If your only experience with hillbilly comedy is that of the Beverly Hills variety, then perhaps it's time to spend an evening at the Valley Center Playhouse in Lindon.

Its current production, "Possum City, U.S.A.," is a family-friendly, music-drenched good time that will leave every last viewer smiling.

From open to close of the three-act play, audience members get to know Ralph Ratcliff, Peaches Monroe, Ma and Pa Tubbs, and all the other members of Possum City, Tenn. -- a town where city slickers and modern marvels take a backseat to synchronized singing and possum stew.

The effect is a charming and endearingly hokey story of what happens when an out-of-towner threatens Possum City's simplistic way of life by introducing country music and the promise of fame and fortune.

Searching for a new act for the Grand Ole Opry, Ralph Ratcliff comes to the backwoods town of Possum City only to discover a wealth of blossoming -- and awfully nafve -- talent. But Ratcliff finds problems of his own when faced with the ethical dilemma of breaking the course of true love in exchange for his own success.

Written and produced by Jody Renstrom, the production is just one of eight self-written plays Renstrom will produce this year at the Valley Center Playhouse that she owns with her husband, Keith.

Renstrom said she began writing plays in order to produce shows that were both enjoyable and family friendly. Renstrom and her husband have been in the theater business for more than 30 years.

With experience like that, it's no wonder that audience members cheered so heartily for "Possum City, U.S.A." With the intimate theater and homemade feel, this is a play that's fun for hillbillies and city-slickers alike.

If You Go

Possum City, U.S.A.

When: Fridays, Saturdays and Mondays through Aug. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Valley Center Playhouse, 780 N. 200 East, Lindon

Tickets: $6, $5 for students, seniors and children, $25 per family. No babes in arms or children under 4.

Info: 224-5310, www.vcpnews.com