SAN DIEGO (AP) -- In the latest example of art imitating life, a group of high school students has created a musical based on Winona Ryder's shoplifting trial.
Point Loma High School's "Sticky Fingers: A Tale of Saks, Lies and Videotape" satirizes the trial last fall in which the Oscar-nominated actress was convicted of taking about $6,000 worth of items from Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills.
The production is the culmination of a year's worth of work by several dozen students and is directed by teacher Larry Zeiger, who plays piano for the show and stars as CNN interviewer Larry King.
"Sticky Fingers" marks the 27th annual production by Zeiger's "Gotta Sing Gotta Dance Company."
"We're inspired by the old Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland, `Hey, let's put on a show,' kind of spirit," said the literature, film and drama teacher, who has taught at the San Diego school for 29 years.
The musical follows a missile-factory employee and tango dancer who travels to Rodeo Drive, where she has a fateful meeting with her idol, Ryder, at Saks. The department store donated shopping bags for the set.
Ryder was invited to see the show, which opens this week, but the school hasn't received a response. Her publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said she didn't know whether the 31-year-old actress ever saw the invitation.
