Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Small theater troupe has big goals, little support

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For more information about Theatre in the Valley, contact [email protected].

It's a plot fit for the stage: The little theater company wanders homeless in the valley. Rents are high. The economy is dismal. And there are few people to give it a boost.

It is a plot being lived by Theatre in the Valley, a Henderson-based theater group that most recently performed "A Christmas Carol" during WinterFest.

"Unfortunately our valley has not traditionally supported the performing arts, or the arts in general, as it should," director Theron LaFountain said. He sees a performing arts center as essential to providing a sense of community.

The actors and organizers dream of a theater in the Water Street District, Megan Riggs, the group's board president, said. She would like it to have art gallery space and riser seating for 80. But that could require rent assistance from the city in a tight budget year.

It's not out of the question, said Andrea Primo, director of the Henderson Department of Cultural Arts and Tourism. But the city will not be building a theater anytime soon. The $14 million Henderson Convention Center remodel was indefinitely postponed in the fall because of the economy, she said.

"The city is dedicated to supporting the arts," Primo said. "We did restructure our relationship with the Theatre in the Valley. We do pay for their performances, which historically we have not done."

Since its genesis in 1993, the Henderson theater company has performed in borrowed spaces. All have been temporary or not ideal for performance, company officials said. The group was moved from the Valley View Recreational Center more than a year ago to make room for children's programs.

The performance of "A Christmas Carol" was staged on a cold December night at the outdoor Henderson Events Plaza Amphitheater. Although the group was happy for the opportunity, the amphitheater can't always be a performance space, the director said.

"That's not conducive in the dead of winter, or in the middle of summer when it's hot out," said LaFountain, who is also a Henderson Cultural Arts and Tourism commissioner. "You're only getting great use (from the amphitheater) in the fall or spring. So for six months."

LaFountain, who joined the group this year, would like to see more regular productions and daily theater classes in the company's future. In years when it had the recreation center for performances and practices, it has averaged about four shows a year.

"One thing we've always lacked is the big donors," Lois Brown, company treasurer, said.

That may have to do with the competition for funding from other local civic and arts groups, Brown said. Theatre in the Valley is all volunteer and donations have to cover royalty fees, rehearsal space, costumes and sets.

And even with a theater, life doesn't get easier, said John Beane, artistic director of Insurgo Theater Movement in Las Vegas. It performs out of the Onyx Theatre at 953 E. Sahara Ave. Overhead, staffing and startup costs result in little payoff in the first few years. But it's home, he said.

"There's something about the walls — getting in and writhing under lights you've hung, knowing every layer of paint," he said in an e-mail message. "After all those deaths and victories and loves and all of it, after a while the space gets an energy to it. But just like having a great actor, having a venue as opposed to renting is no guarantee of anything as far as the success of the show is concerned."

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