Las Vegas Spotlight: August 2007

Heeeere’s Tony! This month, the Las Vegas production of The Producers welcomes Tony Danza as Max Bialystock. The star of such hit TV shows as Taxi and Who’s the Boss? first took on the role of the corrupt if lovable Broadway producer on Broadway, and now he brings his singular performance to the Wynn Hotel on August 13. The winner of the most Tony Awards in history — 12 in all — the musical features a hilarious book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan (based on Brooks’ classic film) and a tuneful score by Brooks.

The Super Summer Theatre season continues with the Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar (August 8-25). This re-telling of the Gospel story with a focus on the troubled friendship of Jesus and Judas is being produced by P.S. Productions and directed by Philip Shelburne, a Las Vegas native with numerous theatrical credits to his name, including the medieval jousting show Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur Hotel & Casino.

Menopause the Musical, which has delighted women (and, reportedly, even a few men) in cities across the country over the last few years, continues to draw crowds to the Shimmer Cabaret Nightclub in the Las Vegas Hilton. The comic musical revue, which both bemoans and celebrates “the change” as experienced by a disparate group of women, has the gals singing famous tunes of the ’60s and ’70s with new lyrics about hot flashes, memory loss, weight gain, and other menopausal challenges.

After that, you may need to cool off, so why not check out ICE: Direct From Russia at the Versailles Showroom in the Riviera Hotel. Featuring 42 performers skating and doing all kinds of acrobatics on one very slick stage, it’s like Cirque du Soleil meets the Arctic.

Also in town, The Musical Actors Theatre’s production of the Cy Coleman-Dorothy Fields-Neil Simon tuner Sweet Charity plays until August 11. And the Insurgo Theater Movement’s production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet rages on through August 18 — with the title character played by Katrina Larsen, winner of Las Vegas Life’s “Best Actress” award in 2006.