REP RALLY

Shalom, Vegas.

Vos hert zikh epes? (So what's new?)

Funny you should ask, bubbelah (darling, honey, sweetie -- take your pick).

Especially in Yiddish.

"We were astounded to see the audience that came to 'The Diary of Anne Frank' (by Nevada Conservatory Theatre last year) and we realized there's a hunger for theater that had something of a Jewish theme," says actress Charlene Sher. "We thought, let's get a theater group going and call it the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada."

Bowing this weekend -- can we get a mazel tov? (congrats) -- the newly minted theater company, aiming to employ mostly union (i.e., Equity) actors and directors, opens with a staged reading of "The Last Night of Ballyhoo" at the 350-seat Adelson Educational Campus Theatre.

(FYI: The local troupe is focusing on Jewish-centric theater in English, not the immigrant-based "Yiddish theater" that migrated from Eastern Europe to New York in the late-1800s.)

"We've had great support from the Jewish Federation and all the sisterhood groups, so we knew we had that audience and wanted to gather them, start with a base," says Los Angeles-based actress Norma Morrow, co-founder of Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada with Vegas-based Sher, both co-starring in "Ballyhoo." And both insist that even though Jewish themes, actors and playwrights dominate the company in its infancy, there are no restrictions on who may participate and other types of material could be produced as the group grows.

Notable beyond the Jewish focus, however, is the attempt to establish a repertory theater in Las Vegas to mount plays with professional polish by Equity performers. Currently, Nevada Conservatory Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas contracts for a couple of union actors or directors in a given production to collaborate and co-star with students.

Veteran actresses, both Sher and Morrow cough up union dues. While the seven-member "Ballyhoo" cast contains a few nonpros, Morrow -- who visits Las Vegas weekly as a master's candidate in theater at UNLV -- says the city's overdue for the brand of pro-focused company they're building toward.

"There are very sophisticated, savvy local residents whose needs, artistically, are not being met professionally," says Morrow, an actor/director who studied theater at the University of Southern California and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, operated theater companies in Beverly Hills and Hollywood, and shared the stage with Donna Mills and Fred Savage, among others.

"Community theater is wonderful," Morrow says, "but if, say, you're ill, you want to go to a professional doctor. People are telling me they're going to New York, they're going to L.A. (for nonmusical theater). Why should they have to do that? People are saying to me now, 'Finally, thank goodness, amen.' It's been enlightening."

Headlining "Ballyhoo" is Joel Brooks, whose resume includes roles on "Six Feet Under" and "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and whose credits stretch back to "Three's Company" and "M*A*S*H" (4077th fans may recall his hilarious turn as a wounded Italian soldier who refuses to return to his unit after developing a mad crush on "Hot Lips" Houlihan).

"Every large city should have at least one (repertory company)," says Brooks, performing in Las Vegas at Morrow's invitation. "Minneapolis has around seven of them. Vegas is a huge city, so it seems there has got to be a need to fill. It can only be good for the public at large."

Helmed by ex-Nevada Conservatory Theatre artistic director Robert Brewer, "Ballyhoo" is playwright Alfred Uhry's ("Driving Miss Daisy") Tony-winning dramedy set in an upper-class German-Jewish enclave in 1939 Atlanta. A highly assimilated family -- they put a Christmas tree in their parlor -- struggles with their Jewish identity and intra-ethnic bias, just as Hitler is about to invade Poland.

"There are wonderfully funny moments, but you laugh your way into thinking about it," says the South African-born Sher, who studied drama and performed in Cape Town before relocating to the United States. Adds Morrow: "We chose this piece because it says you should never deny your own heritage. It's about pride, accepting who you are."

Though not a full-scale production, Sher says this "Ballyhoo" surpasses a mere reading. "A full-blown production is financially crippling to most theater companies starting off, so we thought we wouldn't have to pay actors a fortune for long rehearsal periods with elaborate sets," Sher says.

"But we don't do it where we come out to podiums and read from the script. We have staged movements, 1939 costuming, old furniture, lighting and sound. After the first few moments, you won't even notice that we have scripts in our hands. It will be acted, not just read."

With that, the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada says ...

Shalom, Vegas.

Zay gezunt. (Stay well.)

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@review journal.com or 702-383-0256.