One year of nakedness

By April Corbin

Tuesday, June 29, 2010 | 2:50 p.m.

If it seems a bit unusual that an actor would try to throw his audition, you’re right. Then again, Naked Boys Singing isn’t your typical show, so it’s not too surprising that cast member Jeffrey Johns didn’t really want to score the part his manager had signed him up to audition for.

“He thought my image was too squeaky clean, and this would help it. I wasn’t sure about the show. So, I did the audition like Shirley Temple might,” says the boyishly good-looking Johns.

Somehow the shtick — or maybe his shtick — worked. Johns was cast in an LA run of Naked Boys Singing. Eventually, Johns came to Vegas and joined Michael Morse’s production inside Onyx Theatre, which celebrated its one-year anniversary last week.

“After the initial nerves, I realized this is a great show,” Johns says.

Fellow naked boy Allen Merritt agrees. “We always say nudity gets people through the door; the show gets them to stay.”

The seven-member cast includes four original local cast members of varying heights, race and girths. The boys agreed that the anxiety of performing nude goes away quickly, especially when you have to focus on singing and performing. After a full year, Mark White says nudity has become a non-issue.

“I went out to give a birthday card to our pianist the other day,” jokes original Vegas cast member Mark White. “I guess I probably should have put a towel on, but I just forgot.”

Morse originally brought Naked Boys Singing, which is in its 12th year as an off-Broadway hit in New York City, to Vegas for a six-week run, but since has continued to extend the show. Longevity was a goal from the beginning, he says. “We built these props to last,” Morse says. “If those guys in New York can do it, so can we.”

When ticket sales dipped late last year, threatening to force the show to shut down, Morse says he threw money into advertising the production. “It’s amazing what money can do,” he jokes.

The 96-seat showroom now typically fills 30 to 50 percent each performance, which means it isn’t losing money. Women’s birthday, bachelorette and even divorce parties make up a solid chuck of their demographic — and hints at why people like Morse feel the show is an important addition to Vegas’ already eclectic entertainment offerings.

“Just being an all-nude male revue, that carries some weight,” he says. Such shows are few and far between in Vegas. “Plus, we are a theater in the back of a fetish shop. It’s just fitting.”