Las Vegas Spotlight: August 2008

Watch out, Liza is kicking up dust in the desert! She’s not in Vegas, alas, but dedicated Liza Minnelli fans can see the crazy/beloved diva by taking a little trip out to Primm, Nevada, which is just about a 45-minute drive away. She will be performing at Terrible’s Star of the Desert Arena on August 16 at 8pm.

Good Medicine Theatre Company presents Douglas Carter Beane’s Tony-nominated comedy, The Little Dog Laughed at the Onyx Theater, August 21-September 6. The piece revolves around a closeted movie star, his hustler boyfriend, the hustler’s girlfriend, and the star’s Machiavellian agent. Susanna Brent directs a cast that includes Alex Bayless, John Beane, Tressa Bern, and Zoey D’Arienzo.

Another super summer at the Super Summer Theatre wraps up with the last show of the season, Aida (August 13-30), presented by Signature Productions. The Disney musical based on the Verdi opera of the same name is the story of two star-crossed lovers, the Egyptian military commander Radames and the Nubian princess Aida. The musical has a pop-rock score by Elton John and Tim Rice, with a book by playwright David Henry Hwang. The production will be at the lovely Spring Mountain Ranch State Park — bring a picnic, blanket or lawn chair, and a sweater (it usually gets a little chilly after dark).

For one night only, the Cockroach Theatre presents Visions of Electric Perturbia (August 23), a late-night multi-arts event in The Living Room at the Katherine Gianaclis Park for the Arts (KGPA). Three short and unusual plays are on the bill: Visionary by Evelyn Barnett, Robert & Anna by Elan Zafir, and Perturbed by Ernie Curcio. The Las Vegas Club and Bryan Todd will be providing live music for the event, and there will also be an exhibition of visual art by Jessie Smigel.

Dance companies from all over the West and around the world will converge on Las Vegas on August 1st and 2nd for the 10th annual Dance in the Desert Festival at the Nicholas J. Horn Theatre on the College of Southern Nevada’s Cheyenne campus. The Festival spotlights a range of choreographic styles from expressionism to post-modernism. Among the festival’s many participants are Moving Arts Dance, Nannette Brodie Dance Theatre, Canyon Movement Company, Vegas’s Kelly Roth & Dancers, and CSN’s own Dance Ensemble.

Rounding out their runs this month: The Musical Actor’s Theatre production of The Will Rogers Follies takes its last bow on August 2, and Insurgo Theater Movement’s R-rated A Midsummer Night’s Dream ends on August 9. (And they’re serious about the rating — anyone under 17 must be accompanied by a guardian.)