‘Marriage Can Be Murder’ takes to the Zoom rooms
A popular Las Vegas dinner-theater show is, um, pulling the trigger on new concept.
“Marriage Can Be Murder,” late of the D Las Vegas, has taken its comedy production online. I caught a friends-and-family run of the show several weeks ago at the Las Vegas headquarters of Ivory Star, the show’s production company. Led by the husband-and-wife team Eric Post and Jayne Ann Savoie Post, the cast is set up in offices and meeting spaces revamped as little studios.
The actors then navigate their way though a classic dinner-theater farce, but virtually.
Guests participate on a Zoom link at the IvoryStar.com website. The next performances are 6:30 p.m. Saturday and again July 11. The “virtual lobby” opens at 6 p.m. Ticket packages range from $25 for a single participant, up to $105 for a group of six. The Ivory Star site specifies the offers in theses price points.
The show encourages guests to cook at home or support a local restaurant to cover the “dinner” component. Similar to the live show, guests work with the cast to unravel clues and solve the murder. Except, in this format, it’s all through the Zoom grid. It’s actually pretty fascinating, and in show I observed, many guests hung out afterward for a Zoom party.
Ivory Star co-founders John and Shannon Bentham production is still working on a long-term plan to return to the Strip, but it’s online for now. As Eric Post, forever the show’s lead cop, accurately states, “‘Marriage Can Be Murder’ can never die.”
‘Healing’ hits high seas
An indication of Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns’ prominence: In November, execs at Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines flew the entire 16-piece band to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to play 20 minutes at the Cruise World Conference.
As RCI Senior Vice President of Entertainment Director Nick Weir said just after that event, during a cruise aboard Oasis Of The Seas, “Why did we fly in a 16-piece band for a 20-minute set? Because we can!”
“He wanted a shock-and-awe kind of thing,” band leader Jerry Lopez recalled Thursday afternoon. “We loved it.”
The ocean liner is bringing Santa Fe back, online, to premiere its “Music Hall” virtual concert series at 8:30 p.m. Pacific time Friday. Go to the Royal Caribbean Facebook page for “The Healing,” as Santa Fe refers to its live shows.
Will we still feel the power of “The Healing” online? Of course. Weir seems to think so, too.
“I’m giving you a warning!” Weir says in a promo clip posted on the RCI Facebook page. “At 5:30 Eastern time, the Axis of the Earth is going to bend slightly, under the sheer strain of listening to the best music the world has to offer!”
Wow. Such hyperbole. I usually just say, “Cool Hang Alert,” but we’re fine to be swept up in Weir’s undertow. Check out Friday’s show, and expect more “Healing” announcements from Santa Fe, soon.
In any language …
Giada Valenti and Daniel Emmet’s “Close To You” performance is worth a look-see at noon and 6 p.m. Friday, streaming live from The Space. The duo can sing in any genre and multiple languages, and at least one of them (Valenti) is a super chef, too.
On Thursday, Valenti notched her 100th “Giada Live!” show on Facebook. She sings, she cooks, and she chides me for using my oven as a hat closet. Or is it shoes? I need to check. …
Anyway, these two are superior talents, providing an acoustic set of romantic selections. Advance tickets are $25 (go to thespace.com for info). With that purchase you can access the show for 24 hours. Watch it again and again, make dinner, pour some vino, or even fizzywater.
‘Puppetry’ back
In an odd twist, “Puppetry of the Penis” is returning this weekend to Erotic Heritage Theater. This little show that could is back, even as Cirque, Spiegelworld and superstar headliners are sidelined.
The production reopens Friday night, playing to a crowd of 50 and offering free hot dogs. For real. It’s dinner and a show.
“We’re rare because, even with under 50 people, we can make money,” producer Simon Morley says. “We’re prepared, everyone will be wearing masks, we’ve canceled the meet-and-great, we’ve planned very carefully.”
It’s good, clean, and also dirty, fun. As Morley says, “If we’re the first to give the city a laugh, we’ll be very proud.”
More L’Amour
Michelle L’Amour — a new Las Vegas resident — is returning some intense beyond-burlesque action Friday. Her latest online adventure, “Uncen$ored II,” co-stars column fave Jimmy Slonina of Cirque fame, along with performers from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto and London.
As the name implies, this is a show for grown-ups, 18-and-over. Tickets are $25 available on the eventbrite.com website. A portion of the proceeds go to a series of nonprofit organizations, including The Center LV, Black Trans Travel Fund, Color of Change, Glits Inc, OutDoor Afro, Brave Space Alliance and the Parris Group.
Ticket holders will receive a link to the show to watch anytime after they purchase. It is an on-demand experience. We’re looking forward to what Slonia has dialed up. He teases, “Certainly, my segment is not suitable for prime time.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats! podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
