Eclectic season ahead in Las Vegas’ expanding theater scene

Natalie Senecal, left, and Michael Blair rehearse "Time Stands Still" at Las Vegas Little Theater. (Photo by Bridget Bennett)

 

Once upon a time, you could count Las Vegas’ local theater groups on one hand — as long as you had six fingers.

When Karen McKenney, who heads the Rainbow Company Youth Theatre, arrived in town decades ago, she cited venues ranging from the College of Southern Nevada (then Clark County Community College) and UNLV to Rainbow Company (heading into its 41st season), Las Vegas Little Theatre (celebrating its 40th season) and the long-gone New West Stage Company, which performed at Charleston Heights Arts Center.

Not to mention Super Summer Theatre, currently winding up its 42nd season at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park with “Young Frankenstein,” which runs Sept. 7 through Sept. 23.

“Those were your options,” McKenney says. “Now, there are theater companies everywhere.”

More than a dozen Southern Nevada troupes have performances planned during the 2017-18 season, providing an eclectic array of theatrical offerings, from familiar favorites to new works.

“There are theaters doing very traditional work and theaters doing really new things,” McKenney notes.

Among the time-tested favorites turning up on local stages this season: Signature Productions’ “Oliver!” (Oct. 24-Nov. 18), Nevada Conservatory Theatre’s “Christmas Carol” at UNLV (Dec. 1-17), Rainbow Company’s “Wizard of Oz” (Dec. 1-10). Broadway in the HOOD’s season includes both a junior “Jungle Book” (Sept. 8-10) and Lorraine Hansberry’s classic “A Raisin in the Sun” (Jan. 12-14).

On the “new things” end of the spectrum, CSN will present the English-language premiere of German playwright Christoph Hein’s “Passage,” co-directed by CSN theater instructor Staci Walters and Germany’s Eberhard Koehler (Nov. 2-12). Majestic Repertory Theatre’s lineup includes the world premiere of Tylar Pendgraft’s sci-fi thriller “Sentience” (Feb. 22-March 11, 2018).

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