Downtown Las Vegas bar’s intimate space home to performances of “The Cat’s Meow”

The year was 1924. A complex combination of finances, loyalty, romance and emotion brought together a group of Hollywood elite and powerful media figures to the yacht of one of the world’s richest and most powerful men for a weekend jaunt. One of those passengers didn’t survive the journey.

Those are the real world events that inspired the play “The Cat’s Meow,” which is set for 7 p.m. Aug. 28 and Sept. 4 at Velveteen Rabbit, 1218 S. Main St. The producers hope to continue the production beyond the a five-week trial run.

The owners of Velveteen Rabbit approached director Troy Heard about doing a play there, and initially, he was planning on doing an original period piece, but those plans were put on hold when his wife Kady Heard watched the 2001 film “The Cat’s Meow,” featuring Kirsten Dunst, Cary Elwes and Eddie Izzard and told him it felt like a play. Some research revealed that it had been a play originally, and Troy got in contact with the playwright, Steven Peros, in Los Angeles and discussed mounting a production of it in the unusual setting.

“I pitched the idea of doing a different, immersive staging of the play,” Troy said. “He said it had never been done that way but to give it a shot and see how it works. We work shopped it for two weekends in May, and he loved it.”

Troy said that the casting for the play was fairly easy. Since the idea to mount the play was his wife’s, and he knew she would excel at the part, he cast her in the lead female role of actress and William Randolph Hearst’s mistress Marion Davies.

“Marion is kind of tough to play,” Kady said. “She’s kind of a straight man, but she has a lot of layers. She’s conflicted all of the time. I usually play the bimbo or an over-the-top character. It took a lot of work, but I really enjoy playing her.”

Troy brought in Gary Lunn, who he had wanted to work with for some time, to play Hearst and Cory Benway, who he has directed five times previously, to play Charlie Chaplin.

“For Hearst, you need somebody with that stature and that gravitas,” Troy said. “I brought in Cory Benway because he has a knack for quirky and psychologically bent characters. The rest of the casting just fell together.”

Benway said it was easy to research his role because there is so much available about Chaplin, but until he looked into it, he hadn’t realized what a scandalous life he had led.

“Despite that, he was a charming individual, and I drew on that,” Benway said. “I wanted him to be likeable. I got good direction from Troy and a lovely leading lady who makes it easy to fall in love each night.”

Benway noted that he was playing Chaplin, not the actor/director’s famous character, The Little Tramp.

“When I first arrived, I had my bowler hat in my hands, and we discussed that we thought he would never wear that as himself. He wanted to distance himself from the character.”

The narrow space of the bar mirrors the narrow setting of the yacht, where the entirety of the play takes place, but Troy said that while the space lended itself to the production, some of the actors didn’t see that at first. It wasn’t until there was an audience that it clicked for some of them that whenever they were in the bar, they were on stage.

“They’re always in the scene, even if the important action is happening at the other end of the room,” Troy said. “They have to be completely engaged in every moment.”

Kady Heard found it exciting and challenging to work with the unusual space.

“It’s immersive, and it’s a small space, and a lot has to happen in that space,” she said. “There have been times when I’m having an intimate scene with Charlie Chaplin, and my hand is hitting somebody who’s sitting right there watching us, and I have to carry on and pretend that’s not happening. I think the audience really enjoys that, that we’re that close.”

Benway noted that during the early performances, during a scene where one character pulls a chair out from another, the chair almost went into an audience member, which caused the scene to be slightly restaged and caused the performers to be more aware of the issues of the nearby audience.

The staging also created a challenge for Troy, who had to make sure all the action was visible and audible from every seat in the house. He said his motto was to spread the love and make sure that the pivotal scenes switched around the room.

“It was almost like conducting, trying to figure out where the emphasis went,” he said.

Performances of “The Cat’s Meow,” are scheduled at 7 p.m. Aug. 21, 28 and Sept. 4 at Velveteen Rabbit, 1218 S Main St. Doors open at 6 p.m. for cocktail hour. The audience is encouraged to come in period costume. Tickets are $25 and include a complimentary cocktail, the play’s signature Bees Knees Punch. Visit table8lv.com or call 702-423-6366.

To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.