Theater News

Las Vegas Spotlight: December 2008

Come Dancing

Lance Bass
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Lance Bass
(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)

The headliners coming through town this month run the gamut. Country duo Brooks & Dunn will scoot into the Hilton Theatre, December 5-7. Blue collar comedian Larry the Cable Guy comes to the Orleans Arena on December 13 (and unlike your cable guy, he’ll show up on time). Also at the Orleans, the Dancing With the Stars tour glides in on December 29, and the performance will feature former competitors from the TV program like Lance Bass, Toni Braxton, and Marlee Matlin. And then R&B/pop superstar Beyonce will ring in a little pre-New Year cheer at Mandalay Bay on December 30.

Insurgo Theater Movement goes once more unto the breach at the Onyx Theatre to present one of Shakespeare’s greatest history plays, Henry V (December 5-20), in which a callow prince becomes king and leads his men to victory in battle. Opening at the same time over at UNLV’s Judy Bayley Theatre is the Nevada Conservatory Theatre production of The Importance of Being Earnest (December 5-14), Oscar Wilde’s enduring satire of society and manners.

Looking for a cure for the same-old-Christmas-show blues? Enter Nick Saint (December 11-14), an original family Christmas musical playing at the Canyon Ridge Auditorium. A spectacle featuring a cast of 32 performers, the show tells the tale of a man claiming to be Santa Claus and the kids who rally around him to prove it.

At the Lowden Theater, the Las Vegas Academy presents the original dance drama The Concrete Rose (December 11-20), created by LVA’s own Jeneane Gallo Huggins. The show, boasting a cast of 40, uses dance, drama, and poetry to tell a powerful story about breaking barriers and celebrating humanity.

The Rainbow Company Youth Theatre gives an old favorite a new spin with its production of Cinderella (December 5-14) in which the sooty heroine is nearsighted and her prince charming is a bookish fellow. This funny take on a family classic plays at the Charleston Heights Arts Center.