Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
MIKE WEATHERFORD: New company brings professional theater to Vegas
Theater lovers have heard this story before, but maybe this is the one with the happy ending.
A new startup called the Starbright Theatre Company plans to offer a full year's worth of six professional theater productions, three of them musicals with name-above-the-title stars.
The troupe leased the 312-seat Starbright Theatre in the Sun City development, 2215 Thomas Ryan Blvd., for all its productions. The first is the musical "Scrooge," starring Davis Gaines, best known for his long-running stint as the star of "Phantom of the Opera." It runs Dec. 9-28.
Las Vegan Paige O'Hara -- who tours with composer Jerry Herman in "Jerry's Girls" and voiced Belle in the Disney classic "Beauty and the Beast" -- will star in "Showboat" in April and "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" in August.
The nonmusicals are the new "Sherlock Holmes and the Vanishing Princess" in June, "Julius Caesar" in February and "Macbeth" October, the latter two performed by a companion ensemble with overlapping performers called the Royal Stratford Shakespeare Players.
All are Actors Equity union productions that will offer annual contracts to about 15 players.
Patrons can be forgiven for not tripping over each other in the rush to buy season tickets after the failure of similar efforts. The most recent was the Broadway Theatre Company, which imploded in late 2001 before any of its three musicals were produced at The Orleans.
But this one is headed by Ari Levin, a native Las Vegan who has built credibility through his Jolon Productions, which stages the annual ShoWest movie industry convention on the strip and recently promoted the Kirov Ballet at the Aladdin.
Levin says he deliberately waited to announce his plans until everything was in place, including deposits conforming to Actors Equity regulations. The group also is keeping things focused and not planning to offer classes or workshops, which were part of the house of cards the Broadway Theatre Company proved to be.
"We wanted this to be the state's first full-time Equity theater," Levin says, noting the absence of a resident professional troupe after the closing of Actors Repertory Theater.
"We're taking it to a Broadway level and keeping the prices dirt cheap," Levin says of tickets that will be $27.50, $25 for children and seniors.
The nonprofit company will count on grants and multiple performances to keep ticket prices low. Dr. Robert Shiroff is on the troupe's board of directors and gave a grant for "Scrooge."
Levin says the troupe's goal was to find commercial titles that haven't been done to death in Las Vegas. "Scrooge" is an adaptation of a 1970 movie with songs by Leslie Bricusse. Gaines has never performed in Las Vegas.
The bigger gamble is the plan to stage six performances a week for four weeks, rather than just running on weekends. It's necessary at those ticket prices -- each performance can only gross about $8,000 -- but ambitious for a location that's less than central.
The underused theater near the western edge of Lake Mead Boulevard was built by the Del Webb Corp., then handed over to the Sun City residents' association.
The theater has its limitations, including the lack of an orchestra pit or fly loft. But it also has the strengths of easy access, a stand-alone parking lot and the adjacent Summit restaurant, which will team with the theater company for specials and promotions.
Levin's company has a full-time lease on the theater. His father, Sherman, plans to book one-night concerts by local legends such as Pete Barbutti and Sonny King between the stage productions.
The company already is staffing a box office at the theater to sell tickets for "Scrooge." Call 240-1333. ...
Two announcements from the Harrah's Las Vegas family of performers. First, that sort-of-wholesome family act The Scintas will stage a dirtier-than-usual "Scintas Uncensored" at midnight on Oct. 28 at the Rio.
It's a private show for cast members of other shows. (Call 221-0323 if you are one and want to go.) But you never know; it could become a weekly or monthly event for the public if the reaction is positive.
On Nov. 12, Harrah's Las Vegas resident comedy magician Mac King will stage a publicity stunt at the hotel's Carnaval Court. He will attempt to congregate the world's longest "telephone line," the campfire game in which a message is whispered from person to person to see how much it changes by the end.
The twist on this one is that King says he can predict the message in its final form. Should be fun.
Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Sundays and Tuesdays.
