Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006 | 8:09 a.m.
Fabulous Las Vegas runs Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Las Vegas Sun. Reach John Katsilometes at [email protected] or at (702) 259-2327 or (702) 812-9812.
The cast of "Hairspray" is giving it the old college try ... or trying it out at college.
For most of this month rehearsals for the musical, which is set to open for previews on Feb. 6 at the Luxor, are being held at UNLV. Pounding the floor at the dance studio at the Artemus Ham Fine Arts Building on Wednesday afternoon were choreographer Jerry Mitchell and much of the musical's Las Vegas cast.
The troupe, which includes Susan Anton (playing the role of Velma Von Tussel) and former "Days of Our Lives" cast member Kevin Spirtas (the irascible Dr. Craig Wesley on "Days;" dance show host Corny Collins in the musical) will be using UNLV facilities through Jan. 22.
The production has also taken over Black Box Theatre at the UNLV Fine Arts Center. It moves to the Luxor on Jan. 23 for two weeks prior to the opening.
Not yet in town are stars Harvey Fierstein (Edna Turnblad) and Dick Latessa (Wilbur Turnblad). Fierstein is currently performing in "Fiddler on the Roof" in New York; Latessa is vacationing in Egypt. They will be in town by Jan. 24, in time to formally meet Las Vegas media at the Luxor.
Mitchell and producer Jack O'Brien are conducting the rehearsals at UNLV. They said the show will include elements tailored to Las Vegas -- at least one new number, expanded sets to utilize the larger-than-average Luxor space, and a number that "assaults" (O'Brien's term) the audience with lights.
"It's a big Vegas-style finale, with the entire orchestra onstage and the lights going into the house," O'Brien said. "We want energy washed over the house."
Being allowed into UNLV is rare, said stage manager Tom Bartlett. Rehearsals will continue as students return from break.
"We're usually in a professional rental studio," Bartlett said. "What an opportunity this is. When students come back they can see rehearsals in Black Box Theatre ... I have never done this in a college."
NoteMart
Dusted?: Left wondering about his future in the wake of Boyd Gaming Corp.'s announcement that it will close late this year so it can be replaced by the $4 billion Echelon Place is 34-year Stardust employee John Castrovillari, a bell captain who has been with the hotel since January 1972.
Castrovillari, who returns from medical leave next month after recovering from a heart procedure, said he hopes the Stardust remains open until the end of the year so he can return to work for at least a few months.
After that? "After that, I'll be 76," he said. "There is a lot of stress, a lot of pressure, with this job." ...
Rolling along: Remember Francis Murphy and Margaret Nixon? They were the couple married Dec. 5 while purring through the Little White Wedding Chapel's drive-thru on motorized wheelchairs. Murphy, 75, and Nixon, 73, spent their first holiday together in their new home in LaFeria, Texas. She's telling friends, "We're still in the Tunnel of Love" ...
Seeking Salvation: Reaching what he calls the "panic point," Salvation Army Clark County development director and spokesman Charlie Desiderio is going straight to the top. Having "totally exhausted" local business and government options, he's meeting with representatives of Gov. Kenny Guinn on Jan. 17 to seek funding for the chapter's adult rehabilitation program.
The program houses between 125 and 130 men and women recovering from drug, alcohol and gambling addiction and is running at a deficit of $750,000 per year. Profits from Salvation Army thrift stores once funded the program, but the stores are suffering because of competition from big-box and 99-cent retailers. But the demand for the recovery program remains high and Desiderio says if money isn't provided the program will have to be pared back ...
Maybe -- depends on what "1" is: This vanity plate, spotted over the weekend on a black Volkswagen Passat, "IM1RU12" ...
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