Local theaters get ‘Dirty’ and ‘Drowsy’ with two new-to-Vegas Broadway musicals

Blow the dust off the script and ...

Whoa, hold the blow. Where's the dust?

"Anytime we can have new shows being done, that's a good thing," says Walter Niejadlik, president of Las Vegas Little Theatre, one of two local companies combining for a rare alignment of the theatrical stars as two Broadway musicals never before seen in Las Vegas and of recent vintage debut simultaneously this week on community stages:

"The Drowsy Chaperone" by PS Productions at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" at LVLT. While offbeat theater companies here such as Onyx, Insurgo and Cockroach stage recent works plucked from the avant-garde, traditional outlets often cling tightly to shows some call "classic" and others label "dinosaurs." (Can you say "The Sound of Music"? "The Fantasticks"? "The Music Man"? Or perhaps The King of Overdone Oldies?)

"Not to berate 'Annie,' but in the 11-plus years I've lived in town, I've lost count of the number of productions of 'Annie,' " says Niejadlik, also the "Scoundrels" director. "The first year I was here there were six, and I thought, 'I've moved from San Francisco to a town where they only do 'Annie.' "

(Fear not, "Annie" addicts, the sun will always come out tomorrow -- the curly-haired moppet kicked off the ranch's Super Summer Theatre season, and "Chaperone" will be followed by another chestnut, "Fiddler on the Roof.")

That makes this pair of premieres a welcome injection of freshness.

"Musicals are very expensive, and our dilemma is if it does well, it's a great fundraiser for us; if it doesn't, we can really lose our shirts and put our budget in jeopardy for a year," Niejadlik says. "I had to pick a show I thought would have some name recognition. People at least have heard of the movie and it had a wow factor other shows didn't."

Collector of seven Tony awards, "Scoundrels" had a 2005-2006 run, based on the 1988 Michael Caine/Steve Martin flick about a pair of con men on the French Riviera, the Broadway edition initially starring John Lithgow. Hoarder of nine Tony awards, "Chaperone" held court on Broadway in 2006 and 2007 as a frothy salute to Jazz Age musicals.

"It's a two-edged sword because you have to pay the rent but you want to provide new exposures and ideas and shows to the community," says Christy Miller, vice chairman of the board of Super Summer Theatre, which mounts the ranch shows. "You have to be careful. You provide those showstoppers people don't get tired of seeing so you can then hopefully do those like 'Drowsy Chaperone' and 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.' "

Financially, she says, staging newer shows is an iffier equation, demanding increased advertising spending because the recognition factor for shows such as "Chaperone" is less. Ticket sales, often healthy in advance of classics, with luck pick up more the week after the production of a lesser-known title debuts, fueled by word of mouth.

"When the economy went downhill, theaters were really pulling out the (classics) they knew would sell," says Julie Crawford, executive director of the American Association of Community Theatre. "But they're getting back into things that are less safe. These are both shows being done all over the country. Theaters are picking these up as soon as they're available off of Broadway."

Though also beholden to the musical, drama and comedy standards that keep the lights on, LVLT has been admirably unafraid to graze into the more contemporary realm, producing newer shows with unproven box-office power here such as "Urinetown" in 2007, "The 25th Annual Putnam Valley Spelling Bee" in 2009, and "Take Me Out," a drama about a gay ballplayer, in 2006.

"I hate doing stuff that's been done over and over; we hear about it from patrons and the reviews," says Niejadlik, noting that importing younger shows also attracts younger theatergoers. "I always feel bad saying this, but our patrons are dying, every year, more and more."

A veteran of ranch musicals, PS Productions head Phil Shelburne, who is directing "Chaperone," recalls pitching show possibilities to the Super Summer Theatre Board. "I always tried to pick things that were a little challenging, and sometimes they got a little unhappy with me because of it," Shelburne says.

"The first time we did 'Joseph (and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat),' they thought it was a huge risk, and it is now a bubble-gum pop standard. 'Buddy (The Buddy Holly Story)' was considered way out there. 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' was considered a big risk. A lot of those have become more popular now."

Aggressive as some companies might be pursuing new titles, obtaining licensing rights can be a tussle, whether it's because of the cost of getting them, the wait time until they become available, or conditions set forth to protect the artistic integrity of playwrights, such as shortening or altering scripts.

"Sometimes we luck out, like 'Spelling Bee,' where I knew someone who knew someone who knew someone and got us the rights before they were released to the general nonprofessional theater community," Niejadlik recalls.

"But with 'Moon Over Buffalo,' someone went to (licensing company) Samuel French and said we changed the script. I had to call them and attest that we hadn't, and they said they reserved the right to send someone out. I'm like, 'Really? You're going to spend money to come to Las Vegas to watch a nonprofessional production you're making maybe $75 a performance off of?' They get really sensitive."

Once cleared, new plays offer new pleasures -- though you'd be surprised who can be more eager and who's more cautious to experience them. "Actors and directors like to do new things," Crawford says. Perhaps. Perhaps not.

"Strangely, the audience is (blamed) a lot for not supporting something new, but I've found them more open-minded than many of the performers," Shelburne says. "I hear (from directors), 'We had a hard time casting that show.' For the performers it's like, 'I don't know it so I decided not to audition.' "

Fortunately, no such short-sightedness prevents this week's unveilings of "The Drowsy Chaperone" and "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."

Drop the dustpan. These scripts have nary a speck.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.