CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN WITH THE TRICKS AND THE TREATS

                     JIMMY JOHANSMEYER AS MR. TRICK    PHOTO BY JULIA GERACE

Under a blood red moon, anything is likely to happen, especially if the calendar says it's almost the magical date of October 31st, Halloween.  What better way to celebrate the holiday, then to skip on over to the Milford Center for the Arts weekends until Sunday, October 30 for Pantochino Productions' original spooky and sweet musical "The Bewitchingly Scrumptious and Extraordinary Mister Trick & Mrs Treat." Created by Bert Bernardi for imaginative book and lyrics, Justin Rigg for memorable music and jimmy Johansmeyer for clever costuming, this is  delightful family fare.

The frost is definitely on the pumpkins in the neighborhood where the family of Mr. Trick (Jimmy Johansmeyer), his daughter Ordelia (Mary Mannix), his son Thorn (Gavin 

Conte), his father Payne (George Spelvin), and his housekeeper Ursa Luna (Hannah Duffy) all delight in the mischievous side of the spooky holiday where orange is the new black and purple.  They have been known to fill donuts with gooey mayonnaise instead of jelly, sprinkle itching powder in sensitive places and dangle dangerous spiders for maximum scary effect.

The Trick family clearly have adopted the ghoulish and ghastly side of Halloween.  Imagine their dismay, however, when a new family moves into the vacant house right next door.  Are they witches? Oh, my!

Here come Mrs. Treat (Shelley Marsh Poggio), and her clan that includes her son Charleston (Justin Rigg), her daughter Tootsie (Annabel Wardman), her nephew Clark (Andrea Pane) and her housekeeper Eclaira (Maria Berte).  While the Trick folks get their jollies at the expense of others, Mrs Treat is 100% sweetness and she can't wait to share her yummy goodies with others on her favorite holiday.

You don't need to be a Sherlock Holmes to see where this delicious and dastardly musical is going.  A patch of pumpkins get a makeover, a water filled bushel of apples become a game and the two neighbors learn the lesson that Halloween can be even more fun if there are both tricks and treats galore.  This enthusiastic cast under the direction of Bert Bernardi sings and dances up a storm, both scary and sugary, about everything that goes bump in the night.

For tickets ($20 online, $22 at the door), go online to Pantochino Productions at www.pantochino.com.  Performances are Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. 

( only this performance is cabaret style, bring food) and 5:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Milford Center for the Arts at the Milford Train Station, 40 Railroad Avenue, Milford.  It's not too early to plan to see their next production opening December 2, "The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus."

Grab the kiddies and have a fantastic and fun family day in honor of that happy and hungry for candy holiday of Halloween.  Boo!