Never know what you’re going to get with theater troupe’s comedy sketches

The Atlas theater troupe turns out several plays a year, but what they do in their downtime is what helps make them unusual.

Under the banner "Feed the Monkey," an ensemble led by artistic director Chris Mayse has been performing late-night comedy sketches on the last Saturday of every month at the Onyx. The cast and material are constantly changing, so you never know for sure what you're going to get. I've seen two programs and have found them clever, effortless and funny. The comics -- particularly the authoritative Mayse and the ultimate Everyman John Paul Raniola -- were as inventive in their delivery as the original writing was in its construction. Some bits had great setups but poor payoffs, and vice versa, but it's the high level of quality that makes you hope for even better.

The group is changing its venue as of Saturday when it will head downtown and play the Neon Venus (1404 S. Third St.) at 11 p.m. Mayse is hoping to add more shows throughout the month. Tickets are 10 bucks at the door. ...

Some theater buffs are waiting with heavy breath for double Tony-winner Patti LuPone's June appearance at the Orleans Showroom -- and not because of her show. YouTubers know that the diva recently interrupted her Broadway "Gypsy" production to yell at audience members who were taking flash pictures. "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!" she screamed from the stage in the middle of the climatic "Rose's Turn" number. "Stop taking pictures right now! You heard the announcement! Who do you think you are? How dare you! ... I won't continue if they're taking pictures! Get them out! ... We have lost our public manners!"

LuPone stopped a show here last year as well, at Artemus Ham Hall, for the same reason, but she was much more diplomatic. How will she react at The Orleans if she meets the same fate? It may be worth the price of admission just to find out. ...

It was unusual to see a sign posted at the College of Southern Nevada's Cheyenne campus box-office warning that latecomers would not be seated at CSN's production of Edward Albee's "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?" (playing through Sunday at the Cheyenne campus' BackStage Theatre). What a relief to watch an intimate story in a tiny in-the-round theater without having to worry about florescent light suddenly filling the room, and latecomers strolling in. And you know, latecomers rarely make it their business to quickly find a seat. They walk around, they confer with one another ("Where do you want to sit, honey?" "I don't know. Where do you want to sit?"), they climb over people with no apparent realization that they are interrupting an event. As a gallant diva once observed, we have lost our public manners.

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