Show helps Onyx become major player

Co-owner Michael Morse still is struggling to make his celebrated 3-year-old Onyx Theatre a financial success. But the 96-seat playhouse inside a fetish shop ("The Rack") at 953 E. Sahara Ave. has already achieved at least two milestones. It recently celebrated its 100th performance of "Naked Boys Singing" and has acquired the rights to "AltarBoyz," a hit Off-Broadway musical that closed in New York on Jan. 10 after more than 2,000 performances. The odd curiosity that was the Onyx is now a major player.

The success of "Naked Boys" hasn't come easy. Morse spent a lot of money trying to convince the tourist trade to go off-Strip. His audience seems to be a healthy balance of out-of-towners and locals. And you may be surprised at the diversity in age groups whooping it up in the audience.

The show itself is an enjoyable, minor trifle, and a recent revisit proved the musical is still in top shape. A half-dozen or so gay characters (the number of performers fluctuates) share their emotional vulnerabilities (as well as their physical assets) in a series of song-sketches that embrace a wide variety of subjects. The novelty of nudity wears off quickly as we get to know the individuals. (You may come away from the evening wondering why we all make such a big deal about covering up.) There's even a theme: Exposing the real you can be a frightening experience.

Morse isn't shy about explaining the appeal of his productions.

"You know, people are forced to sit through Shakespeare and 'Lysistrata' and all that crap, and I don't think that's what audiences want," he says. "They want to be entertained. They want to laugh."

Morse is taking a gamble on "AltarBoyz" (which will rotate with other presentations beginning next month). Theater fans probably know the title, but how about the average Joe? The plot has a basic appeal: a group of young Ohio men try to save the world through pop songs.

It wasn't cheap to get the rights, and Morse isn't foolish enough to be overconfident.

"We're optimistic, and I think our shows are getting better," he says. "I think people are recognizing that. We're moving towards becoming an Equity (union) house. But every day is a struggle."

Morse is trying to keep the Onyx calendar full with a variety of entertainments, from improv nights to "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"We can't afford to keep pumping money into a theater if it isn't attracting an audience," he notes.

It appears, though, that after three years of nonstop business, something at the Onyx is going right. It's just not normal for a non-Strip show in Vegas to play more than a hundred performances.

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.