Naked Boys Singing and Half Naked Acrobats!

Last month while visiting Las Vegas’ Pride, I managed to catch two shows which were both terrific, albeit very different.  I’ve also spotted two shows coming up in the southland that I think you should know about.  As with everything else, arrive with a face mask and a copy of your vaccination confirmation.

ATOMIC SALOON at The Venetian. Spiegelworld, the company that 15 years ago decided to produce a circus that was intimate and vulgar as a contrast to Cirque du Soleil’s family spectacles. The company has now opened their third production, Atomic Saloon. It is set in a western saloon with period costumes, but the show is a slick combination of acrobatics, music, dance, and tons of sexually suggestive comedy.  The sexuality is very fluid, to say the least.  The cast of about 15 features some drop-dead gorgeous men, with more naked male butts than female.  A gorgeous young cowboy, wearing only cut-off denims, flies over the audience (the saloon seats fewer than 200, so you can see every drop of sweat), another shirtless hunk does incredible acrobatics on a stripper pole. The final act has one of the happiest, most adorable bodybuilders I have ever seen, with an equally adorable – though very different – partner.  No spoilers about the partner here, but it’s one of my favorite acrobatic acts ever.  Though most of the audience appeared to be straight couples visiting Sin City from the Midwest, they enthusiastically whooped about every possible sexual coupling.  (Spiegelworld.com)

NAKED BOYS SINGING at the Erotic Heritage Museum.  Never has a show’s title more aptly described the content.  It is a group of naked boys, and yup, they really sing.  The musical itself is at least 20 years old and premiered at West Hollywood’s Celebration Theatre.  It was scheduled for a five-week run, but after 2.5 years of sold-out performances, it had to close to allow the theatre to return to its regular schedule (and non-profit status.)  It then moved to off-Broadway for an open-ended run. I have seen it many times, and the Las Vegas cast is one of the best.  The five men in the company are Chris Salvatore (the tall dude from the Eating Out movies), David Hernandez (American Idol finalist), Matt Ludwinski, Louis D’Aprile, and Marcus Terell.  They are all very easy on the eyes, unlike some companies, they are all accomplished musical theatre performers with great voices and acting chops.  A problem that has always been inherent with the show is that you become desensitized to even the tastiest male junk, but fortunately these boys have enough singing and comedy skills to keep your attention right to the, er, climax!  I recommend seeing it soon, before all the bachelorette parties hear about it! (NakedBoysSingingVegas.com)

HEAD OVER HEELS at the Pasadena Playhouse. This jukebox musical had a six-month run on Broadway in 2018 where it became one of my favorites.  With the unlikely credentials that it is a 16^th century romance set to the infectious 80’s music of the Go-Go’s, this show is a delight from curtain up to final bow.  Pasadena Playhouse, the State Theatre of California, has produced some very inventive revivals of shows, and from the cast list, this looks set to be another one.  The plot deals with the King and Queen of the mythical kingdom of Arcadia, their two single daughters, a shepherd boy, and a lady bodyguard.  The show opens with “We’ve Got the Beat,” my favorite Go-Go’s tune, and the kingdom does indeed have the beat – until a sorceress tells them they are in danger of losing it.  For the Pasadena Playhouse production, the king and queen are gender swaps.  Alaska 5000 (she had a different last name on Drag Race) will play the queen, while Lea Delaria (Orange is the New Black) will fill the king’s britches.  Shanice Williams, Emily Skeggs, George Salazar, Tiffany Mann and Yurel Echezarreta are also included in the cast.  On Broadway, at the end of the show, they lifted a curtain to reveal that the offstage rock band was all females, just like the Go-Go’s!  I’d love to see that happen again!  Plays November 9 to December 12.  (PasadenaPlayhouse.org)

CHRISTMAS WITH THE CRAWFORDS at Palm Springs’ Desert Rose Playhouse.  I keep coming back to this company, and, at the moment, they are the hottest gay theatre ticket in California.  Their recent production of The Rocky Horror Show sold out every performance following their first weekend due to amazing word-of-mouth.  This Christmas they are bringing back Christmas with the Crawfords for its third outing. The factual background is that Joan Crawford participated in a radio interview in her home on Christmas Eve, accompanied by her two children.  In this re-telling of the event, her home is visited by The Andrews Sisters, Baby Jane Hudson, Mae West, Judy Garland, Kathryn Hepburn, Carmen Miranda, Ethel Merman, and Gloria Swanson, most of whom got lost trying to find the party next door.  Hopefully the original cast will be back – they’re lots of fun.  Christmas spirit, outrageous drag, and wire hangars combine for an evening of yuletide hilarity!  (DesertRosePlayhouse.org)