Boulder City theater group needs a little ham

By Bill Erin

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009 | 12:42 p.m.

One cultural activity that has been missing from the Boulder City scene for the past 23 years is amateur theater. We have a thriving ballet company, we have excellent art activities, and we have The Red Mountain Music Co.

But ever since the First Nighters produced their last show in April 1986, Boulder City has not had a little theater. The First Nighters disbanded after that production, "To Gillian on her 37th Birthday." Basically, it was through apathy on the part of participants. There just weren't enough people willing to work on the productions.

Now a fledgling group calling themselves The Dam & Stars Theater Company has been put on hold for the same reason.

Organized by newcomers to Boulder City Rob Dahl and Lynn Schofield-Dahl, the group secured the new outdoor amphitheater at the library, chose a production — "A Midsummer Night's Dream" — had an organization meeting and held auditions. Not enough actors and actresses were available to fully cast Shakespeare's famous romp, so the Dahls have put the idea on hold.

Director Schofield-Dahl said they have not given up. They are going to try again, probably this summer, to put the show together for an early fall showing.

Schofield-Dahl attributes the dearth of auditioners to a lack of publicity. She feels they just didn't get the word out even though they peppered the local media with announcements and news releases.

She may be right. Certainly there are enough hams in a population of 18,000 to turn out a better showing of would-be Barrymores than they experienced. In addition, the Dahls did not limit the organization to residents of Boulder City. Their casting call was to directors, performers and financial supporters from all over the Las Vegas Valley.

However, I attributed the passing of the First Nighters to television.

More than one organization in Boulder City will tell you that it is difficult to tear members away from the TV set in order to attend night meetings. Come home from a hard day's work, have dinner and a glass of wine and get the kids to bed. Then it's much easier to plop down in front of the TV set and relax while you watch whatever show has become a habit.

It's possible to break people away from the tube for a night here and there, but to get them away night after night for rehearsals and backstage work over a period of several weeks apparently takes more dedication than today's lifestyle allows.

We didn't have a problem with show attendance at the First Nighters productions.

Brian Fox, then high school principal, was one of us, and we were able to arrange the use of the high school theater. We were able to charge admission and thus could afford the royalties necessary to produce some of the more popular plays of the day.

The new group doesn't have the money for royalties, and that is one reason they chose a Shakespeare play.

Another reason was Schofield-Dahl's experience with this particular production. She has both acted in it and directed it during her more than 20 years of theater experience.

Schofield-Dahl feels that selecting a Shakespeare production may have inhibited many people because they view Shakespeare as too esoteric.

However, there is a good segment of Boulder City residents who annually make the trek to Cedar City, Utah, to the Shakespeare productions there. The name "Shakespeare" should not intimidate them.

Whatever the reason, we hope the Dahls will persist. Little theater was always a lot of fun. Exercising all the crafts that go with production such as sets, costumes, staging, lighting, acting, as well as making lifelong friends, are experiences Boulder City thespians should have available.

Bill Erin is a Boulder City News columnist.