By Barbara M. Bannon

The Salt Lake Tribune

It's not unusual to see a number of shows with ghostly themes or characters pop up around Halloween. What is unique is an original, full-length musical designed especially for this time of year. That's what Jim Christian, director of Weber State University's musical theater program, has created.

The result is "Sleepy Hollow," an adaptation of Washington Irving's classic story, with book and lyrics by Christian and music by Tom Edward Clark, currently premiering at WSU. The production, also directed and choreographed by Christian, shows off the impressive singing and acting abilities of the students in WSU's program, one of the best in the Intermountain West.

Most are probably familiar with the story, although Christian gives it some interesting new twists, especially in the second act. Ichabod Crane (Addison Welch) is Sleepy Hollow's new schoolmaster, but he's unprepared to deal with either the rusticity of its residents or the strangeness of its history.