Boulevard booking shows for evening

When I say the Boulevard Theater looks nicer inside, that would be assuming you even see the outside.

See it there, down the alley off the Strip between the Walgreens and the Fatburger?

Maybe you remember it as the old Empire Ballroom (or before that, Utopia). The nightclub had a good run in the 1990s and 2000s, before hitting the skids in 2008 after casino clubs raided the Tiesto and Erick Morillo action.

Now it's back as the Boulevard Theater, with new investors turning it into a handsome venue that aims to host five ticketed shows but only limited late-night club activity.

Show producers have been hearing about the renovations and ambitious plans for months now. But only recently did something finally open there after all licenses were approved Oct. 26: "Barbra & Frank - The Concert That Never Was," a 3 p.m. tribute to Streisand and Sinatra that spent several years at the Riviera.

"We've not been in a rush," said Richard Weisman, who is president of the operation for a group of investors headed by Paul Sullivan. "We're trying to be really picky" when it comes to signing shows.

Weisman figures that while nightclubs are all competing for the same younger patrons, it's a landlord's market for negotiating with show producers.

"For a small theater, there's nothing like it in town," he says. "The room's got character."

Yes it does.

The venue trimmed in red drapes and upholstery looks like a supper club from a classic movie. The back of the main floor has 100 theater seats, but more of the seating is at cocktail tables or sofas lining the second-floor balcony.

The main show space can host 400 to 500 patrons with the table seating. (The full occupancy is more than 1,000 for private parties and rentals, including the outdoor patio that was a prime feature of the previous club).

And perhaps the biggest potential return on investment? Weisman says there will soon be a separate box office out on the sidewalk, in better view of Strip pedestrians.

The 35-foot-wide stage will debut its next performer, magician Tommy Wind, on Nov. 24.

Wind says the 5 p.m. showcase, billed as "A Unique Magic and Music Experience," will be a much larger production than his first Las Vegas show, earlier this year at the Clarion's 100-seat Wolf Theater.

That leaves only the 7, 9 and 11 p.m. slots to fill.

To further heighten the challenge, the operators say they want the 11 p.m. show to be one that can segue into environmental entertainment for a late-night operation that's "a little more laid-back than a nightclub," Weisman says.

Not to connect dots that might not be there, but this is the same idea as the declared future intentions of "Crazy Horse Paris," which closed recently at the MGM Grand. The Boulevard Theater, however, is not licensed as a topless cabaret.

Sullivan says that so far, the serious contenders for the 7 and 9 p.m. shows are for titles that would be new to the market and helmed by international producers, not the usual suspects. ...

Supply and demand laws also are in play for Friday's single performance of "Showstoppers," a Broadway revue at the Las Vegas Hotel staged by RagTag Entertainment and Bill Fayne, known for the Las Vegas Tenors and his years as Clint Holmes' musical director.

Fayne tells me there is no shortage of volunteers to perform in the show. He's just not sure how many people will buy tickets.

"Everyone wanted to do their favorite Broadway song. It just became massive," Fayne says. How massive? Try 60 singers, plus children's choruses, backed by a 15-piece orchestra.

"It's really the best of Vegas," Fayne says of the cast that includes former "Mamma Mia!" star Tina Walsh and Randal Keith, who will sing some of the "Les Miserables" songs he knows from years of starring in that show on Broadway and on tour.

The show is directed by RagTag's Andrew Wright, who also teamed with Fayne to stage "Company" for two nights at the former Hilton last July.

One of the shows drew 800 people, but only a fourth of those were paid tickets, Fayne says.

This time he hopes to draw more paying customers, both to pay the venue's overhead and to help the show meet its goals as a benefit.

A $25 ticket supports veterans groups and the Blind Center of Nevada.

And if it all works out?

Fayne is talking to Las Vegas Hotel officials about a full six-show season next year, giving the itinerant RagTag the continuity of a home base. ...

Those "Phantom" people spent so much time together at The Venetian they can't stand to be apart.

Three of them - Randal Keith, Bruce Ewing and Ted Keegan - debuted "The Phat Pack" last summer and packed supporters into Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

Now, they are headed to the Plaza, where on Nov. 29 they will start performing at 5 and 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, the days off for "Phantom" friends Jonathan and Marisa Gorst's "Grand Ole Vegas Revue" and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.