Strip performers dabble in community theater for pure love of it

Over there, they're LAS VEGAS -- their images encased in neon.

Over here, they're Las Vegas -- their bios squeezed next to ads for Al Phillips the Cleaner.

"Even performing in 'Folies' or 'Skintight,' I longed to be able to do really good shows," says Strip vet Traci Kesisian. "When Phil Shelburne directed 'Into the Woods' for Signature (Productions), it broke my heart that I couldn't do it. Here I was the lead in 'Folies Bergere,' and I'm dying to do this free community theater project. It's my passion."

Scan the program notes of community productions and it isn't unusual to find cast members who've played Las Vegas Boulevard but return to smaller stages when schedules allow to refresh their chops in a more pure form of theater.

"In a revue, it's big smiles and pretty costumes and you're one in a cast of 85 and it's easy to feel like a nobody," says Laurie Caceres, one of six principal "Jubilee!" singers who was lead singer in "Viva Las Vegas" and toured with Rich Little, but also appeared in local productions of "Godspell," "The Wiz" and "The Sound of Music," among others. "It's nice to be able to branch out, keep your skills honed and do something different."

Now freelancing to accommodate mommyhood, Kesisian remained with "Folies" as lead female singer for almost seven years before its 2009 closure but has been a regular in productions at Spring Mountain Ranch, last appearing as the seductive Lola in Signature's "Damn Yankees" in 2010.

"One of the reasons I want to go back to community theater is to give back to the younger crowd because when I was in that young group, I looked up to people who had been on the Strip," says Kesisian, who also counts "Jesus Christ, Superstar," "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," "Grease" and "Oliver" among local credits. Yet she acknowledges occasional turf issues, such as when she co-starred in "Yankees" with fellow one-time Strip performer Brandon Nix.

"There was some animosity," she says. "Some people were glad to meet you and wanted to talk to you about the business and the Strip. There were some who felt you were invading their space." Nix, who performed in "We Will Rock You" on the Strip and toured with "Saturday Night Fever," notes: "People who have not done it as professionals are looking to the professionals like sponges, trying to pick up knowledge. I used to be that way. That's how you grow."

What about those two radioactive words -- "preferential treatment"? Are Strip performers considered first for lead roles before community actors during auditions? "There's an understanding when they audition that for it to be worth their time, it has to be a lead role or a supporting role they really want to play," says Leslie Fotheringham, artistic director of Signature Productions. "They're not going to take time from their professional gig to do an ensemble role."

However, nothing is guaranteed, says Shelburne, director of P.S. Productions. "Absolutely not," he says. "(Community actors) are not discounted that way. There's some fiercely talented community performers, some actually more talented (than Strip performers). But I've been appreciative of some performers who've been on the Strip who didn't get the lead role they wanted, were offered a supporting role, accepted it and were wonderful support to the entire show."

Though she occasionally runs into resentment from amateur-level castmates, Caceres says she never automatically expects a lead role. "Everybody is put into a role for a reason," she says. "Sometimes the person put into the lead can do things other people can't, and a good director knows how to differentiate that."

Staying in primo acting shape is also a strong reason for Strip performers to go local, says Lysander Abadia, who appeared in "Mamma Mia" and "EFX" with both Tommy Tune and Rick Springfield and is very tied to the local scene as artistic director of Poor Richard's Players, which staged "Adventures in Mating" recently. "You can get very complacent when there's a steady gig and you forget that, 'Oh, this gig will probably end someday so I should make sure my audition skills are sharp,' " Abadia says.

While the availability of Strip pros seemingly gives the Vegas theater scene an advantage over other markets, the fact that they don't get paid for their time -- they volunteer out of pure love of theater -- limits their participation that might otherwise expand if Las Vegas had a regional theater, promising them a little green.

"A lot of actors won't do something unless they're getting paid and rightly so," Abadia says. "There's a talent pool not being used because there's no middle class of theater, where ticket prices aren't as expensive as on the Strip but actors are getting paid, the production staff is paid and there's a business mentality so you can get access to professional actors."

Still, love of legit theater lights a creative fire under Strip performers, even without compensation. "When I did 'The King and I' for Signature, I didn't get paid," Abadia says. "But I was THE KING. When is that ever going to happen again?"

Work is work. Play is play.

Except when working on a play that is clearly more play than work.

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