With the year's most theatrical holiday right around the corner, mid-October is the perfect time to take in a show on stage (or two!) and this week’s offerings don’t disappoint. From the devilish “Dr. Faustus” at Eastern Michigan University, to the clandestine “Cabaret” at University of Michigan, to the anguished Annapurna at the Purple Rose, there’s plenty of Halloween-appropriate fare, no matter your theatrical taste.

Whether its treats or tricks you crave, or dramas or musicals you prefer, this weekend let Washtenaw’s many talented companies satisfy the thespian in you!

Show: Chili Challis' UNclub Open Mic First Anniversary Awards Show (The UNnies) with MC Mark Sweetman, one-time event, Sunday, Oct. 19, 8 p.m.

Company: Emergent Arts at The Mix Studio Theater

Type of Company: Preprofessional

Venue/location: The Mix Studio Theater, 8 N. Washington St., Ypsilanti

Recommended ages: 16+

Description: Join Chili Challis for a hilarious night of stand up and comedy shenanigans, in association with Chili's Comedy Dojo at The Mix where he coaches standup comics. This will be a special fundraiser for The Mix Studio Theater.

Fun fact: Chili, past staff writer for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno", originated the "Jaywalking" segment on the show and produced it for 10 years.

For tickets and information: www.emergentarts.com

Show: "Cabaret" by John Kander and Fred Ebb, through Oct. 19

Company: U-M School of Music, Theatre &Dance Department of Musical Theatre

Type of Company: Higher Education

Venue/location: Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre, 911 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor

Recommended ages: 14+

Description: Kander and Ebb's Tony-Awarding winning musical "Cabaret" became a landmark at its 1966 Broadway opening and continues to entrance audiences today. Set in the midst of the decadent and flourishing creative culture of Weimar Berlin, the musical opens in the sordid, yet enticing cabaret, the Kit Kat Klub, presided over by a mysterious and seductive master of ceremonies. A traveling American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, finds inspiration at the Klub in the beguiling headliner Sally Boules. An avidly ambitious chanteuse, Sally seduces her way into Cliff's bed and, ultimately, his heart. Yet not even Sally's distraction can obliterate the looming threat of the Third Reich. As their world begins to crumble, Cliff, Sally, and those around them must choose between living with oblivious optimism or facing a stark reality. Read review.

Fun fact: The film version is only loosely based on the 1966 Broadway musical. Only a few numbers from the stage score were used for the film; Kander and Ebb wrote new ones to replace those that were discarded. In the traditional manner of musical theater, every significant character in the stage version sings to express their own emotion and to advance the plot. In the film version, the musical numbers are entirely diegetic, taking place inside the club, with one exception ("Tomorrow Belongs to Me"), the only song not sung by either the Emcee and/or Sally.

For tickets and information: League Ticket Office 734-764-2538, tickets.music.umich.edu

Show: "Dr. Faustus" by Christopher Marlowe, through Oct. 19

Company: Eastern Michigan University Theatre

Type of Company: Higher Education

Venue/location: Quirk Theatre, EMU, Ypsilanti

Recommended ages: 13+

Description: EMU Theatre is excited to open it's 2014-2015 Mainstage season with a spectacle of magic and demons, Christopher Marlowe's "Dr. Faustus", adapted and directed by Lee Stille. Be careful what you wish for is the rule in this tragic morality tale, where a soul's deepest desire may not survive its starkest reality. Considered one of the great works of Elizabethan drama, "Dr. Faustus" bears witness to the war waged between good and evil in the hearts of men.

Fun fact: Arrive early for pre-show treats -- presented by special guests, available in the Quirk lobby.

For tickets and information: 734-487-2282, www.emutix.com.

Show: "Tomfoolery" by Tom Lehrer, Cameron McIntosh, and Robin Ray, featuring the opening short "Volcanoes!!" by Zach London, through Oct. 23

Company: The Penny Seats Theatre Company

Type of Company: Pre-professional

Venue/location: Conor O'Neill's Irish Pub and Restaurant, in The Celtic Room

Recommended ages: 12+

Description: Tomfoolery celebrates the words and music of satirist, musician, mathematician, and cult favorite, Tom Lehrer. Lehrer is known for his biting, yet light-hearted, songs on a broad range of topics including war, love, friendship, math, science, college life, and (er,) pigeons. The show also includes an opening short—a five-minute mini-musical called Volcanoes!!—composed by Ann Arbor's own Zach London, who cites Lehrer as an early inspiration.

Fun fact: Lehrer's career as an academician largely influenced is work as a songwriter. Considered a child prodigy, he entered Harvard College at the age of 15. As a mathematics undergrad, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, including "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" (1945). He was also a Harvard doctoral student for several years, but took time out for his musical career and to work as a researcher at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory. Starting in 1962, he taught in the political science department at MIT, and in 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching a course called "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal arts majors. (He called it "Math for Tenors") He also taught a class in musical theater. In 2001, Lehrer taught his last mathematics class (on the topic of infinity) and retired from academia, but he reportedly still "hangs out" around the University of California, Santa Cruz.

For tickets and information: www.pennyseats.org, 734-926-5346

Special ticket offer: The show is being performed dinner theater-style, with dinner seating starting at 6:30 p.m., and curtain at 8 p.m. Dinner-and-show combo tickets are available for $20 each; show-only tickets are available for $10 each.

Show: "Driving Miss Daisy" by Alfred Uhry, through Oct. 24

Company: Performance Network

Type of Company: Equity SPT

Venue/location: 120 E. Huron, Ann Arbor

Recommended Ages: 16+

Description: In 1948, the son of an elderly Southern matron hires a chauffeur for his mother. And over the next 25 years, the relationship between the matron and the chauffeur blossoms into one of respect and friendship as the civil-rights movement brings changes to the old South. Read review.

Fun Fact: In October 2010, James Earl Jones (as Hoke), Vanessa Redgrave (as Daisy), and Boyd Gaines (as Boolie) appeared in a revival of the play, marking the Broadway debut of the show and the first time Jones and Redgrave have appeared on stage together.

For tickets and information: performancenetwork.org, 734-663-0681

Show: "Annapurna" by Sharr White, through Dec. 20

Company: The Purple Rose Theatre Company

Type of Company: Professional Equity

Venue/location: The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park St., Chelsea

Recommended ages: 14+

Description: What if you had experienced the defining moment of your life – but couldn't remember it? Sharr White's heartfelt and remarkable play deals with that dilemma and the unpredictable eccentricities of love. Join us for the Michigan premiere of this bittersweet play by one of America's most vibrant and lyrical new playwrights. *Contains partial nudity, adult language and themes. Read review.

Fun fact: Annapurna is a Sanskrit name which literally means "full of food" but is normally translated as Goddess of the Harvests. In Hinduism, Annapurna is "... the universal and timeless kitchen-goddess ... the mother who feeds. Without her there is starvation, a universal fear: This makes Annapurna a universal goddess ... Her most popular shrine is located in Kashi, on the banks of the river Ganga." Her association with the giving of food (wealth) led her in time to be transformed into Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth.

For tickets and information: 734-433-7673, www.purplerosetheatre.org.

Carla Milarch writes about theater for MLive.com/The Ann Arbor News. Email her at carlamilarch@gmail.com or follow her at https://www.facebook.com/carla.milarch.