‘Kid Who Ran for President’ intrigued playwright

It's only fitting that "The Kid Who Ran for President," a musical adaptation of a couple of popular Dan Gutman books, should be having its world premiere at the Rainbow Company. Its book, music and lyrics were written by a former Rainbow member.

A decade ago, 25-year-old Jeremiah Clay Neal was just "one of the kids," playing the likes of the Artful Dodger in "Oliver!" and the title role in "Tom Sawyer." Today, he's a Phoenix resident with an MFA from Arizona State in Theatre for Young Audiences. His passions run in the family. Pop is Jay Neal, who's been a Rainbow staffer for 15 years.

What made the playwright tackle "Kid"?

"I was immediately intrigued (by the) story of a 12-year-old boy from Wisconsin who becomes President of the United States," Neal says in the program notes. "It felt natural to give the music a hip-hop feel. I also wanted to write a play that was relevant to our culture. It's the perfect (time) after all, with the election right around the corner."

It's likely we'll be seeing more of Neal's work in the future. The show runs through Sunday at the Reed Whipple Center (229-6211). ...

Another former Vegan is beginning an adventure. Bishop Gorman grad Elizabeth Cava left Sin City at age 17 to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena. Today, 20 years later, she's heading to New York for a production of Terrence McNally's "Corpus Christi." The controversial drama -- which depicts Jesus and his apostles as gay men living in Texas -- will be mounted for a two-week run at the Rattlestick Theatre beginning Oct. 13. The revival is a tribute to Matthew Shepard, whose 1998 murder occurred 24 hours prior to the play's world premiere. (Info: 108productions.org) ...

About 600 playhouses across the country are offering one free night of theater between Oct. 16 and 30. In an interview for Theatre Communications, Brad Erickson, executive director of Theatre Bay Area, said, "Since the campaign's pilot year here three years ago, we have seen an extraordinary response from theatres, audiences and the whole community. The demand for live theatre -- when it's made accessible to all -- is overwhelming. We're bringing in new audiences." No Vegas troupe has yet to announce its participation. ...

Made an unforgivable error in my last column in misspelling the name of acting teacher Gerald Gordon. The local guru has guided some of our best Vegas talent, as well as the likes of Oscar-winner Adrien Brody. When I wrote to apologize, Gordon was off in London enjoying "the best performance of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' that I have ever seen." For some reason, I felt less badly about my blunder.

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.