The great storyteller of the stage Kevin Kling closes this year's alteractive series at 7 p.m. Monday at Playhouse in the Park with his hit Baseball, Dogs and Motorcycles.

An acclaimed playwright and regular contributor to NPR's All Things Considered, Kling explores subjects including being a Twins fan, his enduring love of bikes, his new basset hound and the importance of weiner dogs in his life.

The Minneapolis Star-Tribune wrote, "Kling's stories adeptly communicate his uniquely quirky vision of the world as well as a poignant and hard-won sense of hope in the face of calamity. Whether it be a backyard carnival or a trip to a coffee shop, he has an unerring ability to reveal the extraordinary that lurks beneath the surface of ordinary events."

Tickets $12, students $8. Call the Playhouse box office at 421-3888 for reservations and information.

Doggone good news

The show must go on - and this is no shaggy dog story.

Covedale Center for the Arts was ready to open its spring musical Annie when the doggy (no names) cast as Sandy developed stage fright and couldn't perform.

Enter Molly (not coincidentally named for the show's youngest orphan). A 15-year-old golden retriever, Molly has been suffering enough medical problems that her future was in doubt. But owner and Covedale box office manager Susan Bolger decided it was worth a chance - Molly had been trained years ago to perform in The Children's Theatre production of Annie.

Talk about a happy ending. Molly didn't even need to rehearse. She had the moves down. She has a new lease on life, to say nothing of achieving star stature with the youngsters in the audience.

If you want to catch Molly's act, you have only this week. Annie continues at Covedale through next Sunday. Call the box office at 241-6550, and if Bolger answers, make sure you give Molly a round of cheers

'Thirty Ghosts'

Ensemble Theatre has scheduled a reading of Robert Lewis Vaughan's Thirty Ghosts at 7 p.m. Monday. It's described as a hip, contemporary ghost story set on an old horse farm. Vaughan's Praying for Rain played at ETC in 2002. Tickets $6. For more information call, 421-3555.

E-mail jdemaline@enquirer.com