Editorial: Curtain call long overdue

Thursday, Oct. 6, 2005 | 8:20 a.m.

While Las Vegas Strip headliners lure tourists willing to pay $100-plus for a single show ticket, UNLV's collection of theaters and concert halls have quietly and consistently provided residents with high-quality, affordable performances.

But as Las Vegas and its arts scene grow, increasing demand for performance space has left UNLV's Artemus Ham Hall, Judy Bayley Theatre and Black Box Theatre with little wiggle room when it comes to scheduling. Larry Henley, director of artistic programming for UNLV's performing arts facilities, told the Las Vegas Sun that Ham Hall typically is booked solid with shows that have included performances by internationally acclaimed artists Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma and the Vienna Boys Choir.

Ham Hall does well with European orchestra and ballet performances, but it primarily is set up as a concert hall, making it difficult to add large-scale Broadway shows or opera even if the dates were available.

These are reasons Henley and others charged with booking UNLV's arts lineup are among those who support the idea of a new performing arts center downtown. Such a center, which could have multiple halls of different sizes, is one of the proposed components of the Union Park development that is to be built on 61 acres of city-owned land that was formerly owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada Ballet Theatre, which currently perform at Ham Hall, hope to set up shop in the new center.

Those new to the performing arts may be more likely to travel to a free-standing center situated in an urban, centralized location than one perched among buildings on a college campus. And freeing up UNLV from some of its community performance obligations would help make room for the types of productions and performing arts training only a university setting can offer.

Las Vegas is growing rapidly, and newcomers are going to expect -- and support -- the kinds of performing arts that were available to them in other major metropolitan areas. UNLV has served its community well by giving the space and expertise needed to create a strong performing arts foundation. It is time for the city that calls itself the Entertainment Capital of the World to step in and build a facility that can help carry some of the load.