Lehigh Valley community theaters are staging a musical based on a beloved children’s book; a classic murder mystery and an original play about motherhood.

Civic Theatre of Allentown presents “Matilda The Musical,” Oct. 9 to Oct. 25 at the 19th Street Theatre.

The Pennsylvania Playhouse stages “Murder on the Orient Express,” Oct. 9 to Oct. 25 in Bethlehem.

Touchstone Theatre premiered “Milkdrunk,” Oct. 7 to Oct. 10 in its South Bethlehem theater.

Civic’s production of “Matilda The Musical,” based on the 1988 children’s novel “Matilda” by British author Roald Dahl, is about a precocious child with uncaring parents who faces a tyrannical headmistress at school.

The Tony Award-winning musical, staged and directed by Civic Theatre of Allentown Artistic Director William Sanders, features Tim Minchin’s energetic score and a cast of young and adult performers.

Matilda (Neriah Cofield, Helena Putney share the role), who lives with her abusive TV-loving parents (Maxwell McCurdy and Mackenzie Lewis), is an avid reader with a big imagination.

When Matilda starts school, a kind teacher Miss Honey (Andrea Robles) tries to encourage Matilda’s intellect, but runs afoul of the school’s terrifying headmistress Miss Trunchbull (Jarrod Yuskauskas).

With the help of her friends and Miss Honey, Matilda learns that standing up for what is right can change everything.

The cast includes Parker Ryan, Dave Scarlatella, Maelisa Quinn, Pat Birnbaum, Thomas McElhinny, Alex Pizolato. Beckett Edwards. Gabriella Beahm, Xavier Hetrick, Zori Sawyer, Connor Simmons, Cashton Morrow, Vivienne Escoto, Sarah Panettiere, Kristen Barbarito, Maria Diaz, Avante Kendall, Thomas McElhinny, Alex Pizolato, Dave Scarlatella, Quinton Shenemen and Kiernan Ward.

The children’s ensemble includes Nora Bloch, Asher Daniel Bristol, Peyton Dotter, Ellie Gray, Richard Krebs and Melody Scarlatella.

The teen ensemble includes Adalee Amaan, Liam Griffith, Ada Hendershot, Westley Lichtenwalner, Isel Mortensen, Weston Putney, Noah Saborsky and Colton Shupp.

Music direction is by Nick Conti.

Choreography is by Mackenzie Lewis.

“Matilda The Musical,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9, 12, 16, 22, 23; 3 p.m. Oct. 11, 18, 25; 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. Oct. 17, 24, Civic Theatre of Allentown, 527 N. 19th St., Allentown. 610-433-8903, https://civictheatre.com/

“Murder on the Orient Express” is a murder mystery based on Agatha Christie’s 1934 novel “Murder in the Calais Coach” that featured fictional Belgian detective Hercule Poirot.

The stage adaptation is written by Tony Award-nominated playwright Ken Ludwig. who was commissioned by the estate of Agatha Christie.

Just after midnight in winter 1934, a snowdrift stops the Orient Express in its tracks as it travels through Europe. The luxurious train is surprisingly full for the time of the year, but by the morning it is one passenger fewer.

An American tycoon lies dead in his compartment, stabbed eight times and his door locked from the inside.

Isolated and with a killer in their midst, the passengers rely on detective Hercule Poirot (Shaun Hayes), who happens to be on his way back to London from Istanbul, to investigate the murder.

The cast includes Travis J. Nugent, Kate Hayes, Joemichael Luciano, Mariel Letourneau, Keith Moser, Doug Ace, Jen Rarick, Bryanna Pye, Jill Bormann and Joey Troiano,

The play is directed by Mark Stutz.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” 7:30 p.m. Oct. 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24; 3 p.m. Oct. 11, 18, 25, Pennsylvania Playhouse, 390 Illick’s Mill Road, Bethlehem. 610-865-6665, http://www.paplayhouse.org/

Touchstone Theater is presenting the Lehigh Valley premiere of “Milkdrunk,” an original one-woman show by Washington, D.C., playwright and performer Cathleen O’Malley.

In the show, Cathleen is a first-time mother (and a geriatric one according to her gynecologist), who only wants to be a one-time mother. She is doing everything in her power to get it right.

Seemingly sailing through her pregnancy, Cathleen is unprepared for postnatal hormonal swings and lack of sleep that await her when the baby upends her best-laid plans.

O’Malley pulls back the curtain on childbirth, milk and what it takes to be a mother in a modern world. Described as a “primal scream from the trenches of first-time motherhood,” the play premiered off-Broadway at the United Solo Theatre Festival at Theater Row and has since toured from Cleveland to Washington, D.C., to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The performance is 60 minutes with no intermission.

“Milkdrunk” is recommended for ages 14 and older for adult language, dark humor, frank talk about human sexuality and childbirth, references to bodily fluids, and other potentially triggering themes.

“Milkdrunk,” 8 p.m. Oct. 7, 8, 9; 2 p.m. Oct. 10, Touchstone Theatre, 321 E. Fourth St., Bethlehem. 610-867-1689; http://www.touchstone.org/

Touchstone Theatre Executive Director and Ensemble Member James “Jp” Jordan has been selected by PA Humanities as one of 50 fellows in the inaugural PA Cultural Exchange, an 18-month statewide fellowship bringing together artists, storytellers, historians, educators and other cultural leaders in Pennsylvania.

The artists were selected through a competitive process from 350 applicants, and represent every region of the Commonwealth. The fellowship is intended to strengthen the work and careers of Pennsylvania’s cultural practitioners while building connections to create a statewide network for learning, collaboration and problem-solving.

PaX fellows will participate in a series of immersive cultural exchanges in Pennsylvania in spring and fall 2027, supplemented by virtual learning opportunities and peer coaching.

Jordan has spent more than two decades creating community-based and site-specific performance, much of it through his work with Touchstone Theatre.

Jordan has served Touchstone as an artist, director, composer, designer, educator, cultural producer and executive director. He is program director of the Touchstone Theatre-Moravian University MFA in Performance Creation.

“I’m incredibly honored to be part of this first PaX cohort,” says Jordan.

“So much of my work has been about asking how art can help people understand the places they live, encounter one another, and imagine what comes next.

“I’m excited to spend the next year and a half learning from people doing that work in very different ways and in very different communities across Pennsylvania, and to bring some of that thinking, those relationships, and hopefully a few new questions back home to the Lehigh Valley.”

“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