| theater opening |

Beauty and the Beast Fri-Sat 8pm; Sun 2pm. Ramie Wikdahl directs the famous fairy tale in which beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. This imaginative adaptation closely follows the traditional fable in pure theater magic with lots of humor. SRO Theatre, Monterey Peninsula College, Monterey. $15; $12/ages 16-22; $9/ages 6-15. 646-4213. Ends 11/21.

The Dudley Diamond Double Cross Fri-Sat 6:30pm. Pranks and high drama are usually the worst high school has to offer. But not at Dudley High, the setting for Ariel’s annual Murder-Mystery Dinner Theatre.  Dudley High’s cafeteria is the scene of the biggest crime to hit the school—a heist and a murder. Fundraiser: 11/5, $75. Continues next weekend, 11/12-11/13. $35. Includes dinner catered by Hullaballoo. The Wilson Children’s Theatre, 320 Main Street in Oldtown Salinas. 775-0976. Ends 11/13.

Liza and the Riddling Cave Sat-Sun 2pm. Liza Tucker was born different. She can’t talk but she has an extraordinary ability to solve riddles. Misunderstood by her mother and her neighbors, she lives a reclusive life at the family home place. But after her father fails to return home following a flood, it is Liza who solves the mystery of his disappearance. In this heart-warming Appalachian adventure, Liza and her brother Jacob match wits with a pair of mischievous ghosts in a magical cave deep within mysterious Ice Mountain. At the end, Liza wins acceptance, while her mother gains a new understanding of the “kind of magic that holds a family together.” $5. Cabaret Theater, Old Town Salinas, 215 Lincoln Avenue. 755-6816. Ends 11/14.

| theater now playing |

Meadow Muffin Mafia Fri-Sat 8pm. Western vaudeville hijinks from the Barbary Players. A villain, Osama Bendover, rolls into the town of Meadow Muffin and disrupts life for the colorful community, which includes a female sheriff named Charley Parker, a bar named Dolly Partson’s, town fathers Chief Big Bird and Chop Stix, and a loose mail girl named Easy Pleasures. Barbary Coast Theater, 320 Hoffman Ave., Monterey. $14; $13/seniors; $8/students; $6/active military. 655-4992. Ends 12/18.

Tartuffe Fri-Sat 8pm; Sun 2pm. (Reviewed this issue.) $17; $14/seniors, students and military. The Studio Theater, Hartnell College Performing Arts Center, 156 Homestead Ave., Salinas. 755-6816 or www.westernstage.com. Ends 11/20.

Two One Acts Fri-Sat 8pm; Sun 2:30pm. Anton Chekhov’s The Marriage Proposal is about a 35-year-old hypochondriac’s beleaguered attempt to propose to the debutante next door. In George Bernard Shaw’s Village Wooing, an educated travel writer who would just like to work in solitude meets a chatty phone operator with a mission to marry him. $16; $12/students, seniors and military; $6/children 12 and under. Indoor Forest Theatre, Santa Rita and Mountain View, Carmel. 624-1531 or www.cetstaffplayers.org. Ends 11/21.

| auditions |

MPC Theater Company MPC will be casting for roles in Noises Off by Michael Frayn; The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis, and The Velveteen Rabbit by Alicia Wharton. 1-4pm, 12/11 and 12/13. Monterey Peninsula College. Contact Gary Bolen at 646-4085 or gbolen@mpc.edu.

PacRep Theatre PacRep will be casting for roles in M. Butterfly by David Hwang; Stones in his Pockets by Marie Jones, and Retreat from Moscow by William Nicholson. Prepare two contrasting monologues, not to exceed three minutes. 12/11 and 12/13. Golden Bough Playhouse, Monte Verde between 8th and 9th, Carmel. 622-0100 or 622-0700.

The Wharf Theater The Wharf Theater is casting for The Mikado by Gilbert and Sullivan (7:30pm, 11/14 and 11/15) and Cabaret by Ebb and Kander (7:30pm, 12/12 and 12/13). 649-2332.