Amid all the talk about big-budget Broadway musicals on the Strip, a little production of "Ain't Misbehavin' " slipped into the Plaza downtown with a $20 ticket price.

Louis Jarrett's Jarrett-Martini Productions is backing the rent-the-room venture directed by A.J. Phillinganes, who also is one of the five principal performers.

The show was scheduled to open Wednesday night after a weekend preview for an invited-guest audience that included Gladys Knight. The non-Actors Equity production plans six shows per week, one of them a Sunday matinee.

"It's real entertainment at an affordable price," says Phillinganes, adding that the Plaza's cast is larger than the show requires. Along with the quintet of principals, he added a nine-member ensemble "because it's Vegas," he says.

"Ain't Misbehavin' " is a forerunner to today's "jukebox" musicals. All the music comes from the songbook of stride piano legend Thomas "Fats" Waller, who is best-known for the title song. But the revue is not his biography and does not attempt to tell a linear story a la "Mamma Mia!"

Instead, the performers enact little minidramas inspired by Waller's life and Harlem's Cotton Club in its heyday.

Phillinganes says he hopes the all-black cast will create a unique niche for the musical, but at the same time "it's music everyone can love and latch onto."

The Plaza's vintage showroom received a handsome facelift during the 15 months it was under the supervision of Barrick Gaming. But last summer, Barrick sold it to its silent-partner investment company, the Tamares Group, and the showroom has been dormant since the departure of magician Curtis Adams last winter. ...

The Flamingo has made no announcements about a new showroom tenant following the departure of Wayne Newton. But a strong possibility is "Rock of Ages -- The Musical," a hybrid of theatrical musical and concert devoted to the 1980s club scene on Sunset Strip. It's full of early '80s rock anthems and recently played the Vanguard in Hollywood. ...

Gerry McCambridge, aka "The Mentalist," is planning an overnight jump from Summerlin to the Strip. He's hoping to close at the Rampart on June 1 and open at the Stardust on June 2.

Earlier this week, Stardust officials said the deal was still going through an approval process. But they did not anticipate problems with McCambridge's plan to self-produce his mindreading show. Richard Keely, who produces the two hypnotism shows already performing in the former restaurant, will oversee ticketing and logistics.

McCambridge said his two-week run at the Rampart last summer stretched to 47 weeks. The showcase was free or cost a one-drink minimum for most of that run, but he was able to make a living by continuing his heavy schedule of lucrative corporate and private-show bookings.

"I figured that nobody knows who I am and I need some marquee value" before tackling the Strip, McCambridge says. While the connection between locals and the Strip is still an inexact science, McCambridge says his Rampart shows now draw tourists because of word of mouth that somehow spread as far as Florida. ...

"The Producers" will take a cautious approach when Mel Brooks' musical comedy opens at Paris Las Vegas later this year, launching with seven shows per week.

The modest schedule will enable the title to "build accordingly," says David Caldwell, who will help oversee the musical on behalf of New York-based Richard Frankel Productions.

This is in contrast to "Hairspray," which sputtered out of the gate with an initial schedule of 10 shows per week, and "Avenue Q," which needed to double-cast its lead roles in order to run 10 shows per week at longer than 90 minutes.

The early word on "Monty Python's Spamalot" appears the comedy also will double-cast its leads for an ambitious schedule. But "Hairspray" sent out a distress signal when it quickly cut back from 10 to eight shows per week, so the slow-build approach promises to be better from a publicity standpoint.

The light schedule also means "The Producers" could run longer than 90 minutes and still comply with Actors Equity union guidelines. But don't count on it. The backers of the show seemed convinced that "tab" productions are more what Las Vegas audiences desire.

"It seems to be the style there," Frankel said last week. Las Vegas tourists have "so many things you want to get to" that a show "becomes part of an evening as opposed to an entire evening."

The original 1967 movie version of "The Producers" ran 88 minutes (some sources list it at 90) but it only had two musical numbers. ...

Those who just can't wait to learn more about "Love," the Beatles-themed Cirque du Soleil that opens in June, might be surprised at how much they can find on the show's Web site (www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/showstickets/love/about/about.htm). A batch of rehearsal photos and costume sketches give away more of the show than similar advance publicity did for "Zumanity" or "Ka." More informed Beatles fans might even be able to make educated guesses about some of the songs that will be included.

"It was more of a response to the ongoing reaction," says Cirque publicist Anita Nelving.

"Really, we were just going out with the logo" when the show title was announced last week. But there was so much interest, the producers decided to make the photos on the "press room" section of the Web site available to the public as well.

And those who can't get enough of Cirque -- even with five shows on the Strip -- will be cheered to know the company's new touring arena show, "Delirium," launches in Charlotte, N.C., this weekend.

Don't be surprised if "Delirium" lands in a Las Vegas arena during the Christmas season, luring family traffic and covering vacation breaks for the resident shows.

Mike Weatherford's entertainment column appears Thursdays and Sundays