?, GAN-e-meed Theatre Project in Stacey Lane's Lucy Dreaming, and M. Lynda Robinson in her own A Good Cup of Tea. | Factory Theatre, 791 Tremont St, Boston | brownpapertickets.com/event/120364 | August 11-14 | Curtain 8 pm Wed-Fri | 4 + 8 pm Sat | $15; $5 Wed preview
HAIRSPRAY | Marissa Perry once understudied as Tracy Turnblad on Broadway; now, she now reprises the part of the plump would-be dancer for this Reagle Players production. Todd Michel Smith and Judine Somerville direct and choreograph the Tony-winning musical about '60s-era racism and (still-relevant) prejudice against people of size. Dan Dowling Jr. does "a grand drag turn" as Tracy's mother, Edna Turnblad. | Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington St, Waltham, 02452 | 781.891.5600 or reaglemusictheatre.com | August 12-22 | Curtain 2 pm Thurs [August 12] | $35-$57; $25 age 18 and under
MORE WORDS! MORE PLAY! | Wolfe Coleman and Tom O'Keefe, the same team who wrote last year's Bankside Fest play about Shakespeare's life, Wordplay!, have penned this follow-up about who really wrote the Bard's works. "This is not the first piece of work to address the authorship question that is rife with historical inaccuracy," says O'Keefe. "But it may be the first to do so with so many bawdy jokes." The players are the 11 young actors in S&Co.'s Center for Actor's Training Performance Intern Program; Steve Ginsburg directs. | Shakespeare & Company, Rose Footprint Theatre & Bankside, 70 Kemble St, Lenox | 413.637.3353 or shakespeare.org | August 12–September 6 | Curtain this week: 5:30 Thurs [August 12] | $15; $5 age 18 and under
THE TEMPEST | Gurnet Theatre presents Shakespeare's comedic romance about a magical island and a supernatural storm. Prospero (Michael Fisher) discovers his traitorous brother Antonio (Brendan Rogers) is on a passing ship, and the rest of the boat's passengers become players in Prospero's payback plan, among them the honorable Prince Ferdinand (Dan Lovley), who falls in love with Prospero's daughter Miranda (Ali Harrington). The performance is outdoors, so bring a chair or blanket and hope that the weather doesn't live up to the play's name. Michael Duncan Smith directs. | Myles Standish Monument State Reservation, Duxbury | gurnettheatre.com | August 6-15 | Curtain 5:30 pm Fri-Sun | Free
