Collection of ‘Le Reve’ performers tries to complete unfinished dreams

Jerry Fink

Tuesday, March 28, 2006 | 6:48 a.m.

When: 8 p.m. beginning April 13, Thursdays and Fridays, through April 28; additional late-night performances at 1 a.m. Friday, April 21, and Friday, April 28

Where: Las Vegas Little Theater, inside the Fischer BlackBox, at 3920 Schiff Drive, near Valley View Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road

Tickets: $15

Information: 255-2771

Being part of one of Las Vegas' most thrilling productions isn't enough for some.

Four cast members of "Le Reve," Franco Dragone's water-based spectacle at Wynn Las Vegas, have formed a theater company in their spare time and are hard at work on their first production - Kenneth Lonergan's "This Is Our Youth."

"We wanted to do a typical talking play rather than a spectacle," said Jim Slonina, who plays a clown in a white tuxedo in "Le Reve." "Having a narrative we can sink our teeth into - it's something none of us have done for quite a few years."

Appearing in a play is exciting, perhaps even more exciting for the actors than performing in the $110 million "Le Reve" ($35 million for the play; $75 million for the theater).

"Ironically enough, it's funny to call a spectacle boring," said Slonina, co-founder and managing director of the New American Theatre Project. "But after doing the same thing over and over, night after night ..."

Others involved in the project include co-founder Wayne Wilson, who initially played the role of The Dreamer in "Le Reve" but now is in another role, and Carmen Tausend, one of the many aquatic performers.

Gregg Curtis, who plays the evil gray-winged Spencer in "Le Reve," is directing the play. (Curtis also is the director of the Los Angeles-based aerial troupe AiRealistic.)

The troupe selected "This Is Our Youth" because it is by an

Our Youth" because it is by an established playwright, is not avante-garde and has a small cast.

"It's a great character-driven show," Slonina said. "It brings up a lot of really great issues - challenging material for us to grab onto.

"There are a lot of emotional highs and lows as all of the characters go through a rite of passage."

Written and first performed off-Broadway in 1996, the play is set in the upper west side of New York City in 1982. The play centers on three young adults - one who stole $15,000 from his abusive rich father, another who is a drug dealer and a third who is a student at a fashion school.

Although Slonina says he loves "Le Reve," he was looking for a way to make Las Vegas a little more exciting, if that's possible, and so he naturally turned to his first love - theater.

"We're really trying to create some sort of theater movement here," Slonina said. "The stepping off point is this show.

"We'll see how this goes, and then possibly in the future we can tackle stuff that is more challenging."

Slonina has an extensive theater background. The Chicago native has a degree in fine arts from the University of Illinois, where he studied theater, and he spent more than 10 years with a not-for-profit theater group in his hometown.

While Slonina hopes the general public will attend the performances, they may have built-in audiences from the casts of the various Cirque du Soleil and other productions around town.

Wilson said he's "more nervous about the play than 'Le Reve.' "

He compared his role in the gargantuan production at Wynn and the upcoming play.

" 'Le Reve' is such a big show," said Wilson, a native of Houston who received training in classic theater at the noted Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. "It's like a big puzzle, and I am but one small piece of that puzzle."

The play, on the other hand, deals in reality.

"It gets back to the roots of relationships, of language and the power of the story," he said. "It's about pain, love, friendship - it's real. The script is so real."

It was Wilson's idea to put on the play.

"I was tired of just the repetition of 'Le Reve,' working the big machine every night," he said.

Wilson hopes the play will lead to something more.

"We want to show we can do something contemporary and real, not just avant-garde theatre," he said. "We want to show we can do something of substance, shows by playwrights such as (Arthur) Miller and Tennessee Williams."

Once they have established their credibility, he says, then perhaps they can expand their repertoire to include plays from the Theatre of the Absurd, producing works by such writers as Eugene Ionesco and Samuel Beckett.

But for now, Wilson will take one play at a time.

"I'm really curious to see what happens," he said. "I want to see how people respond."

The theater company will premiere the three-person play at 8 p.m. April 13 at Las Vegas Little Theatre, 3920 Schiff Drive, near Valley View Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road.

Performances will be Thursdays and Fridays through April 28, coinciding with dark days for "Le Reve."

The play will also be presented at 1 a.m. April 21, and April 28, so people in the entertainment industry who work late will have an opportunity to see the performance.

The late night schedule is nothing new for the four - most of their rehearsing takes place between 1 a.m. and 3 a.m. on Sundays and Tuesdays, after the 10:30 p.m. performance of "Le Reve."

"We're night owls anyway," Slonina said.