Theater in Las Vegas still online, ‘Scalia/Ginsburg’ opera set for July and St. George to present live musical

It is not too late to catch the Las Vegas Little Theatre’s live online production of “Erma Bombeck: At Wit’s End,” performed Saturdays, Oct. 24 and 31 at 7 p.m. and Sundays, Oc. 25 and Nov. 1 at 3 p.m.

The one-woman play by playwright sisters Margaret Engel and Allison Engel stars Gillen Brey as America’s beloved humorist who championed ordinary women’s lives on her journey from homemaker to crusading feminist and popular syndicated columnist. The play is directed by Walter Niejadlik.

Tickets are $20. A link to the online performance is provided upon purchasing the ticket. For tickets and information, visit www.LVLT.org or contact the Box Office at 702-362-7996.

A ghost light in the theatre is meant to keep the spirits away, but for Halloween this year LVLT conjured up “Ghost Light Stories” featuring a zombie, a vampire, a ghost or two and a carnivorous chair.

The revue of monologues and scenes ran live online Oct.10-31 and was directed by David Ament, Gillen Brey, Chris Davies Jacob Moore, and Walter Niejadlik with an ensemble cast of LVLT regulars.

The Parea Series virtual recital series is presenting a new video production of Gian Carlo Menotti’s one-act English comic opera “The Telephone” for Opera Las Vegas, Oct. 1-Dec.1.

The amusing opera, which premiered in 1946, is strangely prescient of the age of the smartphone. Ben comes to visit Lucy at her apartment to propose to her before he leaves on a trip. But Lucy is occupied with interminable conversations on the telephone. Ben makes one last attempt: He calls Lucy from a telephone booth outside on the street to propose.

Real-life couple Will Meinert and Emily Misch collaborated with director Audrey Chait and pianist Anna Betka to craft a fanciful “quarantine” take on this 25-minute comic masterpiece, filmed in the style of a 1950s TV comedy.

Directed remotely by Chait and featuring curated discussion with Will, Emily, Audrey and guest artists Anna Betka, Bruce Adolphe and Trevor Neal for a total 50-minute run time.

Para Series is offering the online video for Opera Las Vegas fans at a special discounted rate of $10 a ticket by using the following link created just for OLV: https://pareaseries.selz.com/item/telephone-operalasvegas.

Venerable Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg may have left the Court with the worst possible timing, but in the perfect timing of Opera Las Vegas, the Notorious RBG will appear singing duets with her unlikely conservative best bud, Justice Antonin Scalia, whom she affectionately called Nino. “We are different. We are one.”

The West Coast premiere of composer-librettist (and legal scholar) Derrick Wang’s opera, “Scalia/Ginsburg” was originally scheduled for March, but now will be seen for four performances only, July 8, 9, 10, 11, 2021 in the Thomas and Mack Moot Court of UNLV’s Boyd School of Law.

The 70-minute opera is a comedy about friendship in a divided world and was inspired by the words of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ginsburg and Scalia. The spirited philosophical disagreements of the two famed jurists are cleverly counterbalanced by their mutual abiding passion for opera.

First heard at the Supreme Court of the United States before its world premiere production at renowned conductor Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Festival, the opera was revised after the passing of Justice Scalia and received a sold-out production in 2017 at The Glimmerglass Festival.

Mezzo-soprano Mary Beth Nelson will return to the role of the notorious RBG, having already scored a resounding success in the part at the prestigious Glimmerglass Festival, with RBG in attendance. Nelson is well-remembered by local opera fans for her title role debut in OLV’s 2018 production of “Cinderella.”

Aldo Perrelli will bring his Italian American heritage and his sizable tenor to bear in an imposing characterization of the formidable Justice Antonin Scalia. Perrelli is popular with OLV audiences thanks to his solo performances in “Bravo, Bernstein!” “One Amazing Evening,” and “Our Three Tenors.”

LA Opera baritone Gabriel Manro rounds out the cast as the Commentator, a manipulative “Chris Wallace” who pits the two protagonists against one another. Manro performed previously as the mysterious Alidoro in OLV’s “Cinderella.”

Actor Marcus Weiss, Valley Theatre award winner, will put on his director’s hat for this site-specific courtroom venue. Conductor Tim Warren will lead a septet of players in a specially devised instrumentation by the composer. Warren last conducted the West Coast premiere of Sasha Matson’s “Cooperstown, A Jazz Opera in Nine Innings” for OLV.

There will be a limited number of tickets available to “Scalia/Ginsburg,” inside the Thomas and Mack Moot Court of UNLV’s Boyd School of Law. Organizations interested in sponsoring a performance may email OLV General Director Jim Sohre at Director@ operalasvegas.com. Sign up at http://www.operalasvegas.com to be notified of individual ticket sales.

“The Human Comedy” by Thom Babies, based on the novel by William Saroyan, is a world premiere production at NCT.

Set in 1943 in a small California town, teenaged Homer Macauley is determined to step up and help support his family while his older brother is fighting overseas. Homer takes an evening job as a telegraph boy, and what he learns while delivering messages and news throughout his community changes his life and the way he feels about family, community, and the way he understands home. Runs Feb. 5-14, 2021

What do a chicken, an astronaut and a girl on roller skates have to do with a night in the theatre? In Charles L Mee’s “bobrauschenbergameriaca,” everything. This evening of living collage is inspired by the work of American artist Robert Rauschenberg. Mee’s interpretation of Rauschenberg’s America is thoughtful, poignant and eclectic — just like the artist’s work that anticipated Pop art. Runs March 12-28, 2021.

And, finally, “A Little Shop of Horrors” with book and lyrics by Howard Ashman and music by Alan Menken. This horror film musical was to close out NCT’s 2019-20 season.

As an homage to B-movies, the creative team behind beloved Disney classics such as “The Little Mermaid,” “Beauty and The Beast” and “Aladdin,” gives us the story of Seymour: a meek flower shop assistant who pines for his co-worker Audrey. During a total eclipse, Seymour is thrilled to discover a mysterious plant, but when that plant turns out to feed on human blood and craves world domination, things get messy. Runs April 30-May 09, 2021.

Go tohttps://www.unlv.edu/pac/  tickets for show updates and tickets.

Can’t stop the music in St. George. The St. George Musical Theatre’s (SGMT) has never stopped presenting live theater in Utah. Worth the drive to see it live.

The acclaimed musical “Oliver!” based on Dickens famous novel about a young orphan who falls among pickpockets in the streets of Victorian London opens Nov. 19 and runs Thursday through Saturday through Dec. 5 at the historic St. George Opera House on 212 N. Main St. in St. George, Utah.

Tickets will be available at www. sgmusicaltheater.com. SGMT practices social distancing and masks are required.

October brought the close of the Majestic Repertory Theatre drive-in theater production of “The Parking Lot: A Drive-In Play” by Adam Szymkowicz.

Majestic Theatre director Troy Heard said that even more than the quality of the play and the outstanding performances, it “fills a need for community.”

Next came “Horrorwood Video” for Halloween.

“Horrorwood Video” was an immersive haunted attraction sponsored by Nightmare Toys and styled as a throwback to the long gone video stores of the 1980s. Creepy clerk Leon opened some kind of vortex that transported the audience into a living HELL!

Scary? Very. But just for fun. “Horrorwood Video” was inspired by all those unbelievable slasher flicks that used to get you to first base (although we all know the fate of teenagers who have sex in a horror film).

Adding to the fun was Majestic’s drive-in theater experience. All slashers practiced social distancing and audiences were instructed to keep arms inside their vehicles throughout the show. No one could hear your screams behind your mask.

Although recommended PG-13, some kids were known to sneak in for some fright night thrills. Keep immersed at https://www.majesticrepertory.com/.