THEATER: 2008-09 season schedule announced

    Today’s Review-Journal includes a preview of the 2008-09 theater season in the Las Vegas Valley. Here is a schedule of coming attractions this year. For more details on these shows, along with times and prices, theater phone numbers can be found at the bottom of the list. Theaters are notorious for changing shows, dates and venues, so be sure to call in advance.
  This list is only a slice of what lies ahead. Some theaters do not announce a season, but simply do a show when they get the motivation. Feel free to post questions, and perhaps we can get a dialogue going here between theater groups and audience members.
September
Sept. 12-28 — Ken Ludwig’s “Moon Over Buffalo,” about a second-rate troupe trying to get through a production of “Private Lives”; on the Las Vegas Little Theatre’s mainstage.
Sept. 19-28 — Michael Lugering’s “The Lear Project,” based on William Shakespeare’s treatise on a man who doesn’t get along with his daughters; Nevada Conservatory Theatre, at the University of Nevada Las Vegas’ Black Box.
Sept. 19-Oct. 4 — Mac Wellman’s 7 Blowjobs” explores the chaos that occurs when seven indecent photos are sent to an ultra right-wing senator; mounted by Cockroach Theatre at the Onyx.
Sept. 19-Oct. 25 — Utah Shakespearean Festival’s repertory productions of Patrick’s Hamilton’s Victorian melodrama “Gaslight,” Ron Hutchinson’s “Moonlight and Magnolias” — a farce about the writing of the movie script of “Gone With the Wind” — and William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” — about the aftermath of the assassination of a legendary Roman leader; in Southern Utah University’s Randall L. Jones Theatre in Cedar City.
October
Oct. 3-5 — Henderson’s Shakespeare in the Park presents Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet,” about two kids who die to sustain their love; at Sonata Park.
Oct. 3-12 — Rainbow Company hosts Jeremiah Clay Neal’s “The Kid Who Ran for President” (based on Dan Gutman’s best-selling books) about a satire of the Electoral College; at the Reed Whipple Cultural Center.
Oct. 3-12 — Conor McPherson’s “Shining City,” about a widower haunted by the host of his wife and the troubled therapist who tires to “cure” him; Nevada Conservatory Theatre, at UNLV’s Judy Bayley.
Oct. 6-Nov. 15 — Test Market joins other local groups in presenting the sixth annual Beckett Festival, featuring Peter Morris’ “The Guardians” (mounted by Las Vegas Little Theatre), Harold Pinter’s “The Dumb Waiter” (Found Door Theatre), Tennessee Williams’ “Chalky White Substance” and “The Municipal Abattoir” (Asylum), Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” (Test Market), Jean-Paul Sartre’s “No Exit” (Atlas Theatre), Tony Kushner’s “Slav” (Test Market), Michel De Ghelderode’s “Escurial” (the College of Southern Nevada) and several film and variety shows; at the Arts Factory. Call for dates and times.
Oct. 10-19 — Neil LaBute’s “The Distance From Here,” about a group of teenagers leading dead-end lives; at LVLT’s Fischer Black Box.
Oct. 17-31 — Local Insurgo Movement dancer Marko Westwood ponders the world of “Dragula,” who gets kicked out of Transylvania not for being a monster but a transvestite; at the Onyx.
Oct. 20-Nov. 22 — Signature Productions presents the Disney musical “Beauty and the Beast”; at the Summerlin Library Performing Arts Center.
Oct. 22-26 — UNLV presents three one-acts written by Master of Fine arts candidates in the playwriting program; at the Paul Harris Theatre.
Oct. 23-Nov. 1 — Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performance and Visual Arts’ takes a go at Bernard Pomerance’s “The Elephant Man,” about a 19th-century deformed celebrity who tries to build a life worth living; at the Lowden Theatre.
Oct. 24-Nov. 9 — The College of Southern Nevada’s interpretation of the Gary Geld/Peter Udell musical version of “Shenandoah,” about a man who tires to stay out of the Civil War; on the Cheyenne campus’ Nicholas J. Horn Theatre.
November
Nov. 7-22 — Local Insurgo Movement actor Shawn Heckler explores the world of Kafka in Morphotoc”; at the Onyx.
Nov. 7-23 — Terrence McNally’s “The Ritz,” about a man hiding out from the mob in a gay bathhouse; on LVLT’s mainstage.
Nov. 7-16 — Christopher Durang’s “The Marriage of Bette and Boo,” a comedy about an unbelievably dysfunctional family; Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV’s Judy Bayley.
Nov. 13-22 — Las Vegas Academy’s “The Diviners,” by Jim Leonard Jr., about the plight of small farmers during the Depression; at LVA’s the Black Box.
December
Dec. 4-20 — Two lovers are either plagued by electronic and physical bugs, or they’re out of their mind, in Insurgo’s mounting of Tracy Lett’s “Bug”; at the Onyx.
Dec. 5-14 — Rainbow offers a nontraditional musical “Cinderella” (with a score by David Kisorl and Fitz Patton) featuring a near-sighted heroine and bookworm prince; at the Charleston Heights Arts Center.
Dec. 5-14 — Oscar Wilde’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” a Victorian comedy of manners; Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV’s Judy Bayley.
Dec. 5-14 — Jeff Goode’s “7 Santas,” about a group of St. Nicks unlike any other you’re likely to encounter; at LVLT’s Fischer Black Box.
Dec. 11-14 — Rory Johnston presents “Nick Saint,” an original musical about a group of apartment dwellers who are out to prove that their janitor is Santa Claus; at the Canyon Ridge Auditorium.
Dec. 12-20 — Las Vegas Academy’s original dance drama, “The Concrete Rose,” by faculty member Jeneane Gallo Huggins; at the Lowden.
January
Jan. 9-25 — Alan Ayckbourn’s “How the Other Half Loves,” about two couples whose attempts to cover up their affairs leads to more chaos; on LVLT’s mainstage.
Jan. 9-31 — Atlas Theatre’s mounting of David Mamet’s explosive “American Buffalo,” about three men working in a junk shop trying desperately to get ahead; at the Onyx.
Jan. 30-Feb. 8 — Laura Neubauer’s “The Chasm,” an original Master of Fine Arts-candidate script about the tough decisions involved in the aftermath of a mine collapse; at UNLV’s Black Box Theatre.
February
Feb. 6-15 — Rainbow artistic director Karen McKenney gives us a look at “Mark Twain’s Nevada” in her ongoing sketch and song look at our state’s early years; at the Reed Whipple.
Feb. 13-March 14 — What seems like an ordinary cartoon in Insurgo’s production of Steven Yockey’s “Cartoon: The Play,” takes on serious, political overtones; at the Onyx.
Feb. 13-22 — Wendy Kesselman’s new adaptation of “The Diary of Anne Frank” about a small group of Jews hiding in an attic from the Nazis; Nevada Conservatory Theatre, at UNLV’s Judy Bayley.
Feb. 13-March 1 — An aspiring New York songwriter, his wife, his girlfriend and three visiting nuns are all inspired by a papal visit in John Guare’s “House of Blue Leaves”; on LVLT’s mainstage.
Feb. 20-March 1 — The College of Southern Nevada presents two one-acts: Eugene O’Neill’s “The Sniper,” an anti-war drama set in Belgium during the first days of World War I, and local Brian Kral as O’Neill himself in a one-man show; at the Cheyenne campus’ BackStage Theatre.
March
March 4-8 — UNLV presents a series of 10-minute plays written by Master of Fine Arts candidates in the playwriting program; at the Paul Harris.
March 13-28 — Atlas Theatre offers Patrick Marber’s “Closer,” a tough exploration of the relationships between two couples; at the Neon Venus Art Theatre.
March 13-29 — Marc Blitzstein’s musical “The Cradle Will Rock,” a satire about the abuse of laborers at the hands of big business; Nevada Conservatory Theatre, at UNLV’s Judy Bayley.
March 23-April 25 — Signature Productions presents the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” about a ’20s girl who decides to become hip; at the Summerlin Library Performing Arts Center.
March 27-April 5 — A double one-act bill at Las Vegas Academy: William Mastrimone’s “Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!” about school violence, and Timothy Mason’s “Ascension Day,” a coming-of-age story involving nine teenagers hanging out on the banks of a lake; at the Black Box.
March 27-April 12 — Douglas Carter Beane examines the trappings of the fast life in his show-biz comedy “As Bees in Honey Drown”; on LVLT’s mainstage.
April
April 3-12 — “The Samurai and the Shadow Princess,” by Rainbow Company playwright Brian Kral, pits a loyal swordsman against his family to stop a rebellion; at the Reed Whipple.
April 3-12 — Christopher Durang turns the “Titanic” into a drawing room comedy about sexual escapes; at LVLT’s Fischer Black Box.
April 17-26 — The College of Southern Nevada takes a chance on Edward Albee’s “The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?” a drama about a middle-age man who falls in love with a four-legged creature, not to mention a son who falls in love with his father; at the Cheyenne campus’ BackStage Theatre.
April 23-May 7 — Las Vegas Academy presents George Kaufman and Moss Hart’s “You Can’t Take It With You,” an old chestnut of a comedy about an eccentric family; at the Lowden.
April 24-May 2 — In repertory: Off-Strip Production’s version of the Jerry Herman musical “La Cage Aux Folles” and a production of an as yet unannounced Sam Sheppard script; at the Onyx. Call for exact dates and times.
May
May 1-10 — Two widows sharing a Las Vegas condo run into trouble when they get involved with a stranger in Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna’s “The Bermuda Avenue Triangle”’; on LVLT’s mainstage.
May 1-10 — Meredith Wilson’s musical comedy “The Music Man,” about a con man who enchants a small town; Nevada Conservatory Theatre, at UNLV’s Judy Bayley.
May 8-17 — A presentation of the winning script of a new-play competition at the LVLT Fischer Black Box.
May 29-June 27 — Atlas’ production of the musical version of the film cult classic “Reefer Madness,” about the terrible evils that await smokers of the forbidden fruit; at the Onyx.
June
June 5-14 — Mary Hall Surface in Rainbow Company’s “The Reluctant Dragon” gives us a gentle, poetry-loving creature who is unfairly blamed by the local villagers for all that goes wrong in their lives; at the Charleston Heights Arts Center.
June 5-27 — Mark Ravenhill’s ode to humanity, “Shopping and Fucking," presented by Santa Ana’s Rude Guriella Theatre; at the Onyx.
June 3-20 — Super Summer Theatre/P.S. Productions will try to rollick in the hills with “The Buddy Holly Story”; at Spring Mountain Ranch.
July
July 2-Sept. 5 — Utah Shakespearean Festival’s repertory productions of the Bard’s “Comedy of Errors” (about twins who are the victims of mistaken identity), “Henry V” (about a wise and crafty king), “As You Like It” (about love and deceit in the woods), as well as Noel Coward’s “Private Lives” (about the emotional sloppiness of love), Susan Cooper and Hume Cronyn’s “Foxfire” (about the importance of roots), and the Lucy Simon/Marsha Norman musical “The Secret Garden” (about an orphaned girl who must learn to adapt to her uncle); at the Addams and the Randall L. Jones theaters, on the campus of Southern Utah University in Cedar City.
July 8-25 — Super Summer Theater/Stage Door Entertainment give us gangs who can sing in “West Side Story”; at the Spring Mountain Ranch.
July 10-Aug. 1 — Insurgo’s mounting of Shakespeare’s epic tale “Pericles, Prince of Tyre,” about the lengths a young man goes to avoid death and win love; at the Onyx.
August
Aug. 12-29 — Super Summer Theatre and Signature Productions presents the calypso musical “Once on this Island,” about love, obedience and the will of the gods; at the Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.

LOOKING FOR TICKET INFO?
— Asylum 604-3417
— Atlas Theatre (atlastheatreensemble.com) 884-5190
— Arts Factory (thebeckettfestival.com) 736-4313
— Canyon Ridge Auditorium (nicksaintmusical.com) 658-2722, ext. 228
— Charleston Heights Arts Center 229-6333
— Cockroach Theatre (cockroachtheatre.com)
— College of Southern Nevada (csn.edu/pac) 651-5483
— Good Medicine Theatre (goodmedicinetheatre.org) 558-5474
— Henderson Arts Council, Shakespeare in the Park 267-2171
— Insurgo Theater Movement (onyxtheatre.com 732-7225
— Las Vegas Academy (lvacademytheatre.org) 1-800-585-3737 (Star Ticket Plus)
— Las Vegas Little Theatre (lvlt.org) 362-7996
— Musical Actors Theatre (musicalactorstheatre.com) 278-3143
— Neon Venus Art Theatre (neonvenus.com) 787-2481
— Nevada Conservatory Theatre (nct.unlv.edu) 895-3143
— Onyx Theatre (onyxtheatre.com) 732-7225
— Rainbow Company 229-6553
— Reed Whipple Cultural Center 229-6211
— Signature Productions (signatureproductions.net) 878-7529
— Super Summer Theatre (supersummertheatre.com) 594-7529
— Test Market (thebeckettfestival.com) 736-4313
— Utah Shakespearean Festival (bard.org) 800-752-9849
— University of Nevada, Las Vegas (unlv/edu) 895-2787