Las Vegas Spotlight  

A Cher Thing

Do you believe in life after love? Cher does, and starting May 6, she's going to be singing about it at the Coloseum at Caesar's Palace. The singer, actress, and icon has been in show business for over 40 years (though she doesn't look it), and she's sure to put on a spectacle worthy of Vegas. Her present engagement goes through the beginning of June, and then she resumes again mid-August.

Nevada Conservatory Theatre raises Doubt (May 2-11) at the Judy Bayley Theatre. The Pulitzer Prize-winning play by John Patrick Shanley, subtitled "a parable," is set in a Bronx parochial school in the 1960s. Ostensibly, Shanley's masterful 90-minute drama examines sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, but more deeply the play is a study of suspicion and doubt.

If you're looking to get merry in May, check out the improv trio The Usual Suspects, performing for two nights only (May 2 & 16) at the College of Southern Nevada's BackStage Theatre. The three-man troupe -- Finley Bolton, Jeff Granstrom, and Rick Ginn -- perform an all-original show each night, doing improvised comedy based on the audience's suggestions. For a more regular laugh fix, there's The Shecky Eichman Show over at the Onyx Theatre every Friday night. The Tel Aviv-based comedian presents an irreverent blend of talk show, comedy, and experimental theater.

Due to popular demand, Cannibal! the Musical (May 16-June 7) is coming back for seconds. Directed by John Beane and produced by the Insurgo Theater Movement (recently dubbed Best Artistic Risk-Takers 2008 by City Life), Cannibal! is South Park co-creator Trey Parker's darkly funny take on the true story of convicted cannibal Alfred Packer.

It may be too early for your summer holiday, but you've still got a few more chances to go on Betty's Summer Vacation, playing through May 3 at the Onyx Theatre. This twisted Obie-winning Christopher Durang play, produced by Off-Strip Productions, offers a satirical look at sex, death, and celebrity.

Finally, they won't be looking at the bright side of life for long over at the Wynn. It has recently been announced that Monty Python's Spamalot will be closing on July 13. Spamalot and Las Vegas had seemed like a perfect match of show and city, but the curse on Broadway-to-Vegas transfers persists. Now Phantom, Mamma Mia!, and the newly-opened Jersey Boys stand alone.

 

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