Town Hall: Theater the hub of entertainment in stately Boulder City

Thursday, June 3, 2004 | 8:51 a.m.

Desi Arnaz Jr. has found his Brigadoon, the mythical Scottish village in a 1947 Broadway musical. The enchanted village disappears, but returns every 100 years, unchanged.

"We have this kind of jewel -- Boulder City," said the 51-year-old Arnaz, son of one of the world's most celebrated couples, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. "In my mind it's Brigadoon, or a 'Lost Horizon.'

"Hopefully, it will last."

Boulder City was created to accommodate construction workers who built Hoover Dam from 1930 to '36. Even though the town sits on the outskirts of the nation's fastest-growing metropolitan area, it remains small with a population of less than 15,000.

Folks like it that way. They like it so much that in 1979 they adopted a controlled growth ordinance.

Casinos aren't allowed. You won't find topless dancing.

"We want it to stay as a pristine town caught in a time warp," Arnaz, who came to Boulder City in 1978, said, adding, "sort of like an Ojai (Calif.) or Santa Fe (New Mexico), with good restaurants and golf courses."

And entertainment.

"We would like for Boulder City to be more cultural, more artistic in the performing arts," Arnaz said.

Being so close to the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's difficult to compete.

There aren't a lot of venues -- a couple of restaurants offer live background music. The Boulder Dam Hotel has a lounge. The Boulder City High School auditorium puts on a variety of productions. The library has an amphitheater. The parks department holds outdoor concerts.

But the only marquee in town is at the historic, 73-year-old Boulder Theatre, which Arnaz, and his wife, Amy, bought in 1999.

Originally, the couple were going to use it solely as a place for Amy's ballet students to rehearse and perform. The former ballerina has been teaching dancing in Southern Nevada for 25 years. She currently has 500 students enrolled in her Boulder City Ballet Company.

"Our first love is working with children," Arnaz said. "The other love is music.

"There is nothing like this close to Vegas. It's a small town, but my technicians, sound and lighting men, are extraordinary. They have worked on shows at the MGM Grand Garden, but they love working here in Boulder City. They like the notion of working here."

Until the Arnazes bought the building, ballet productions were performed in the high school auditorium, which lacked a sophisticated lighting and sound system.

Or in the park in the open air, subjected to the whims of nature.

They figured performing in an air-conditioned theater, out of the wind and the heat, would be better.

"We were renting everything for the outdoor shows -- the bleachers, the generators," Arnaz said.

He decided it would be more economical to own a theater and all of the equipment rather than rent.

The theater was for sale for 10 years. It no longer ran movies, having been driven out of the marketplace by huge movie houses with numerous screens.

The Arnazes bought it and spent three years remodeling.

"There was no stage, no trusses, no air conditioning, no heating," Arnaz said.

His first order of business was to bring the building up to code and then install eight central air-conditioning units, a stage and other necessities.

The interior was remodeled to look old. Some of the antique furniture in the lobby once belonged to his mother.

Now that the theater is up and running and providing a venue for dance classes and ballet productions, Arnaz is looking at expanding its usefulness.

He would like to bring in concerts four or five times a year to complement the ballet shows throughout the year and the annual "Chautauqua," performed at the theater each fall.

Two weeks ago Arnaz's ex-wife, Linda Purl, performed a successful concert of jazz and Broadway tunes at the theater. He and Purl were married for a couple of years in the early '80s and have remained friends.

Though Purl is an award-winning actress, she also is an accomplished singer with a wide vocal range. She is the type of performer Arnaz would like to bring to his theater for concerts four or five times a year.

"The whole point of Linda's show, and whoever else might perform, is to provide a platform to showcase a new show," Arnaz said.

But at the same time, gear the show toward the town. It isn't likely you will find a Cirque du Soleil production at the theater.

"I don't necessarily want to make it anything else," Arnaz said. "Linda's show is classy and elegant, with substantial music. It could work in Vegas -- her music is very high end. It isn't crass or anything. We are looking to do certain things like that -- with the quality I would like seen done in the entertainment industry in general."

Purl's concert was videotaped and recorded for a live CD, which will probably be the case for future concerts by other performers.

"The theater is a place where we can now do that with our own equipment," Arnaz said. "This can be a huge platform to put on a first-class live show that can be recorded."

Arnaz has a rich source of performers to draw from -- friends from a lifetime in the business.

"This would be a good venue for Jack Jones, Bobby Rydell, the Monkees," Arnaz said. "These are people who can come here a couple of nights and do well. It's a place where entertainers from Vegas can mount a new show."

Arnaz could be doing what he is doing on a much grander scale, somewhere in a major international city instead of a village near a lake.

"But I would not have the same amount of freedom," he said. "I have worked for ABC, NBC, CBS. I have done everything imaginable. I've seen the world. I know what I want to do, and what I want to do is worthwhile, valuable projects."

Boulder City is 20 to 40 minutes from Las Vegas, a short trip to see quality entertainment.

"This not just about the theater," Arnaz said. "We love the town. No one appreciates Boulder City.

"As the community grows, I want to promote it, but also to preserve it."

Three live music shows have been done at the theater, including one featuring Arnaz, Ricci Martin (Dean's son) and Billy Hinsche.

"We are just getting on our feet," Arnaz said. "We use the theater a lot for ballet rehearsals. This is all just starting -- we are doing it one step at a time."