Living Local — Checking out the 2019-2020 Las Vegas Performing-Arts Season (without the Smith Center)

This is the time of year when performing-arts organizations both large and small begin to market (i.e., publish and sell) their upcoming 2019-2020 season.

If you live in Las Vegas, it’s impossible to miss all the advertising emanating from the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, including their Broadway Series, Nevada Ballet Theatre, and Las Vegas Philharmonic. At the risk of committing heresy (especially for an arts lover living in Las Vegas), I will say that I’m not a major fan of the Smith Center or the three major presenters above; I find them over-priced.

For example, this year’s Broadway Series has three shows that I’ve seen multiple times: Book of Mormon, Wicked, and Jesus Christ Superstar (and one would have to look long and hard to find a JCS production to match the recent NBC broadcast). I may plan to catch a single ticket on one or two of the other Broadway Series shows, but seats less than $100 are located a good distance away from the stage — and I’m hard of hearing.

Las Vegas Philharmonic tickets also run over $100 for anywhere close to the stage, which is too much to catch a second-tier orchestra play an evening of iconic hits that even the casual concert goer has heard several times before. (Note: In their defense, all three Smith Center organizations do very well at the box office.)

But just because I’m not including the Smith Center in my season ticket plans doesn’t mean that I’m spending a lot of nights at home streaming. There are some excellent choices still out there.

The Las Vegas Little Theatre

The LVLT is an excellent theater company burdened by an archaic name that conjures up housewives doing Neil Simon — badly. Located in Chinatown, the LVLT chooses challenging theatre (on both their Mainstage and in their Black Box) and does them very well. I’ve never seen a production there that I didn’t enjoy. Next season’s Mainstage choices include The 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Six Degrees of Separation, Bus Stop, and one of my favorite small musicals, The Spitfire Grill. Tickets are $25 each, a flex pack of six is $126, and an entire season can be obtained for $114. There are senior/student discounts, plus I’ve seen discounted tickets on Goldstar.com.

UNLV Performing Arts Center

Before the Smith Center, the Performing Arts Center at UNLV was our town’s answer to Lincoln Center. There are two concert halls, plus a theater space, which host an international cacophony of talent with ticket prices ranging from $20 to $50. Over the next year, the Center will play host to the Russian National Ballet, Emanuel Ax, and the Miro Quartet, among others. A wide range of subscription options runs as little as $23 a ticket.

Clark County Library/City of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs

As I’ve mentioned in past posts, both the Clark County Library and the City of Las Vegas offer diverse, high-quality, economical (or free), cultural events. Every quarter, the library puts out a helpful well-organized brochure that can be picked up at a local branch or wherever they distribute free literature, such as at supermarkets. For the City of Cultural Affairs information, go to their website and sign up for their email list.

Fathom Events

World-class performing arts may be as close as the nearest movie theater. Fathom Events (an international presenter with a few local outlets, including the Regal Theatre at 9400 W. Sahara) broadcasts several events a month, including the National Theatre of London (Benedict Cumberbatch as Hamlet), the Metropolitan Opera (Il Barbiere Di Siviglia, Aida), anniversary showings of famous movies (Easy Rider, Glory) plus a variety of family-friendly shows (Whispers of the Heart). Tickets run $15-$20 and I’m sure that there are a few discount schemes available.

Of course, I’m only scratching the Las Vegas performing-arts surface, but please realize that there is a lot of good stuff out there for very little money.