Onyx Theatre director sees exciting times ahead

When John Beane was hired in July to manage the Onyx Theatre, after working on productions there for several months, he was given two guidelines by owner Michael Morse: Offer alternative and bold work that's socially progressive, sexy and in your face. And get a lot of people to see it.

The first part of Morse's request is a lot easier than the second. But something seems to be going right. For one thing, the state-of-the-art Onyx, a 96-seater located inside a fetish shop, is still running a full calendar of live shows after 13 months (it opened, pre-Beane, with a production called "The Vampire, the Virgin and the Very Horny Night"). And 13 months can be a long life in the world of Vegas performing arts.

But more importantly, good-size crowds have been turning out for a variety of fare that's ranged from a female "Hamlet" and an avant-garde "Lysistrata," to improv comedy, "serious" comedy ("Sordid Lives" featured a female shrink trying to "cure" a homosexual by sleeping with him), serious modern drama (Neil LaBute stuff), and a series of short plays written and rehearsed 24 hours prior to being performed.

Some of these shows are produced by other companies (the theater is available for rental), some are created by Beane's private organization, the Insurgo Theater Movement, and some are mounted by the Onyx, under the banner of Off-Strip Productions. Given the shortage of local performance space, it may be no surprise that theater companies have been keeping Beane busy.

The 32-year-old Virginia native, who went to El Dorado High School in Las Vegas prior to moving to Southern California where he started the Insurgo, is hosting an out-of-town production that has New York hopes. Jovanka Bach's "Sylvie," a psychological drama about three very different men's relationship with an explosively needy woman, opened Thursday for a three-week run, following an engagement at the highly respected Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles.

Bach, who died last year, was both a playwright and physician. Naturally, she had an interest in Anton Chekhov (also a famous playwright and physician), and her play, "Chekhov and Maria," was produced in London.

Beane will be offering a screening of the new film version at the Onyx at 4 p.m. Saturday followed by a talk with producer, director and Bach's widower, John Stark. The movie stars Gillian Brashear, who also is playing the title role in "Sylvie."

" 'Sylvie' is important to us," Beane says. "It is the beginning of relationships that we are hoping to develop to bring professional-level theater to Las Vegas at an accessible level."

Beane feels it's an exciting time to be a running a local theater.

"I always wanted to return to Vegas," he says. "It's a fantastic mishmash of opposites -- a Broadway juggernaut presence on the Strip with national attention, and a small-scale community theater scene (with) a completely unfocused populace; essentially, a small-city feel with a major city thrust upon it. The theatrical community is in labor, being born, active and thrashing. It's a dynamic time and an opportunity to build an artistically viable alternative."

Beane's enthusiasm seems to have won the loyalty of a surprising number of gifted actors, despite his former lack of local connections. While some long-established Vegas directors bemoan what they see as a shortage of actors, much of the city's best talent always seems to be available to Beane. One of the reasons, Beane guesses, is that people know he will never play it artistically safe.

"The Onyx is a fantastic venue that is about to jump into some very bold waters," he promises.

Not everything has been smooth sailing. Some say Beane has a tendency to do too much. And the recent, sudden cancellations of two of his productions -- "The Water Hen" for the fifth annual Samuel Beckett Festival and the October-scheduled "The Guignol Brothers: Theater of the Damned" -- are said to be warning signs that he might be burning out.

Beane is unapologetic.

As a director, he says, "I will not put up a production that I am not satisfied with."