Friday, Feb. 1, 2002 | 9:21 a.m.
The setting for Giuseppe Verdi's classic opera "La Traviata" is Paris in 1850. The tragic love story of Alfredo and Violetta takes place in the salons and streets of the romantic city.
As a backdrop to its own production of Verdi's opera, the Nevada Opera Theatre presents "La Traviata" tonight and Saturday at Paris Las Vegas' Le Theatre des Arts.
"The theater is very Parisian and beautiful," said Eileen Hayes, artistic and general manager for NOT. "It is perfect for what we are trying to do."
The group's 16th season opens with a move from its traditional theater at University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Artemus Ham Hall to the Strip, a move mirrored by other local cultural arts groups in the past year such as Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
Is a cultural leap from a community to a casino theater a worthwhile endeavor?
Local arts groups say yes and no.
NOT hasn't performed a full-stage opera in three years, Hayes said, because there hasn't been a proper venue available.
"The university facility doesn't have as much of a large-scale stage so we can't have a full-length production in that theater," Hayes said.
Ham Hall doesn't merit NOT's expensive productions, which often cost more than $30,000, Hayes said. The Paris Las Vegas theater does.
Paris has the ability to put on a big set, with an orchestra, Hayes said. "Having it at a different venue offers us a fresh approach."
This year NOT will pull out all the stops with its three productions at Paris Las Vegas, Hayes said, with more elaborate sets and a 40-piece orchestra onstage. Other productions to be presented will be "Gigi" June 8-9, and "Can Can" Sept. 7-8.
The Paris Las Vegas theater presents a fitting backdrop for the full range of the NOT's operas' beautiful music and emotions, said Morton Hyson, a Las Vegas local neurologist and president of NOT's board of directors.
"It's a wonderful form of expression that gives one an opportunity to express emotions that words cannot do alone," Hyson said. "The Paris theater allows for this. The Parisian theme adds flavor."
Hyson is an 11-year member of NOT and has performed for community opera groups in Detroit, Dallas and New York.
The evolution of local opera to a larger theater in a casino is appropriate, he said, considering that historically the marriage of art and casino was first accomplished in Paris more than 100 years ago.
"It's been done successfully before," Hyson said. "It makes sense."
It certainly did for the local ballet troupe.
NBT moved from its traditional venue, UNLV's 550-seat Judy Bayley Theatre, when it signed a three-year contract last year with the Rio to perform its annual holiday-season ballet, "The Nutcracker," in the Samba Theatre.
NBT reduced its performance dates for the classic holiday production from two weeks to six days and increased its set design to perform in the 1,800-seat theater.
It was a good decision, Bruce Steivel, artistic director for NBT, said. The seasonal ballet sold out its six performances, enjoyed the grandeur of the new Samba Theatre and the added set capabilities the theater offered.
"We were looking for a bigger venue to do less performances of 'The Nutcracker,' " Steivel said. "Dancers get very tired. With six performances it's a good run and a much easier performance."
At first NBT was a bit reluctant, Steivel said, to move to a casino. But the added benefits of the technologically advanced stage, the central location in the city and the larger theater were too much to turn down.
Marc Fineman, marketing director for NBT, described the move from its traditional venue as difficult, but ultimately a good decision for the ballet and the audience.
"The Judy Bayley Theatre is very intimate and a good place for ballet," Fineman said. "But give any group a chance to play a larger, better-equipped theater like the Samba and they would jump at it."
UNLV isn't suffering from the departure of the ballet and opera theater groups.
In fact, Myron Martin, director of the UNLV Performing Arts Center, said last year was the university's biggest season ever.
The Performing Arts Center had record ticket sales and brought to town national acts that had never before graced a Las Vegas stage, Martin said.
The "The Best of the New York Stage" series Martin created, featuring singer/actors Betty Buckley and Mandy Patinkin among others, was often sold out but also narrowed dates for local groups to secure for their productions.
"People responded to the Broadway names we brought here," Martin said. "It was hugely successful for us."
It was also a lot of work. Some artists didn't consider Las Vegas to be a culturally advanced town, Martin said.
For instance, Patinkin was reluctant to play Artemus Ham Hall, Martin said. It took three years to convince the Broadway and television star that the intimate Las Vegas theater would work for Patinkin's one-man show.
After his January sold-out show, Patinkin returned to New York with a new perspective on the cultural capabilities of Las Vegas, Martin said.
"He had it in his mind that playing UNLV would be like playing a casino, which he was against," Martin said. "The beauty of it is (that) he came, played to a sold-out audience and went back to New York to say what a great audience it was. We are changing people's perception of Las Vegas as a cultural town."
One local group that has successfully moved from UNLV to a Strip venue and back again is the Las Vegas Philharmonic.
The orchestra has played at Artemus Ham Hall for more than two decades. The sound, Philharmonic music director Hal Weller said, is perfect for the large orchestra.
"UNLV is the concert hall in this city, no doubt about that," Weller said. "There is no other venue in this city as acoustically capable."
But the orchestra has also grown in recent years, receiving national acclaim and often playing Strip properties. It recently performed with opera singer Andrea Bocelli at Mandalay Bay Events Center and will also perform with singer Placido Domingo March 16, also at Mandalay Bay.
The hotels, Weller said, are committed to community entertainment, so long as it is convenient to their other entertainment attractions. If hotels have the space, they will offer it to local cultural groups, he said.
"But it's nothing any one of us can depend on," Weller said.
The Strip entertainment venues are not built for full-stage productions such as operas, ballets and plays. The Philharmonic often pairs with NBT and NOT for its theater productions. Unfortunately, while there may be room for large stage scenes and more cast members on Strip stages, there isn't always room for a full-scale orchestra to accompany the performances.
"We had a 34-piece orchestra jammed into the Samba's (orchestra pit) for 'The Nutcracker,' " Weller said. "The (Samba) theater is nice, but you can't go to the Rio with a 65-piece orchestra, which is what you should use."
What the city truly needs, he said, is a performance center that reflects the growing metropolis that is Las Vegas.
"Oscar Goodman and his (peers) need to come through with a concentrated effort for this nearly 100-year-old city, with a theater that can accommodate the cultural needs of its 1.3 million (residents)," Weller said. "It's time we had a place of our own for people to see what we can do."
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