Fingers crossed Rita Rudner comedy starts trend

A packed house greeted Rita Rudner Monday night at Las Vegas Little Theatre where she staged a one-night only reading of her and hubby Martin Bergmann's play-in-progress, "Room #776," and I hope this starts a trend.

The comedy involves the entanglements that ensue when an unacquainted man and woman are mistakenly assigned the same hotel quarters. The cast included Rudner, comic Bobby Slayton (now at Hooters Hotel's Night Owl Showroom), and several Little Theatre regulars. It was fun to imagine what the show would be like once the script is polished and on its feet. And the cast, with no set and books in hand, still managed to give the audience a feel for the work.

Most exciting, though, was to see a Strip performer spending an evening at a community playhouse to help shape a project that obviously means a lot to her. So I wonder: How many other name entertainers on the Strip might have the same desire?

A lot of performers have theater backgrounds or interests. Bette Midler was in the Broadway cast of "Fiddler on the Roof." Maybe she has a noncommercial play she's always wanted to do away from the pressures of commercial theater? Maybe Danny Gans has always had a secret desire to play "Hamlet"? Maybe Debbie Reynolds is secretly obsessed with Samuel Beckett? (She might be terrific in "Happy Days.")

Comedian Rip Taylor did a moving one-man dramatic show at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas that was as far from his confetti-throwing image as he could get. It was great to see this well-trained actor get back to his thespian roots.

My guess would be a good number of headliners have wish lists of scripts they'd love to do, if they just didn't have to worry about the box office. Local playhouses could become a safe haven for artists to stretch themselves. And needless to say, this wouldn't hurt the local theater scene any. I've been reading for years that Barbra Streisand always has wanted to play Medea. Warner Bros. may not be interested, but what do you say, Little Theatre? Why not have your people contact her people? ...

PBS Home Video just released the recently broadcast documentary "Words and Music by Jerry Herman" on DVD. Although the writers and interviewees lay on a nauseating amount of self-serving flattery (Carol Channing claims "Hello, Dolly!" is the greatest musical production number in the history of Broadway), the 90-minute look at Herman's career and personal life is full of interesting show-biz tidbits. Herman is especially candid about why he feels some of his shows have failed, and why he has not had a prolific career. It's a must for musical-theater buffs.

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.