Carousel Wednesday, 7pm, preview. Opens 8/12. Musical. MPC presents the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical Carousel. Direction by Tom McKenzie, choreography by Susan Cable. MPC Morgan Stock Stage, 980 Fremont St., Monterey. $5/preview show 8/11. 646-4213. Through: 8/29.

Fear of a Brown Planet Friday & Saturday, 8pm. Comedy. El Teatro Campesino presents a two-weekend Summer Festival of Comedy. This weekend only, the Xicano Secret Service takes to the stage with a wild multi-media compilation of rapid-fire comedic sketches. Mixing film, video and live theater, Fear of a Brown Planet details the adventures of the anti-hero Zeta and the so-called "brown underground" as they try to liberate the oppressed peoples of the world from a sci-fi limbo-city of Hate. El Teatro Campesino, 705 4th St., San Juan Bautista. $10/General; $3/Children; $7/Seniors. 623-2444. Through: 8/7.

Fortinbras Friday & Saturday, 7:30pm. Comedic Drama. It's best if you know Hamlet, but even if you don't, this clever take-off of the original Shakespeare tragedy can stand alone on the strength of its writing by playwright Lee Blessing. John Farmanesh-Bocca plays Fortinbras, a character who, in Hamlet, comes on at the very end of the play for a couple of thankless lines, but who here becomes the central figure in a "what-if" comedy that pokes fun mercilessly at the tale of the Depressed Dane. All the Hamlet characters come back to un-life, to thwart Fortinbras' attempts to unite the kingdom he's inherited (by default). Opens Saturday, $20/general, $12/students and seniors; half-price preview Friday. Circle Theater at the Golden Bough, Monteverde Street at 8th Avenue, Carmel. 622-0100. Through: 10/16.

Grapes of Wrath Friday & Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 2pm. Drama. John Steinbeck's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of Depression-era California migrant camps was prettified for the silver screen in the 1940 Henry Fonda film. But this stage adaptation by Academy Award-nominated writer Frank Galati won raves in 1990 on Broadway and in London's West End, where critics agreed it remained more faithful than the movie to Steinbeck's original intentions. Western Stage resident director Jon Selover directs an ensemble cast in Grapes of Wrath, which opens this weekend in conjunction with the 19th annual Steinbeck Festival, and plays for two weekends only. The Western Stage Mainstage, Performing Arts Center at Hartnell College, 156 Homestead Ave., Salinas. $18/General; $10/Children; $16/Seniors. 755-6816/375-2111. Through: 8/14.

The Road to Frisco Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 8pm. Melodrama. This 19th-century melodrama set in the Old West follows the tale of a purloined map of the Golden Dream mine, which is lifted from its rightful owner, our young heroine. She sets off with her uncle in pursuit of the map, and tangles with some dastardly banker types. The show, performed in California's oldest continuously operating theater, is followed by the traditional olio revue (song, dance and comedy numbers). California's First Theatre, Scott and Pacific streets, Monterey. $10/General; $5/Children; $8/Seniors. 375-4916. Through: 10/2.

Now Playing

The Glass Menagerie Friday and Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 7pm. Drama. The Unicorn Theater presents Tennessee Williams' gentle yet biting drama of a Southern family trapped in its own idealistic dreams. Single mom Amanda is as desperate to find a husband for her invalid daughter, Laura, as son Tom is eager to escape the stifling family nest. Glass Menagerie is directed by Carey Crockett and features Suzanne Gardner, Katryn Kinser, Marlin Basco and Jody Gilmore. Hoffman Playhouse, 320 Hoffman Ave. at Lighthouse Avenue, Monterey. $15/General; $12/Seniors. 649-0259. Through: 8/15.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Friday and Saturday, 7:30pm; Sunday, 3pm. (Reviewed in this issue). Magic Circle Center for the Arts, 8 El Caminito, Carmel Valley. $12/General; $10/Children; $10/Seniors. 659-1108. Through: 8/29.

Pinocchio's Great Adventure Saturday, 2pm and 4pm; Sunday, 1pm and 3pm. Children. A musical version of the famous fairy tale of the wooden doll who becomes a real boy, adapted by Unicorn Theate founder Carey Crockett, and starring Crockett and Robert Colter. Appropriate for the entire family. Hoffman Playhouse, 320 Hoffman Ave., Monterey. $5/General; $5/Children; $5/Seniors. 649-0259. Through: 8/22.

Sound of Music Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 8:30pm; Sunday, 8pm. Musical. The hills are alive, etc., with the true, if dramatized, story of Maria, the convent novice sent as governess to the Von Trapp family in pre-WWII Austria. She forms a successful singing troupe out of the kids and their dad. Songs include "You are 16, Going on 17" and "My Favorite Things." Wharf Theater, Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey. $15/General; $10/Children. 649-2332. Through: 8/22.

The Mask of Moriarty Friday and Saturday, 8pm; Sunday, 2pm. Comic mystery thriller. Jeffrey Heyer plays England's greatest detective Sherlock Holmes, "a role he was seemingly born to play," in this comic mystery thriller by Irish playwright Hugh Leonard, who penned the Tony Award-winning Da! In The Mask of Moriarty, Holmes faces off yet again against his arch-nemesis Moriarty, in his most challenging case ever. "Heyer's arch delivery and wry self-assurance fit perfectly as the famous super-sleuth." The Studio Theater in the Performing Arts Center at Hartnell College, 156 Homestead Ave., Salinas. $15/General; $10/Children; $13/Seniors. 375-2111/755-6816. Through: 8/22.

Closing

Man of La Mancha Thursday through Sunday, 8pm. Musical. The Outdoor Forest Theater is "the perfect setting for this lovely production of Man of La Mancha." Richard Boynton is Don Quixote, the Spaniard who imagines himself a heroic knight, out to do battle for right, tilting at windmills in his endless quest for a good and just world. "Under Boynton's subtle touch Quixote never becomes a caricature." Based on Miguel Cervantes' 16th-century poem, Man of La Mancha includes such well-known songs as "The Impossible Dream," "Dulcinea" and "I'm Only Thinking of Him." Directed by John Newkirk, with musical direction by Lyn Whiting. Outdoor Forest Theater, Mountain View Avenue and Santa Rita Street, Carmel. $15/General; $12/Children; $12/Seniors. 626-1681. Through: 8/8.