Las Vegas Little Theatre — Attraction in Paradise

After a multi year absence from Vegas, went to see a play last night, “Four Old Broads On The High Seas”, a farce but poorly directed without the frantic rapidity that this type of farce can call for. The GOOD: Costumes and sets were fine. Some actresses such as Wendy Friedman did a nice job. The BAD: Don't like to disparage theater in these tough times but in the hope that reality will triumph over denial, at times it dragged. (I've done a lot of theater myself). No mics and everyone with a fake Southern accent so a lot of dialogue was swallowed up. Nice enough 120 seat theater WITH ALL SEATS ASSIGNED. Why come on time if you're guaranteed your seat?? And a starting time 10 minutes late…both of these encourage folks to straggle in (max 20 minute drive) at the last minute. The emailed tickets have the assigned seats hidden vertially next to the bar code, very user-unfriendly and very forgettable if you bought your tickets a month ago.. The printed program was CHEAP with no bios, no running time or listing an intermission. A sound system playing overamplified Barbara Streisand type music at high volume making it difficult to converse. The ‘stage' was not elevated so even with the slightly raked seating, seeing the characters often required readjusting your position and view. I give the 70+ age women a medal for all being at least 30-80 pounds overweight and wearing very revealing costumes at times…all in all a mediocre TV sitcom with a lot of writing in cliche`. THEY NEED TO RAISE THE STAGE, DO AWAY WITH THE ASSIGNED SEATS, AND CAN THE AMPLIFIED MUSIC! THEY ALSO NEED TO WORK ON ENUNCIATION AND PROJECTION IF THEY ARE GOING TO DO THEATER WITH ACCENTS. AND IF THEY START ON TIME, EVERY TIME, PEOPLE WILL GET THERE ON TIME, TRUST ME. I will be watching to see if some of these deficiencies are corrected before trusting a night...

Love this place. I'm a little biased, as I volunteer here, but the shows are always good. The quality of acting and directing, as well as all the supporting areas (scenery, sound, lighting, costumes, etc.) are really good. Even with all the professionalism, it feels like family in that there's no pretense. It's a comfortable place to go.

There are two theaters: the main stage, where larger, more complex productions are done, and the Black Box, which seats only 45 and is used for plays that don't require extensive scenery, sound or light. Both are very good experiences, though of course very different.

LVLT puts on a couple of musicals each year, and always a summer musical. For 2019 it's Godspell (July). There's also usually a Sondheim (thank goodness he wrote so many! It will be decades before we run out), and then several non-musical plays.

LVLT also hosts the Fringe Fest, at least they did last year, and I think that's a regular thing. Fringe is worth checking out. They're usually short pieces, a bit edgy one way or another, and while I don't like them all, some are really good. It's a place for experiment, which is always exciting.

Oh, and ticket are reasonable. A single ticket is only $25, so really very affordable. Season tickets are even less. Come...

The show was marvelous musical theatre, a radio show from 1942. There were actors on the stage as we were seated. The chairs are narrow making it difficult to slip my electric wheelchair between two as one was removed for me. Eventually I was settled and the lights were dimmed and the show went on. The acting, singing, dancing cast were marvelous. I am a child of the early forties so the songs were familiar and I sang (quietly) along. If you are reading this the weekend of December 17th. I recommend you get a ticket before they sell out. Note: there is no indication on the website that this show plays for 90 minutes with no intermission. Also calls and emails are answered only at very specific times. I recommend that they put the length of the show on the website so someone like me who relies on prearranged transportation by paratransit buses isn't left guessing what time to arrange the return trip. All in all a wonderful show and definitely worth the extra money I added at the end. If you love theater as I (originally a New Yorker) do, the price is right and rhe actors are talented and very professional; go and have...