‘Little House’ star Arngrim offers undistinguished night

Alison Arngrim, who played the gloriously over-curled imp Nellie Oleson in the TV landmark "Little House on the Prairie," comes across amiably in her touring one-person comedy act "Confessions of a Prairie Bitch," now at the Onyx.

She tells some warm stories about Hollywood, a few kooky ones, a few dishy ones -- like, psst, between you and me, Melissa Sue Anderson was a real diva. She seems the sort you'd love to find yourself sitting next to at a dinner party.

But she's not a particularly gifted comedian. Her vocal delivery is ordinary, flat. She doesn't demonstrate much of a knack for getting the most out of a line.

Her material is occasionally pleasing (how can you not laugh when "Nellie Oleson" gets vulgar?), but most of her jokes evaporate the moment you hear them. (Sample: "I'm so old, the other day I licked a stamp.") Much time is taken up with questions from the audience, and, on opening night, the questions were wittier than the answers.

Arngrim doesn't show much visual flair, either. Her red/black sequined blouse and frumpy black slacks work against the attractiveness of this middle-aged woman.

It's not a painfully dull evening; just a very undistinguished one. Arngrim's not on stage because she knows from stand-up. She's there because she once had a TV series.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat @aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.