Little Theatre to kick off season with new salute

Community venue to open by celebrating American playwrights

Las Vegas Little Theatre began a new season on Sept. 14, with the opening of "The Hot L Baltimore," the first in a series of salutes to American playwrights that will kick off the theater's 30th anniversary season.

The theater is one of the oldest community-based troupes in town. Started by Jack Bell and Jack Nicholson (not of Hollywood fame) in 1977, the theater has grown from a small storefront on Las Vegas Boulevard to a vast production playhouse with a critically acclaimed cast stationed in Spring Valley.

"We've come a long way," said Board of Directors President Walter Niejadlik. "Even so, we're using our 30th anniversary as an opportunity to expand our community influence, offer new classes and continue to produce great plays."

Along with the theater's regular six-show season, the recently opened Black Box Theatre -- housed in the smaller of the two buildings owned by the Las Vegas Little Theatre -- will produce a series of four shows created to appeal to a younger audience, with edgy, avant-garde content.

"We are also continuing to offer our ACT, Acting for Children and Teens, classes this season," Niejadlik said.

"We're working on productions with an all-children's cast. So, it will be plays by children, for children, which is very neat."

Southwest Las Vegas resident Nick Clark has been interested in acting all of his life, but never found the courage to get on stage.

Now, his 13-year-old daughter Andrea has expressed an interest in acting, and he hopes to enroll her in ACT.

"It's a place to start," Clark said. "That's the great thing about community theater, it's for everyone."

Another form of celebration is remembrance. A new edition to Las Vegas Little Theatre's lobby this season will be a display of pictures, posters and promotions from shows over the last three decades.

"Those who have been fans for a while will really appreciate the ambience created by these artifacts," Niejadlik said. "We want to remind all of our patrons that everyone involved with Little Theatre, from the cast to the crew, is a volunteer.

Until this year, there was never a paid employee ... we now have one because of a need for it. But, all save one are here based solely on their love for the theater."

In a fundraising effort slated to last all season, theatergoers will have the opportunity to help their favorite actor win Actor Idol, a competition designed to allow the public to vote for their favorite artist.

"In the lobby, there will be pictures of each cast member with a voting box beneath it," Niejadlik said. "To vote for your favorite, you place a donation in the voting box and the actor with the most at the end of the night will be awarded a bottle of champagne."

Proceeds from the evening's ticket sales and Actor Idol donations are recycled into the theater.

"We put everything back into our productions, 100 percent," Niejadlik said.

In an attempt to encourage more members of the community to become involved in the theater, classes will be offered sporadically throughout the season, including the workshop Working in Theatre, to feature a question-and-answer session with actors from shows on the Strip.

"We plan to have seminars for playwrights and aspiring actors, so that they know how to become involved if they have an interest," Niejadlik said.

"After all, actors who work in community theater are not amateur; most are extremely talented and many here have won awards. It's just not what they do to make a living."

To find out more about the Las Vegas Little Theatre or to purchase tickets for upcoming productions, visit www.lvlt.org.