First full season bringing Broadway shows to Smith Center

You ain't seen nothin' yet.

A brand-new "Nutcracker" from Nevada Ballet Theatre, plus visits by the Joffrey Ballet, New York City Ballet Moves and the Pilobolus Dance Theatre.

A host of high-profile, high-stepping Broadway musicals - from classics "Anything Goes" and "West Side Story" to such recent hits as "Billy Elliott" and "Catch Me If You Can."

Also arriving at Reynolds Hall this fall: Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic, Anita Baker, Ben Vereen, the Irish Tenors and Ballet Folklorico de Mexico.

Broadway babies Betty Buckley and Christine Ebersole put the cabaret in Cabaret Jazz, while Doc Severinsen and John Pizzarelli (among others) anchor the jazz side of the equation.

And Symphony Park joins the list of Smith Center venues in November with the arrival of the Italian circus Zoppe and its 600-seat tent.

All that and more is on the menu at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, as touring shows check in - and resident companies stretch out - for the center's first full season starting this month.

Broadway once again represents "the 800-pound gorilla" as touring musicals account for "the largest percentage of ticket sales," according to Smith Center President Myron Martin.

"I've heard people talk about Broadway as the longest street in America," he says, happily noting that "Broadway now cuts through Las Vegas."

After a four-show preview, The Smith Center's first full Broadway Las Vegas season is "selling really well," Martin notes, with more than 10,000 subscribers "committing to all 10 shows," including two optional attractions: "La Cage aux Folles," which opens this week, and "American Idiot," which opens Tuesday .

The centerpiece of the Broadway Las Vegas series is unquestionably "Wicked" (about the early years of "Wizard of Oz's" dueling witches, the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good), which arrives Aug. 29.

"The beauty of us being able to get 'Wicked' for six weeks" means "there's a big enough inventory" of good seats, especially on weeknights, to accommodate the crowds, Martin says. "But the day is going to come when we'll be sold out."

Just as "Wicked" takes over Reynolds Hall for its extended run, the pace picks up at Cabaret Jazz, The Smith Center's intimate 250-seat nightclub.

"Our goal is to have great talent in that space every weekend," Martin says. "It's been almost that full so far - and it will be in the fall."

The aptly named space is "more of a nightclub for grown-ups than another theatrical venue." And, of course, to "the very diverse set of musical offerings," where "you could see jazz one weekend and all forms of cabaret" another, he explains.

"The concept is right," in Martin's view, "but we're still kind of branding it and educating the local public" as to "where it is, how do you get there, what it's like sitting at cabaret tables."

As for Reynolds Hall's two resident performing arts groups, Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Las Vegas Philharmonic settle into their new home with a variety of offerings.

Nevada Ballet Theatre plans an all-new "Nutcracker" - "the first one built for The Smith Center," according to NBT artistic director James Canfield. "The designs are unbelievable."

In addition, NBT will collaborate with Seattle's Pacific Northwest Ballet and Salt Lake City's Ballet West to present George Balanchine's "Jewels" in October. Rounding out the NBT season: a March "Studio Series" production, to be staged in the intimate Troesh Studio Theater, and "Romeo & Juliet," which brings the troupe back to Reynolds Hall in May.

Also in the dance department, NBT and The Smith Center will present the Joffrey Ballet in January and New York City Ballet Moves in March.

The Las Vegas Philharmonic, meanwhile, plans two concert series: Masterworks, launching Oct. 20 with an opening night celebration featuring Beethoven's Triple Concerto; and Pops, which begins Nov. 3 with the Philharmonic providing orchestral accompaniment for Charlie Chaplin's 1931 silent classic "City Lights."

Other Philharmonic concerts feature high-profile local guests; Zappos.com chief Tony Hseih narrates Aaron Copland's "A Lincoln Portrait" Nov. 17, while Mayor Carolyn Goodman (along with former mayor and husband, Oscar Goodman) preside over "A Very Vegas Holiday" Dec. 8.

Although the 2012-13 Broadway Las Vegas series is set, "we're booking the 2013-14 season now," Martin says, "making sure Las Vegas gets the first-run, best shows. You never stop."

Among the new season's other Smith Center highlights:

Broadway Las Vegas - Following "Wicked," the Broadway Las Vegas series continues with the ooky, spooky musical adventures of "The Addams Family" (Nov. 20-25); Cole Porter's snappy "Anything Goes" (Feb. 5-10); the classic "West Side Story" (Feb. 26-March 3); the family-friendly animated adaptations "Shrek the Musical" (March 19-24) and "Beauty and the Beast" (April 16-21); the Tony-winning "Billy Elliott: The Musical" (May 14-19), featuring a score by Caesars Palace headliner Elton John; and Green Day's "American Idiot" (June 11-16).

Reynolds Hall - In between Broadway tours, Dr. John and the Blind Boys of Alabama perform "Spirituals to Funk" (Oct. 16), leading off a lineup that includes Frank Rich and Fran Lebowitz in "A State of the Union Conversation" (Oct. 17); John Tesh: Big Band Live (Oct. 21), Pilobolus Dance Theatre (Oct. 24); the Israel Philharmonic, performing Schubert, Chopin and Brahms (Oct. 29); Ballet Folklorico de Mexico (Nov. 4-5); children's favorite Clifford the Big Red Dog- Live! (Nov. 6); Jazz Roots: Brazil Meets Funk, which teams Sergio Mendes and Candy Dulfer; "Steppin' Out With Ben Vereen" (Nov. 10); Jim Brickman's "On a Winter's Night" (Nov. 12); the Irish Tenors' Irish Holiday Celebration Tour (Nov. 27); Anita Baker (Nov. 29); and the Beatles-inspired Classical Mystery Tour (Nov. 30).

Cabaret Jazz - Resident headliner Clint Holmes performs the first weekend of every month, but he's got plenty of all-star company, from master guitarist Esteban (Sept. 13 and 16) and Pancho Sanchez and his Latin Jazz Band (Sept. 14-15) to "Tonight Show" trumpeter Doc Severinsen with the San Miguel Five (Oct. 12-13). Double Tony winner Christine Ebersole (who performed at July's Stephen Sondheim presentation) returns (Oct. 19-20), followed by John Pizzarelli (Oct. 26-27) and Sam Harris (Nov. 9-10). "Cats" Tony-winner Betty Buckley brings, "Ah, Men! The Boys of Broadway" to town Nov. 15-17, followed by the Tierney Sutton Band (Nov. 30-Dec. 1) and "The Deana Martin Christmas Show" (Dec. 14-16).

Troesh Studio Theater - Steve Solomon's award-winning one-man show, "My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish & I'm in Therapy" runs Sept. 28-30; Jeffrey Siegel's "Keyboard Conversations: Gershwin and Friends" plays Oct. 7, while the interactive comedy "Late Nite Catechism" plays Nov. 30 through Dec. 2. And Nevada Ballet Theatre's "The Studio Series: Extending Boundaries" is scheduled March 19-24.

Symphony Park - Zoppe, a one-ring Italian family circus, brings its 600-seat tent to Symphony Park Nov. 1-4, presenting acrobats, clowns, equestrian showmanship and canine capers.

Contact reporter Carol Cling at ccling@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0272.