Artisan pasta shares a bill with Old West melodrama at Kids Unlimited Academy’s fall dinner theater.
“Spaghetti Western: Or Mission Im-Pasta-ble” will host KUA families, supporters and the community for a delectable comedy Dec. 5. A three-course meal featuring KU’s Pastabilities Unlimited freshly prepared pasta is included in the $20 ticket price.
Audiences will savor this story of Grannie Smith and her charming but clumsy granddaughter, Petunia Pearl, who run the Hoot 
‘n’ Holler Hotel. More than 20 KUA students in grades 3-5 will play Smith, Pearl, Sheriff Kirk Ketchum, Deputy Hal Holdem, villain Duke Dreadful and other characters.
The plot unfolds as Grannie and Petunia are behind on their mortgage and under threat from Duke, who will stop at nothing to buy up their beloved hotel. They cook up an idea to save the Hoot ‘n’ Holler — holding a spaghetti sauce contest with enough prize money to pay off the bank. But Duke enlists the help of Saucy Sally to cheat his way to victory.
Will Sheriff Ketchum save the Hoot ‘n’ Holler — and win the heart of his true love? Or will their efforts be “mission im-pasta-ble”?
Spoofing popular “spaghetti westerns” of the 1960s and ’70s, the play elicits sound effects from the audience, as they boo the villain and cheer the hero. An emcee presides over the script written by Tracy Wells, who has published more than 50 plays, produced across the country and internationally.
The show starts at 6:30 p.m., and doors open at 6:15. Tickets must be purchased in advance at kuaoregon.org/tickets
A limited number of show-only tickets are available for $10 each at the door only, the evening of the performance.
Pastabilities Unlimited is KU’s next youth entrepreneurial project with a culinary focus. The three-course dinner is prepared by KU’s Food Program, which serves free breakfast and lunch to KUA students and dinner to participants at KU’s 10 Afterschool program sites.
