Friday, Feb. 6, 2004 | 8:36 a.m.
Timing is everything.
In this case, the timing couldn't have been more perfect.
Last spring when the Nevada Conservatory Theatre decided which plays to produce for the 2003-2004 season, it included on the list Julian Barry's "Lenny."
The play, which debuted on Broadway in 1971, is based on the life of legendary comedian Lenny Bruce, whose use of vulgar language and controversial topics onstage paved the way for comics such as George Carlin (whose material is smart) and Andrew Dice Clay (whose material is not).
Two years before Bruce's death in 1966 of a drug overdose, he was convicted of obscenity charges in New York.
In December, almost 40 years after the conviction, New York Gov. George Pataki pardoned Bruce, once again thrusting the comic into the national headlines.
Whether the publicity will translate into larger audiences when the play comes to the Judy Bayley Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas remains to be seen.
But it can't hurt.
"It's a very interesting coincidence," said Jeff Koep. "We hadn't planned it that way."
Koep, dean of the UNLV College of Fine Arts, is directing the play for the Nevada Conservatory Theatre.
"I'm not sure if the Broadway production of '71 will speak to an audience in 2004," Koep said.
Bruce began his career in the late '40s by doing impressions, one-liners and movie parodies in small nightclubs.
Gradually, he began to focus on social issues, attacking racism and religion and other topics, and filled his monologues with vulgar language.
In 1961 he was arrested on obscenity charges in San Francisco, but he was found not guilty. But the arrest had a chilling effect on his career. Fearful of being shut down or arrested, club owners were reluctant to book Bruce.
By the time of his death in Hollywood, Calif., at the age of 40, Bruce's standup comedy had lost much of its humor as he focused on the issue of freedom of speech. Pataki said he signed the pardon as "a declaration of New York's commitment to upholding the First Amendment."
"Bruce was not the world's greatest comedian," Koep said. "But his social commentary was interesting."
In the early '60s Time magazine labeled Bruce a "sick comic."
One of the monologues in the play, Koep notes, is Bruce's reaction to the label.
Bruce asked, "What is the healthy comic? One who doesn't hurt or touch anyone unless the person is fat, bald or divorced? They are looking at physical maladies ... is it healthy to make fun of people?"
Koep described Bruce as more of a commentator than comedian.
"It will be interesting to see the audience's reaction," he said.
Attitudes have changed in the past 40 years, Koep noted. What was shocking during Bruce's prime is not so troublesome today.
"This is a museum piece, in a certain sense," Koep said.
However, he says it is still relevant because it provokes discussion about the First Amendment and social issues.
"What is good theater, but a catalyst for thought?" Koep said.
He said censorship, a focus of the play, is an uncomfortable issue, even today.
Koep says a roomful of students will raise their hands when asked if they oppose censorship.
"Then you cite some examples of art and they become uncomfortable," he said.
Koep is not a big fan of Bruce.
"He's not someone I want my children to emulate because of his personal choices," he said.
The original play remains intact. No revisions to the 1971 original were ordered.
"There was no censorship by UNLV," Koep said. "The university system says censorship is not tolerated. We're not showing stag films. This is a genuine piece of art. It wasn't chosen purely for the subject matter that would offend."
The play includes a nude scene.
"It's not thrown out there to cause shock," Koep said. "It was written in the play."
Also, drugs play a prominent part of the story.
"You can't ignore what Lenny's life was," Koep said. "He married a stripper. He was into drugs. He died from a drug overdose -- that's where the play ends. His drug use is mentioned throughout. Lenny spent a lot of time getting high."
The play dramatizes the deterioration of one of the most controversial figures of the '50s and '60s.
"By the end, the man is literally broken down," Koep said. "No one wants to go to a nightclub and watch him read the transcript of his court trial.
"That's what happened. He became obsessed."
New York Equity actor Josh Kleinmuntz won the part of Bruce in the production at UNLV, a role portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in the Oscar-nominated 1974 film "Lenny."
The Nevada Conservatory Theatre sometimes hires professional actors to give students the chance to work with them as part of their education.
Kleinmuntz, who is making his first appearance in Las Vegas, has been seen in the television series "Law and Order" and has appeared in the films "Round Numbers" and "Wanda's Visit," and in the upcoming films "Memorial Day" and "Remote."
Michaela Goodman portrays Bruce's wife, Rusty.
The 40-year-old Kleinmuntz says he didn't know much about Bruce before being hired to portray him.
"I knew nothing about him other than the movie with Dustin Hoffman and some vague notions," Kleinmuntz said. "I knew what an incredible person he was, and also what an incredible role it is."
Kleinmuntz said he learned very quickly that he wasn't prepared for the part when he was hired.
"I did not have an understanding of Lenny Bruce," he said. "So I turned to every possible source I could imagine to find out about his life. I read three biographies and saw every video trying to piece together who the person was."
Kleinmuntz said Bruce was an extremely complex person.
"The more I read the more he fascinated me," he said. "There were so many layers to the man."
Kleinmuntz says Bruce wasn't hilariously funny.
"But he was quite brilliant in his thinking," he said. "He was tagged a dirty comic but he used profanity as a way of attempting to reach people.
"They say his language shocked, and it did, but it was used as a way of shocking people into an openness so they could hear a deeper message."
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