Offbeat shows join musicals, comedies this theater season

Productions as diverse as "Macbeth" and "The Sound of Music" and playwrights ranging from Tom Stoppard to Neil Simon to Arthur Miller fill the 2010-11 theater season in the Las Vegas Valley.

There will be Broadway-style musicals such as "Fiddler on the Roof" and "The Drowsy Chaperone" and offbeat shows such as "The Rocky Horror Show" and "Psycho Beach Party."

It's a busy opening week when the British National Theatre of America and Super Summer Theatre offer a three-week run today through Sept. 25 of Larry Shue's "The Foreigner" -- the story of a man who gets into trouble for pretending to "no speak English" -- at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park.

Joining "The Foreigner" is a sketchlike comedy that ridicules Southern folks, "Greater Tuna," performed today through Sept. 25 by Las Vegas Little Theatre at the theater company's mainstage, 3920 Schiff Drive, and the Onyx Theatre's "Missionary Position" today through Sunday at its Commercial Center home, 953 E. Sahara Ave., No. 16. "Missionary Position" is the second part of "The Mormon Trilogy," a one-man comedy/drama about the conflict between being true to yourself and being true to the church.

The city of Henderson teams with the as-yet unproven Las Vegas Shakespeare Company to give us the area's third of four productions within six months of the classic "Macbeth" Oct. 2-23 at various locations in the valley. The College of Southern Nevada will host the community's fourth "Macbeth" with a visit from the Utah Shakespearean Festival Touring Ensemble Feb. 4-5.

The college's busy schedule also includes Stoppard's "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead" (about two minor characters from "Hamlet"), Oct. 15-24, and a reader's theater version of Ben Johnson's "Volpone," about an aging miser who enjoys duping his friends, Nov. 19-21. Ossie Davis' legacy can be viewed Feb. 26-28 in the form of his highly regarded drama "Purlie Victorious." And lest we start to feel too highbrow, the college has thrown in Christopher Durang's "Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them," Feb. 18-27.

Cockroach Theatre, which made a splash several years ago and then seemed to disappear, returns with three seldom-seen plays: Naomi Lizuka's "Polaroid Stories," a blending of classical mythology with "real" stories told by street kids, Nov. 4-20; John Patrick Shanley's "Danny and the Deep Blue Sea," Jan. 13-29; and Will Eno's "The Flu Season," a love story set in a hospital, March 24-April 9.

Jade Productions is keeping it light with just one show this season -- the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" at Spring Mountain Ranch next summer, Aug. 10-27 -- while the Las Vegas Academy will offer its usual abundant scheduling. Primary on its boards this season is Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," Nov. 11-20, and the musical "Hairspray," Feb. 10-26.

The veteran Las Vegas Little Theatre continues to be the most prolific theater in town, scheduling 11 shows in its ambitious season, including Ira Levin's brutal thriller "Veronica's Room," Oct. 9-Nov. 14, and Shanley's mysterious "Doubt," Nov. 5-21.

Nevada Conservatory Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas will be in full swing this season with Sam Shepard's "Fool for Love," Sept. 17-26; Landford Wilson's "The Hot L Baltimore," Oct. 8-17; and the odd and sensual "Spring's Awakening," an 1891 play about four teenagers dealing with their sexuality in very different ways, Nov. 19-Dec. 5. Also on hand will be Utah Shakespearean Festival artistic directors Brian Vaughn and David Ivers who will work together in Ted Tiller's "Count Dracula," Oct. 29-Nov. 7, just in time for Halloween.

The Onyx Theatre continues to beef up its product this season. In addition to "Missionary Position," writer Jamie Morris will bring back his "Facts of Life: The Lost Episode," which puts an adult twist on the wholesome '80s sitcom, Sept. 16-25. The theater will then team with RagTag Entertainment for a production of the traditional musical "I Do! I Do!" -- a two-character study of a long-term marriage -- Oct. 1-9. Leading up to Halloween, Onyx presents the live version of "The Rocky Horror Show," Oct. 15-30. Keeping with its image of off-the-wall mountings will be David Sedaris' "SantaLand Diaries," exploring the life of one of Santa's department store elves, Dec. 2-11; Del Shores' "Southern Baptist Series," a musical version of "Evil Dead," Jan. 14-29; a staging of "Die, Mommie, Die!" April 7-23; the musical "Falsettos," April 28-May 14; Charles Busch's "Psycho Beach Party," June 2-18; and "Pageant," a musical about a beauty contest, July 15-30.

The children's theater group Rainbow Company has at least one unusual offering on its bill this season: an adaptation of Mary Zimmerman's Tony-winning "Metamorphosis," the retelling of Greek myths, April 1-10. The original Broadway production centered around a huge swimming pool so it'll be interesting to see how the designers tackle that in the tiny Reed Whipple Cultural Center theater. The Rainbow Company also has scheduled Brian Strom's original "The Zombies Walk Among Us," which is, curiously, set in Haiti after an earthquake, Oct. 1-10.

Signature Productions, known for doing things big, will offer four traditional musicals: "The Sound of Music," Oct. 18-Nov. 20; "Singin' in the Rain," March 28-April 30; "Little Shop of Horrors," June 25-Aug. 27; and its annual "A Signature Christmas," Dec. 1-3.

In addition to "Fiddler on the Roof," the Super Summer Theatre season will dress the Spring Mountain Ranch stage with Stage Door Entertainment's "Annie," June 8-25, and PSFX's Las Vegas premiere of the Broadway hit "The Drowsy Chaperone," the story of a Broadway fanatic who tries to cure his sadness with musicals, July 13-30.

Henderson's Theatre-in-the-Valley -- which normally gravitates toward light comedy -- is attempting an unusually ambitious season this year. Among the announced shows are Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Oct. 1-23; "Much Ado About Nothing," April 15-17; and "Picnic," May 15-27.

The Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City will chime in this fall with "The Adventures of Pericles," "Greater Tuna" (performed at the same time as Las Vegas Little Theatre) and Wendy Kesselman's "The Diary of Anne Frank." The shows are performed in repertory Sept. 16-Oct. 23.

The festival's 2011 summer lineup includes "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Richard III," "Romeo and Juliet," "The Glass Menagerie," "The Music Man" and "Noises Off!"

In addition, there are other theater companies in town, including the Insurgo Theater Movement and Butcher Block Productions, which have not announced seasons, so there's usually much more entertainment in store than pre-season summaries can provide.

And a couple of warnings: Most local theater performances are on weekends, and schedules are subject to change. It's important to call or check theater websites before scheduling theater dates.

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