Beth Stafford Laird performs as Bobbie in Stephen Sondheim’s “Company” during a preview night for Broadway shows that will play during The Smith Center for the Performing Arts’ 2024-2025 season, downtown, Monday, Feb. 26, 2024.
Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 | 2 a.m.
Myron Martin was a senior in high school when he first saw the Broadway production of “The Wiz,” a musical retelling of L. Frank Baum’s children’s novel “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” that is infused with Black culture.
It was one of the shows that made him fall in love with Broadway, and he said he would “never forget it.” That’s why Martin, president and CEO of the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Las Vegas, says he is excited to be bringing “The Wiz” and more to the venue starting in July.
Where the Smith Center was once begging producers to bring their shows to the downtown theater, over 10 years later, the venue has become a “key” stop for award-winning productions — some of which are touring nationally for the first time, Martin said.
“We’ve had a great Broadway season year after year,” Martin said. “(The Smith Center) is a beautiful building, and we take such good care of the artists when they are in our care here at the Smith Center, so all those things together means that year after year, the offerings that we are able to bring to the community get bigger and better.”
The Smith Center will be showing 10 Broadway musicals this year as part of its 2024-2025 Toyota Broadway Las Vegas Series, kicking off with “Mrs. Doubtfire” — based on the 1993 Robin Williams film — July 30-Aug. 4. The lineup was revealed this week.
Two of the upcoming series productions — “Hamilton” and “Shrek the Musical” — are returners from previous seasons, said Martin. The other eight will be visiting the Smith Center for the first time in its 12-year history.
Paul Beard, who stepped down as vice president and COO of the Smith Center in 2020, has been a consultant for the past four years and helped bring many of these shows to the theater.
Martin said he had seen all of the eight new productions and was “really excited to share with (their) guests, patrons, friends and neighbors.”
The Broadway series continues with “Company” from Aug. 20 to Aug. 25. “Company” is a five-time Tony Award-winning revived musical comedy led by director Marianne Elliott with production from composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim as well as playwright George Furth.
“Company” follows the unmarried Bobbie — a genderbent version of the original leading man, Robert — and her group of married friends who “bombard her with their love and support and also unsolicited advice,” said performer Beth Stafford Laird, the current understudy for Bobbie.
Stafford Laird says the show takes viewers through Bobbie’s journey to discover what marriage means to her, what she wants out of it and whether she even wants to commit.
At the Smith Center on Monday night, fans were offered a taste of what “Company” has to offer during the theater’s Broadway series announcement. Dressed in a plum jumpsuit, Stafford Laird stood under a single spotlight on stage belting out lyrics to “Being Alive,” the final song of “Company” sung by the lead. It was the first time Stafford Laird had been back to Las Vegas in about 10 years.
While the neighborhood has changed significantly in the past decade, Stafford Laird said the beauty of the Smith Center has remained the same. She especially appreciates the Smith Center’s “regal-looking” interior and Las Vegas’ “really strong” music scene, which only makes her more excited for “Company” to be performed in August.
“I think it’s gonna be a really great season,” Stafford Laird said. “I think a lot of people who like musicals might not have heard of “Company,” and they should definitely come check it out because I think it’s funny, it’s touching, it asks some hard questions (and) the music is gorgeous.”
After “Company” comes a slate of other well-known performances, including “The Cher Show” Sept. 17-Sept. 22; “Back to the Future: The Musical” Oct. 23-Nov. 3; and “Shrek the Musical” from Nov. 26 to Dec. 1.
The series returns in 2025 starting Feb. 4-9 with “Kimberly Akimbo”; “The Wiz” April 1-6; fan-favorite “Hamilton” May 20-June 1; “Parade” June 10-15; and finishing with “& Juliet” June 24-29.
Martin said the Smith Center was trying to keep ticket prices as affordable as possible for the local crowd, especially because at the heart of the theater’s purpose is to educate and inspire children.
“The Smith Center story is a very broad and very deep story about community building,” Martin said. “It’s about reshaping downtowns and how people think of coming to the inner core of a city, and it’s about not only inspiring but entertaining those of us who live here.”
Ticket information can be found online.
