Theater News

Las Vegas Spotlight: March 2009

Welcome to the Peepshow

Kelly Monaco, Jerry Mitchell, and Mel B
(© Tom Donoghue)
Kelly Monaco, Jerry Mitchell, and Mel B
(© Tom Donoghue)

Peepshow, starring former Spice Girl Mel B and Kelly Monaco, begins its run March 30 at Planet Hollywood. Featuring music by Andrew Lippa, it has been conceived, directed, and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell, the director/choreographer of Legally Blonde and choreographer of Hairspray. Apropos for semi-seedy Vegas, Peepshow is a lush burlesque show featuring evocative music, seductive fairytale sets, 20 sexy dancers, and a touch of humor. As the creator of the beloved annual charity strip show Broadway Bares, Mitchell has been doing these types of shows on a regular basis for years in New York — and now he’ll have a chance to dazzle Vegas audiences with his naughty touch.

Terry Fator takes up permanent residence at The Mirage with his new show, Terry Fator & His Cast of Thousands, which officially opens March 17. The 2007 winner of NBC’s America’s Got Talent, Fator brings to life his puppet co-stars through comic banter and their takes on musical superstars.

Re-live the old days of Vegas at the Orleans Showroom on March 20-22, when old school comedian Don Rickles returns. Plenty of laughs are also available at the Mirage on March 13, when stand-up comedian (and Deal Or No Deal host) Howie Mandel takes the stage there. Music lovers can get their fix in March by seeing The Pretenders at the House of Blues on March 7, and for those of you who have been waiting for the much-delayed Shear Madness to finally start performances, it appears that the mayhem will begin at last on March 13.

By now, most everybody is familiar with Tyler Perry through his films (most notably the “Madea” movies), but before he made it big on the big screen, Perry was winning fans by penning warm-hearted and funny stage shows. His most recent, The Marriage Counselor (March 6-7), lands on Planet Hollywood for a very brief run.

The Nevada Conservatory Theatre at UNLV re-lives the union struggles of the 1930s with its production of The Cradle Will Rock (March 13-29) at the Judy Bayley Theatre. Marc Blitzstein’s opera about the labor movement, which was introduced to a new generation through Tim Robbins’ film Cradle Will Rock in 1999, satirizes business and societal corruption. Then go back another decade to the roaring ’20s as Signature Productions does Thoroughly Modern Millie (Summerlin Library & Performing Arts Center, March 23-April 25). Based on the Julie Andrews movie of the same name, Millie is about a wide-eyed go-getter who moves to NYC and gets swept up in excitement and intrigue. Jeanine Tesori’s jazzy Broadway score will have everyone on stage and in the audience toe-tapping the night away.

The Las Vegas Little Theatre presents Douglas Carter Beane’s As Bees in Honey Drown (March 27-April 12) in a production directed by Paul Thornton. Beane’s satire about a New York author who gets caught up with an unusual woman was a success Off-Broadway, and now Vegas audiences can enjoy the playwright’s sharp wit and insights on fame and the price people will pay to have it.

Grab the kids and visit The Wiz (through March 7), that wonderful, soulful take on the classic Wizard of Oz, at the Las Vegas Academy’s Lowden Theater for the Performing Arts. Later in March, bring your teens to the Studio Series double bill of one-act plays Ascension Day and Bang Bang You’re Dead (March 26-April 5), playing in the Academy Theatre Black Box.