9/6/2017
Performances and Artists
For folk music legend Judy Collins, the nationally beloved song “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills & Nash represents more than just an iconic melody. It’s singer Stephen Stills’ personal ode to her, a vestige of their brief and fiery romance decades ago. The two couldn’t have known when they first met decades ago that their lives and music would remain permanently intertwined.
8/15/2017
Performances and Artists
Lily Tomlin can sum up the comedy industry for women when she started out. Her female costar performed “hilariously funny” slapstick routines, she says — but only in their dressing room. “That was the credo back then," says Tomlin. "To be a woman and do comedy, you had to be homely or overweight, or ditzy or a screwball. Something had to be wrong with you.”
4/12/2017
Broadway Las Vegas /
Performances and Artists
“After we play the exit music, invariably 100 people hang out for the entire play-out,” says Jamie Johns, maestro for the show’s national tour. “They have huge smiles on their faces and they’re staring into the pit, wanting to see how it’s done and ask us questions.” He isn’t surprised. The music of “Phantom” has driven the show’s popularity for nearly 30 years.
3/15/2017
Broadway Las Vegas /
Performances and Artists
Adapting a beloved film for the stage can be deceptively challenging — especially if it’s a classic movie like “An American in Paris” starring Hollywood icon Gene Kelly with timeless songs by Ira and George Gershwin. The creative team for this Broadway show knew the stage version must shine on its own terms.
2/4/2017
Performances and Artists
It’s 5 a.m., and time for a 5k run, back and forth along a steep incline. Next comes preparing a meal from scratch. Beyond that stretches a long day packed with training regimens. Just the start of another day for those in training to join the Taiko drumming group Kodo. Says spokesperson Yui Kawamoto, “All the performers go through this basic training.”
11/1/2016
Performances and Artists
In just a matter of months, Michael O’Dwyer has gone from being a college student in Ireland to a starring member of an international concert tour.
8/28/2016
Performances and Artists /
Broadway Las Vegas
Adapting stage productions from novels and films has proved daunting for many a pressured writer. Compiling a Broadway musical from an iconic artist’s life and full body of work, however, is an entirely different beast.
7/5/2016
Performances and Artists /
Broadway Las Vegas
Jen Perry, locally known for starring in Mamma Mia! at Mandalay Bay and performing in Kinky Boots on Broadway, will return to her Las Vegas roots in IDAHO! The Comedy Musical.
6/30/2016
Performances and Artists
IDAHO! The Comedy Musical, a Smith Center production in Reynolds Hall July 6-17, is written by Buddy Sheffield with music by Buddy Sheffield and local Las Vegan Keith Thompson. But, there’s another local involved in this hilarious takeoff on Broadway musicals: Andy Walmsley, the set designer.
6/16/2016
Performances and Artists /
Broadway Las Vegas
This unique musical feast, written by Buddy Sheffield with music by Buddy Sheffield and local favorite Keith Thompson, is produced by The Smith Center.