Local theater productions promise a world of stages

If all the world's a stage — as William Shakespeare once noted — then Southern Nevada's stages will double as dozens of diverse worlds, including Las Vegas itself, during the 2015-16 theater season.

Topical, locally developed works focus on everything from a drone pilot working in the Nevada desert ("Grounded") to the aftermath of last year's murder of two Metro officers having lunch at a pizza parlor ("Tinfoil Haberdashery"). And then there's "Showgirls: The Musical."

Speaking of musicals, this season showcases classy classics ("My Fair Lady," "Kiss Me Kate") and more irreverent entries, from "The Book of Mormon" to fellow Tony-winner "A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder."

Both of those tours will land at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, which also gets into the musical-producing business with a workshop premiere of "IDAHO! The Comedy Musical."

Also at The Smith Center, Broadway in the Hood becomes the complex's first resident theater troupe, presenting a variety of shows — from the musical "Violet" to the drama-with-music "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" — in both the Troesh Studio Theater and Cabaret Jazz.

Elsewhere on the drama front, the Pulitzer- and Tony-winning "Clybourne Park" — inspired by the classic "A Raisin in the Sun" — joins such recent Broadway successes as "Constellations."

And there's another guy you may have heard of — Shakespeare by name — who also turns up a time or two.

To help you sort out this season's shows — and make note of your can't miss picks — here's a clip-and-save preview of what's coming soon to a theater near you. (We've tried to make this list comprehensive, but stay tuned to the Review-Journal for additions to the schedule, along with in-depth details on some of the productions listed as well as reviews.)

And so, without further ado, on with the show(s) ...

SEPTEMBER

"Art" — The purchase of an all-white painting threatens to derail longtime friendships in Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning comedy. (Sept. 4-20, Las Vegas Little Theatre Black Box; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org)

"Tinfoil Haberdashery" — The debut of Las Vegas-based performance artist/playwright Ernest Hemmings' pitch-black comedy about the role of social media in our polarized political environment, inspired by the 2014 CiCi's Pizza ambush and the Wal-Mart shootout that followed. (Sept. 4-12, Test Market Theater Group, Las Vegas Little Theatre Studio; www.tstmrkt.com.)

"Showgirls: The Musical" — All singing! All lap dancing! Inspired by the 1995 cinematic trash classic, this stage version traces the strip-to-Strip saga of Nomi, who arrives in Las Vegas dreaming of Stardust stardom and must claw her way to the top. Or is that the bottom? (Sept. 10-Oct. 3, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Lend Me a Tenor" — In Ken Ludwig's Tony-winning farce, desperate measures must be taken after an opera superstar's inconvenient lapse into unconsciousness — or worse. (Sept. 10-26, Super Summer Theatre, Spring Mountain Ranch; www.supersummertheatre.org.)

"Anything Goes" — Cole Porter's '30s musical romp, about romantic (and comedic) trials and tribulations aboard a luxury ocean liner. (Sept. 11-25, Broadway Bound, Summerlin Library Theatre; www.BroadwayBoundLV.com.)

"Clybourne Park" — Bruce Norris' Pulitzer Prize- and Tony-winner, inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun," contrasts the title neighborhood in 1959 and 2009. (Sept. 11-27, Las Vegas Little Theatre; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"The Nightingale" — A special preview of Rainbow Company's fall school tour, a humorous version of the classic fairy tale. (Sept. 15, Charleston Heights Arts Center; 702-229-6383; www.artslasvegas.org.)

"Once on This Island" — Broadway in the Hood kicks off its Smith Center residency with a reprise of the calypso-flavored musical about a peasant girl who uses the power of love to bring together different social classes. (Sept. 18-20, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Water by the Spoonful" — Back from Iraq, a young Puerto Rican searches for connection through family — and the chat-room community. (Sept. 18-27, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Black Box, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

"The Book of Mormon" — The doorbell rings once again as the Tony-winning musical, about wide-eyed Mormon missionaries in Africa, returns. (Sept. 22-Oct. 18, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Murder at the Howard Johnson's" — Two characters plot to murder a third in this love-triangle farce. (Sept. 25-Oct. 11, Theatre in the Valley; 702-558-7275, email tivrsvp@gmail.com.)

OCTOBER

"Much Ado About Nothing" — In Shakespeare's beloved comedy, a sworn bachelor and his favorite verbal sparring partner discover — with a little help from their friends — that they're fated to be mated. (Oct. 2-11, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Judy Bayley Theatre, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

"She Kills Monsters" — This exploration of fantasy role-playing games follows a teacher who ventures into the imaginary world of Dungeons & Dragons, her teenage sister's refuge. (Oct. 15-31, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"The Whale" — In Idaho, a 600-pound recluse hides in his apartment, eating himself to death — but he's desperate to connect with his long-estranged, sharp-tongued teenage daughter. (Oct. 9-25, Cockroach Theatre, Art Square; www.cockroachtheatre.com.)

"A Summons From the Tinker to Assemble the Membership in Secret at the Usual Place" — A courtroom-drama riff on the 1931 German movie classic "M" transforms audiences into members of the criminal underground, who have caught — and will now judge — a murder suspect. (Oct. 15-Nov. 1, A Public Fit, The Usual Place, 100 S. Maryland Parkway; www.apublicfit.org.)

"Casa Valentina" — Harvey Fierstein's fact-based, Tony-nominated play about a 1960s Catskill Mountains resort that caters to a select clientele: heterosexual men who delight in dressing as women. (Oct. 23-Nov. 8, Las Vegas Little Theatre; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"The Hound of the Baskervilles" — Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mystery gets a comedic makeover in this adaptation. (Oct. 23- Nov. 1, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Black Box, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

"Ragtime" — A new touring production of the Tony-winning musical, based on E.L. Doctorow's best-seller set in turn-of-the-20th-century New York, where an upper-class wife, a Jewish immigrant and a Harlem musician face the future. (Oct. 27-Nov. 1, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Room on the Broom" — A witch and her cat encounter stormy weather in this children's musical based on the book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. (Oct. 21, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Miss Margarida's Way" — The audience becomes a captive eighth-grade class as the tyrannical title teacher delivers lessons on her own obsessions. (Oct. 22-25, Table 8 Productions, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"A Party to Murder" — On Halloween, six people gather to play a murder game — and uncover an unsolved mystery. (Oct. 23-Nov. 1, Theatre in the Valley; 702-558-7275, email tivrsvp@gmail.com.)

"The Secret Garden" — This musical adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's beloved children's book follows a young orphan, sent to live with relatives, whose presence brings new life to her new home. (Oct. 26-Nov. 21, Signature Productions, Summerlin Library Theatre; www.signatureproductions.net.)

"Violet" — Set during the civil rights era, this award-winning musical follows a disfigured young woman on a cross-country bus trip to visit a TV faith healer. (Oct. 30-Nov. 1, Broadway in the Hood, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

NOVEMBER

"Kindertransport" — This fact-based drama follows the experiences, during World War II and afterward, of a Jewish child whose parents send her to Britain, sparing her the horrors of the coming Holocaust. (Nov. 1, Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada, Temple Sinai; www.jewishreptheatrenv.com.)

"The Adding Machine" — After 25 years at a faceless company, Mr. Zero discovers he's losing his job to the title machine in Elmer Rice's landmark 1923 drama. (Nov. 6-15, Backstage Theatre, College of Southern Nevada; 702-651-5483)

"Yellow Face" — David Henry Hwang's award-winning play blurs the lines between truth and fiction as a playwright protests the casting of a European actor as an Asian, then mistakenly casts a European as an Asian in his own play. (Nov. 6-22, Las Vegas Little Theatre Black Box; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org).

"Mister Wives" — A polygamous parody, based on the TLC hit of a similar name, focuses on matriarch Kady, her three husbands — and her pursuit of a potential fourth. (Nov. 12-28, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Grounded" — When an unexpected pregnancy ends a fighter pilot's career, she's reassigned to operate military drones outside Las Vegas, blurring the boundaries between her home desert and the one she patrols half a world away. (Nov. 19-Dec. 13, Cockroach Theatre, Art Square Theatre; www.cockroachtheatre.com.)

New Play Festival — Seven new plays commissioned for the College of Southern Nevada's annual festival. (Nov.19-22, Backstage Theatre, CSN; 702-651-5483)

"Elf the Musical" — In this adaptation of the 2003 movie, orphaned Buddy journeys from the North Pole to New York in search of his real father and his true identity. (Nov. 24-29, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

" 'Twas a Girls Night Before Christmas: The Musical" — This holiday sequel to "Girls Night: The Musical" finds the gal pals gathering for a Yuletide night-on-the-town. (Nov. 24-28, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

DECEMBER

"My Mother's Italian, My Father's Jewish and I'm Home for the Holidays" — Steve Solomon returns with another solo show in which he plays all the members of his driving-me-crazy family. (Dec. 2-6, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"A Christmas Carol" — In Charles Dickens' classic, the spirits of Christmas past, present and future remind miserly Ebenezer Scrooge that the holiday isn't a "humbug" after all. (Dec. 3-13, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Judy Bayley Theatre, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

"KNOL 'Noel Radio' " — As North Pole elves prepare for Santa's annual jaunt, a new station manager's agenda threatens the title radio station in this children's show. (Dec. 4-20, Theatre in the Valley; 702-558-7275, email tivrsvp@gmail.com.)

"Love, Sex and the IRS" — In this frantic farce, a man's ploy to save on his taxes by listing his roommate as his wife backfires big-time when his fiancee, his roommate's ex — and his mother — collide. (Dec. 4-20, Las Vegas Little Theatre; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"A Year With Frog and Toad" — This musical adaptation of the children's book follows worrywart Toad and perky Frog through an adventure-filled year. (Dec. 4-13, Rainbow Company, Charleston Heights Arts Center; 702-229-6383; www.artslasvegas.org.)

"The Blanche DeBris Emergency Xmas Broadcast" — Vegas's favorite burlesque host searches for her roots in a rural Nevada brothel — until a freak blizzard forces her to seek refuge in a low-power radio station. (Dec. 10-19, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Still Jewish After All These Years" — Avi Hoffman stars in his off-Broadway solo show of songs and reminiscences, subtitled "A Meshugene Life in the Theatre." (Dec. 13, Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada, Temple Sinai; www.jewishreptheatrenv.com.)

JANUARY

"Constellations" — Nick Payne's acclaimed play spins a basic boy-meets-girl premise into multiple might-have-been alternatives. (Jan. 7-24, Cockroach Theatre, Art Square Theatre; www.cockroachtheatre.com.)

"The Cat in the Hat" — Dr. Seuss' mischievous top-hatted cat returns in this stage adaptation of the beloved children's book. (Jan. 13, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"My Name Is Asher Lev" — Based on Chaim Potok's "The Chosen," this drama focuses on a boy's struggle between tradition and art in post-World War II Brooklyn. (Jan. 14, 16-17, Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada, Temple Sinai; www.jewishreptheatrenv.com.)

"Reservoir Dolls" — Quentin Tarantino's 1992 indie breakthrough gets an estrogen-fueled makeover as thieves plot a perfect diamond heist that turns into a bloody ambush. (Jan. 14-30, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Driving Miss Daisy" — Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winner, set in midcentury Atlanta, focuses on the changing relationship between a Jewish widow and the African-American man who becomes her chauffeur. (Jan. 15-17, Broadway in the Hood, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Middletown" — Will Eno's modern-day counterpart to "Our Town" explores birth, death and points between as a friendship develops between a longtime resident and a new arrival. (Jan. 15-31, Las Vegas Little Theatre; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"Tribes" — Nina Raine's award-winning play focuses on a deaf young man, raised in a hearing family, and a young woman who's slowly losing her hearing. (Jan. 8-24, Las Vegas Little Theatre Black Box; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"Riverdance" — The 20th-anniversary world tour of the Irish music and dance hit. (Jan. 26-31, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

FEBRUARY

"Geek" — To score a rare meeting with their comic book idol, teenage outcasts take on obsessive magic players, cosplayers and guards at an Ohio fan convention. (Feb. 11-27, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

Nevada Series Touring Performance — The Silver State's colorful past comes to life in another Rainbow Company original. (Feb. 12-14, Rainbow Company, Historic Fifth Street School; 702-229-3515, www.artslasvegas.org.)

"Panties in a Twist" — A dozen female-centric comedy sketches, including musical parodies. (Feb. 2-6, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Crossing Delancey" — A young woman's irascible grandmother and an eager matchmaker team up to find her a good catch in a comedy that inspired the 1988 movie. (Feb. 5-21, Theatre in the Valley; 702-558-7275, email tivrsvp@gmail.com.)

"Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill" — A seedy Philadelphia bar provides the setting for a re-creation of one of Billie Holiday's final 1959 performances. (Feb. 12-14, Broadway in the Hood, Cabaret Jazz, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"To Kill a Mockingbird" — A stage adaptation of Harper Lee's beloved novel of small-town 1930s Mississippi. (Feb. 12-28, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Judy Bayley Theatre, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

"Elephant & Piggie's We Are in a Play!" — There's pachyderm peril and swinish suspense as the title characters team up for a musical romp. (Feb. 17, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"The Bridges of Madison County" — An Iowa housewife and a traveling photographer share a whirlwind, life-altering romance in this Tony-winning musical inspired by the best-selling book and its 1995 movie adaptation. (Feb. 23-28, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"The Nether" — A virtual wonderland provides total sensory immersion, until a young detective uncovers a disturbing brand of entertainment, triggering an investigation into the darkest corners of the imagination. (Feb. 25-March 13, Cockroach Theatre, Art Square Theatre; www.cockroachtheatre.com.)

"Hamlet" — The Utah Shakespeare Festival's annual touring production tackles the Bard's towering tragedy. (Date to be determined, Nicholas J. Horn Theatre, College of Southern Nevada, Cheyenne campus; 702-651-5483, www.cns.edu/pac.)

MARCH

"Bad Jews" — In this savage comedy, two very different cousins — one who's planning to move to Israel, the other a grad student with a secular worldview — argue faith, family and tradition. (March 2-6, Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada, Troesh Studio Theater, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; www.jewishreptheatrenv.com.)

"In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play" — In Sarah Ruhl's Tony-nominated play, a Victorian-era doctor and his wife must examine their marriage when he begins treating "hysterical" female patients with the title therapy. (March 4-24, Las Vegas Little Theatre; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"A Gentleman's Guide to Love & Murder" — A distant heir to a British family fortune discovers that getting away with murder can be fun, and profitable, in this Tony-winning musical. (March 8-13, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

"Kate and Sam Are Not Breaking Up" — Hollywood's hottest young couple have decided to split up — until the fanboy from hell kidnaps the pair, forcing them to rekindle their relationship or else. (March 10-26, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Suburbia" — Eric Bogosian's portrait of restless and disaffected young Americans seems as relevant today as when it debuted in 1994. (March 10-13, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Black Box, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

"The Speed of Darkness" — A prosperous building contractor with a guilty secret is exposed when his deranged Vietnam War buddy confronts him in this drama by "Breaking Away" Oscar-winner Steve Tesich. (March 11-27, Las Vegas Little Theatre Black Box; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org)

"Becky Shaw" — Newlyweds fix up two romantically challenged friends in Gina Gionfriddo's acclaimed bad-date-gone-bad black comedy. (March 24-April 10, A Public Fit, Art Square Theatre, www.apublicfit.org)

"Clifford the Big Red Dog — Live!" — Clifford, Emily Elizabeth and all their friends from Birdwell Island come to life in this interactive musical. (March 30, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

APRIL

"2 Across" — On a San Francisco commuter train, two strangers bond while completing a crossword puzzle. (April 1-17, Theatre in the Valley; 702-558-7275, email tivrsvp@gmail.com.)

"My Fair Lady" — Lerner and Loewe's loverly musical classic, based on George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion," about a Cockney flower girl who takes lessons from a phoneticist determined to transform her speech. (April 5-30, Signature Productions, Summerlin Library Theatre; www.signatureproductions.net.)

"Heathers: The Musical" — A high school misfit hustles her way into a powerful — and ruthless — clique, until her romance with a rebellious new guy changes her trajectory, in this rock musical based on the 1988 cult fave. (April 7-30, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Our Country's Good" — Set in 1789, Timberlake Wertenbaker's award-winning play focuses on a group of Royal Marines and prisoners staging a play in the penal colony of Australia. (April 15-25, Backstage Theatre, College of Southern Nevada; 702-651-5483.)

"Beauty and the Beast" — Disney's musical "tale as old as time" returns, as brainy Belle finds herself the prisoner of a cursed prince who's been transformed into a hideous beast. (April 8-17, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

New Works Winner — The winning entry in Las Vegas Little Theatre's eighth annual New Works Competition. (April 22-May 8, Las Vegas Little Theatre Black Box; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org.)

"Bridge to Terabithia" — Best friends create their own magical kingdom in this adaptation of Katherine Patterson's Newberry Award-winning children's book. (April 22-May 1, Rainbow Company, Charleston Heights Arts Center; 702-229-6383; www.artslasvegas.org.)

"Kiss Me Kate" — Brush up your Shakespeare with Cole Porter's Tony-winning, backstage-musical twist on "The Taming of the Shrew." (April 29-May 8, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, Judy Bayley Theatre, UNLV; 702-895-2787, www.unlv.edu/nct.)

MAY

"Tuna Does Vegas" — When a small-town Texas radio announcer and his wife decide to renew their vows in Las Vegas, the entire population (played by two actors) joins the fun. (May 6-22, Las Vegas Little Theatre; 702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org)

"My Boys" — A father struggles to keep his family together during his wife's deployment in a new, in-development rock musical. (May 12-29, Cockroach Theatre, Art Square Theatre; www.cockroachtheatre.com.)

"Titus Andronicus Jr." — Assigned to take over the spring play, a recently divorced middle school teacher decides to exorcise his demons and win back his ex — by staging Shakespeare's goriest work. (May 12-28, Onyx Theatre; 702-732-7225; onyxtheatre.com.)

"Hooray for Hollywood!" — A Gateway Foundation talent show kicks off Super Summer Theatre's 41st season. (May 13-14, Super Summer Theatre, Spring Mountain Ranch; supersummertheatre.org)

"The Diary of Anne Frank" — The inspirational true story of a Jewish girl and her family hiding from the Nazis in a secret Amsterdam attic annex. (May 21-22, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Temple Sinai, limited VIP seating May 23, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; www.jewishreptheatre.com.)

"Weekend Comedy" — Two couples from different generations accidentally rent the same cottage for a long weekend — and decide to share it. (May 27-June 12, Theatre in the Valley; 702-558-7275, email tivrsvp@gmail.com.)

JUNE

"Beauty and the Beast" — Be Super Summer Theatre's guest at a hometown production of Disney's musical favorite. (June 1-18, Super Summer Theatre, Spring Mountain Ranch; supersummertheatre.org.)

"(W)rites of Passage" — Student writings inspire this free Rainbow Company production exploring the joys, and challenges, of growing up in Las Vegas. (June 3-4, Rainbow Company, Sammy Davis Festival Plaza, plus June 10-11 performances at a location to be determined; www.artslasvegas.org.)

"Cabaret" — What good is sitting alone in your room, when this Tony-winning revival of Kander and Ebb's classic musical transports you to divinely decadent, pre-World War II Berlin. (June 14-19, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

JULY

"Memphis" — In this rockin' Tony-winner, a white 1950s DJ falls in love with black R&B (not to mention one particular singer), introducing the music to new radio and TV audiences. (July 6-23, Super Summer Theatre, Spring Mountain Ranch; wwwsupersummertheatre.org.)

"IDAHO! The Comedy Musical" — Songs, laughs, romance — and spuds — combine in this irreverent, in-development musical. (July 12-17, Reynolds Hall, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts; 702-749-2000, www.thesmithcenter.com.)

AUGUST 2016

"Bring It On" — Over-the-top cheerleading rivalries inspire this musical loosely based on the 2000 movie. (Aug. 10-27, Super Summer Theatre, Spring Mountain Ranch; wwwsupersummertheatre.org)

SEPTEMBER 2016

"The Mystery of Edwin Drood" — Based on Charles Dickens' unfinished final novel and set in a Victorian music hall, this Tony-winning musical boasts multiple endings — with audience votes determining the final outcome. (Sept. 8-24, Super Summer Theatre, Spring Mountain Ranch; wwwsupersummertheatre.org)

For more stories from Carol Cling go to bestoflasvegas.com. Contact her at ccling@reviewjournal.com and follow @CarolSCling on Twitter.