Little Theatre won't be barred from having plays with nudity

The Las Vegas Little Theatre will wrap up auditions tonight for a play that features nude scenes, and the actors in those scenes will remain unwrapped.

Little Theatre President Walter Niejadlik said he has been assured by the Clark County's Business License Department that a recent violation notice for nudity in a gay-themed comedy has been rescinded and that future shows may go on as planned.

Business License agent James Headon visited the theater late last week and told its proprietors that the notice of violation, issued Dec. 17 and citing the county's liquor code, was a mistake. The theater does not serve alcohol.

"He apologized profusely for the citation and the whole mess," Niejadlik said.

County Manager Thom Reilly said the district attorney's office was drafting a letter in which the county will make official its decision not to police the content of plays the theater presents. The letter is to be sent to the theater this week.

"They just shouldn't have been out there, and they won't be out there in the future," Reilly said about the Business License Department's enforcement agents.

Niejadlik and theater Vice President Paul Thornton said they were worried about the play "Take Me Out," scheduled to run March 24 through April 9, about a gay professional baseball star whose public announcement that he is homosexual leads to bigotry among team members from diverse social and ethnic backgrounds.

"Take Me Out," which won the 2003 Tony Award for best play, contains male nudity just like in a recent comedy, "Making Porn," for which the Little Theatre received the violation notice.

An aide of County Commission Chairman Rory Reid, relaying instructions from the Business License Department, told Thornton last week that the actors in "Take Me Out" would have to wear G-strings.

But Reilly said he has made it clear to county agents that the theater can produce the show as it sees fit, nudity and all.

The county codes and licensing rules for community theaters also will be reviewed and updated if necessary, he said.

Thornton said he's glad the county corrected its mistake, but he would feel better if the incident hadn't happened at all.

"The whole episode, of course, is disturbing," he said.

J. Craig Anderson can be reached at 259-2320 or at [email protected].

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