Three theater companies open their fall seasons with musicals, while the Lehigh Valley has lost two theater icons.

DeSales University’s Act 1 kicks off its 55th season with “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Performing Arts at Cedar Crest College opens its season with “Disenchanted! The Musical.”

MunOpCo Music Theatre will present “Rock of Ages.”

Earlier in September, the area lost Allentown native and Tony-nominated costume designer Michael McDonald and Easton costume designer Theresa Macripo.

“Little Shop of Horrors,” a horror comedy musical based on the 1960 film directed by Roger Corman, runs Sept. 26 to Oct. 6 on the Main Stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University.

The show tells the story of a struggling business, Mushnik’s Skid Row flower shop. Seymour (Tommy Stacherski), the shop’s shy assistant, discovers a strange new plant with an unusual appetite. Seymour names the plant Audrey II after his coworker Audrey (Rosie Dunphy) for whom he secretly pines.

Audrey II attracts new customers, the shop thrives, love blooms, all while Audrey II plots universal domination.

The musical, with music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Howard Ashman, includes some well-known songs, including the title track, and “Suddenly, Seymour” and “Somewhere That’s Green.” “Little Shop of Horrors” is the winner of the 1983 Drama Desk Award for Best Musical.

“‘Little Shop’ is one of only a select few musicals I can think of that beautifully weaves the musical world of the story, in this case Motown, doo-wop, and rock and roll, into the storytelling structure,” says John Bell, director of the production and professor of theater at DeSales. “The score by Menken and Ashman intensifies every element: the romance, the absurdity and the danger.”

Guest artists Ryan Touhey is music director and Devon Sinclair is choreographer. Parris Bradley is scenic designer, creating the run-down flower shop. LaVonne Lindsay is costume designer.

Performance artist Samantha Beedle is the production’s puppet coach and is working with the students who articulate Audrey II and speak the plant’s lines.

There are talkbacks with the cast after Sept. 29 and 30 performances. There will be an “Audrey II Garden Party” in the lobby after the Oct. 4 performance.

The Oct. 7 performance has open-captioning for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing and audio descriptions for patrons who are blind or visually-impaired. Tickets are half price for patrons using these services. Call box office manager Eric Pierson at 610-282-1100, ext. 1820, for information.

“Little Shop of Horrors,” 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26, 27, 28, Oct. 2, 3, 4, 5; 2 p.m. Sept. 29, Oct. 6, 9:45 a.m. Sept. 30. Act 1 DeSales, Main Stage Theatre, Labuda Center for the Performing Arts, DeSales University, 2755 Station Avenue, Center Valley. 610-282-3192, https://www.desales.edu

Find out what happened to all the fairy tale princesses after the “happily ever after” in “Disenchanted! The Musical,” a subversive and definitely “not-for-little-kids” musical revue, Sept. 26 to 29, Samuels Theater, Cedar Crest College.

“Disenchanted!” follows iconic storybook heroines as they become none too happy with the way they’ve been portrayed in today’s pop culture, so they toss away their tiaras and come to life to set the record straight.

Dennis T. Giacino created and wrote the book, music, and lyrics for the Off-Broadway hit.

The musical introduces the familiar princesses in brand-new roles, including Snow White (Mackenzie Lewis) as the self-assured leader of the princess pack; Cinderella (Angelina Dries) as an enthusiastic feminist; Sleeping Beauty (Ashly Rodriguez) as the comedic opposite of Snow White; The Little Mermaid (Kacie Schneck) as the rowdy and rebellious life of the party; Pocahontas (Alyssa Weber) as her authentic and historical self; Belle (Rosie Kramer) from “Beauty and the Beast” as a mad housewife; and The Princess Who Kissed The Frog (Jahniya James) as the confident and clever Black princess, who is here to reclaim her throne and more.

The cast includes Nehal Mohammed, Noel Cruz, Kate Rosario, Nik Georgievski and Zee Marrero.

The production contains adult language and content and is not intended for children.

JoAnn Wilchek Basist is director. Rebecca Pieper is music director. Joanellyn Schubert is choreographer. Will Morris is costume designer. Roxanne Amico is scenic designer.

“Disenchanted! The Musical,” 7 p.m. Sept. 26, 27, 28; 2 p.m. Sept. 29, Samuels Theater, Cedar Crest College 100 College Drive, Allentown. 610-740-3780, https://www.cedarcrest.edu

MunOpCo Music Theatre is kicking off its season with “Rock of Ages,” Sept. 28 to Oct. 6, Scottish Rite Cathedral, Allentown.

“Rock of Ages” is a jukebox musical created around classic rock songs from the 1980s, especially those of glam-metal bands.

The musical features songs by Styx, Journey, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Whitesnake, Poison, Europe and more. Songs include “Don’t Stop Believin’,” “Any Way You Want It,” “Can’t Fight This Feeling,” “Cum On Feel the Noize,” ““Wanted Dead or Alive,” “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and more.

Anthony Rizzuto and Jordan Frantz play star-crossed lovers in the story that takes place in Hollywood at the end of the 1980s. The party has been raging hard at the Bourbon Room, one of the Sunset Strip’s last legendary venues where aspiring musician Drew Boley (Rizzuto) is a bus boy and dreams of fame on the stage. When small-town girl Sherri Christian (Frantz), arrives, fresh off the bus from Kansas, to find her own fame and fortune, Drew is smitten.

Meanwhile, a pair of German developers (Kerry McGuire, Alanna McLaughlin) arrive with plans to turn the strip into a strip mall. As the Bourbon Room’s owner Dennis Dupree (Jim Hoffmann) and his right hand man Lonnie (Kit Hartzell) try to head off the developers, they convince rock star Stacee Jaxx (Shannon Cornish) to perform his final show with his band at the Bourbon Room. With the help of city planner Regina Koontz (Katie MacMillian), everyone is trying to save the strip before it’s too late.

The cast includes Shy Torres, Salem Perez Torres, Crystal Williams, Kyleigh Visoco, Steph George, Lauren Curley, Melissa Dorflinger, Joey Lehrer, Cindy Greatsinger, Sarah Shea Mabes and Bob Calder.

Brenda McGuire is director. Mariel Letourneau is choreographer.

“Rock of Ages,” 7 p.m. Sept. 28, Oct. 4, 5; 2 p.m. Sept. 29, Oct. 6, MunOpCo Music Theatre, Scottish Rite Cathedral, 1533 Hamilton St., Allentown. 610-437-2441, https://www.munopco.org/

Michael McDonald, 61, who was nominated for a Tony Award for his costume design for the 2009 Broadway revival of “Hair,” died Sept. 4 in New York City.

McDonald, a native of Allentown, started his career as a teen volunteer, designing more than 25 productions for Civic Theatre of Allentown. He designed costumes for The Pennsylvania Playhouse, Theater Outlet, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Cedar Crest College, Bucks County Playhouse and Muhlenberg Summer Music Theatre. He designed costumes for Civic’s “Pippin” in April.

For six seasons, McDonald was one of the associate costume masters and costume shop manager at The Public Theater, New York City, and designed costumes on Broadway, West End, Off-Broadway and for regional shows. He taught at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts.

In 2019, he was honored by Allentown Arts Commission with an Arts Ovation Award.

McDonald’s Tony-nominated costumes from “Hair” are on display at The Museum of Broadway.

Area theaters lost a local costume designer when Theresa “Terry” Macripo, 75, died Sept. 2.

She was an avid sewer and owner of “Sew Light” alterations. She was a costume designer for area theaters, primarily Pennsylvania Playhouse and Notre Dame Summer Theatre. She is the mother of Elizabeth Marsh-Gilkeson, married to Rody Gilkeson, who are well-known on the Lehigh Valley stage.

“Curtain Rises” is a column about the theater, stage shows, the actors in them and the directors and artists who make them happen. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com.