Celebrities

Strip performers team up for Town Square production that proves the [show] must go on

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Greg Kata, Robert Jarrett, Kristen Hertzenberg and Sarah Lowe star in [title of show].
Photo: Jason Skinner

The Details

[TITLE OF SHOW]
February 22 & 25, 8 p.m.; February 23, 1 p.m.; $30-$40.
Baobab Stage, Town Square, 369-6649.

What do the stars of some of Las Vegas’ biggest shows do when they’re not onstage? They find another one. This weekend, performers from the Las Vegas productions of Jersey Boys, Phantom - The Las Vegas Spectacular and Mamma Mia! will perform at Town Square’s Baobab Stage in the Tony-nominated musical [title of show].

The playfully titled production takes a comedic, meta look at the world of theater, telling the story of two no-name performers writing an original musical in New York—and the subsequent ups and downs they face when the show becomes a success.

“The material really spoke to us,” says Jersey Boys’ Sarah Lowe, who stars as one of the fictional play’s actors. “The two leads, Greg [Kata] and Robert [Jarrett, both formerly of Mamma Mia!], are so much those characters, it makes so much sense for them to be playing those parts. It’s a great show to do—super funny, super clever and easy to produce.”

A far cry from the elaborate costumes and million-dollar budgets of their Strip shows, [title of show] features few costume changes, four actors and a basic chairs-and-piano set, allowing the cast to put the 90-minute show together in just three weeks of intense rehearsals.

That’s not to say the show isn’t of comparable quality. The Baobab Stage was opened in November by Cirque du Soleil star Wassa Coulibaly to support the creative projects of local performers, and its production of [title of show] will mark the first all Actors’ Equity union-backed theater piece to be performed off of the Strip.

"We need more theaters like this to showcase local talent. There’s a lot of shows that people want to put up, and if you make that accessible you’ll get more performances out of the local talent,” Lowe says. “There are a lot of talented people here who were in shows that have closed who live here now, and there’s really no outlet for them to perform...we hope this helps set a precedent.”

Follow Andrea Domanick on Twitter at @AndreaDomanick and fan her on Facebook at Facebook.com/AndreaDomanick.

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