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New Works: An important process By Paul Atreides Author, playwright, and Theatre critic at EatMoreArtVegas.com paul-atreides.com Not From Around Here, by Jennifer Goff and Brian Scruggs, is Las Vegas Little Theatre’s (LVLT) 13th New Works Competition winner and is running now in the Fischer Black Box. It’s a true premier production for this light-hearted comedy. The script, about aliens infiltrating everyday life on planet Earth to study the culture and “drop seeds” of technological advancements, is entertaining. Goff and Scruggs have made alien visitors fun again. The character names are well-chosen for the story arc as the play unfolds. LVLT is to be highly commended for supplying this step in the process. It’s important for new plays to get this kind of recognition, but it’s also an opportunity for the authors to see what works and what might still need fine-tuning. Here, the script is good. The downfall is the flawed direction. If the New Works Competition's extended purpose is to utilize new directors, a seasoned one should assist. The playwrights have not been served well by putting a new play into the hands of such an inexperienced director. Kaleb Bustamante is a 2023 UNLV graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Studies and one full-length production under his belt. That inexperience shows not only in the actors' performance choices but also in the technical errors of the director. As a result, the authors and actors have been let down. In one scene in particular, Jane and George Smith (played by Kimberly Arnold and Matthew Antonizick, respectively) supposedly sneak around the Jones’ house, where everyone is sleeping, yet Arnold is yelling lines. Arnold spends a great deal of her dialogue over-projecting, and the director should have pulled that back. In that same scene, when the Joneses wake, Bustamante has taken what could be a very funny cat-and-mouse situation and loses the focus with nonsensical blocking that doesn’t flow. In many other scenes, actors move to the edge of the performance area to deliver lines out to the audience rather than to the character(s) they’re supposed to be talking with. Bustamante also fell into the “line-up trap,” placing everyone in a straight line across the stage, instead of normal conversational groupings. Corina Monoran plays Mrs. Crabtree, the neighborhood busybody, with a put-on vocal quality that very quickly becomes annoying. The character is supposed to be an old woman, yet Monoran comes across as anything but. Perhaps due to instinct, Brian Diaz Alavez is much better than Greg Jones and Mandi Nieland as Judy Smith, the star-crossed-lover teens. Alavez has a great sense of timing and uses his ability for physical comedy to perfection. Nieland matches him in delivery, showing she’s reacting to each situation. Several scene changes leave the audience in the dark for too long, and the playwrights could have deleted one with a few added lines of dialogue as the alien family ties the neighbors to chairs. Props are a pet peeve, and the very obviously empty KFC bucket was a distraction. An audience doesn’t need to see fried chicken; they need to see the weight of its contents. Otherwise, the technical aspects are solid. While Skylar Doran’s overall sound design is good, portions of the alien transmissions are a bit too garbled to understand. Ginny Adams’ lighting is excellent, especially when the transmissions to the alien planet take place. Still, this is an entertaining play, and I urge you to support the overall process of the competition. Go see it and help the playwrights along this journey. What: Not From Around Here When: 8 p.m. Friday - Saturday; 2 p.m. Sundays through May 26 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18 and May 25 Where: Las Vegas Little Theatre – Fischer Black Box, 3920 Schiff Drive Tickets: $20 (702-362-7996; www.lvlt.org) Grade:  ** Still Hungry Producer: Las Vegas Little Theatre; Director: Kaleb Bustamonte; Set Design: Chris Davies; Lighting Design: Ginny Adams; Sound design: Skylar Doran; Costume Design: Julie Horton; Stage Manager: Emma Tamashiro

Day to Honor Annual Norwegian Constitution Day The Vegas Viking Lodge Sons of Norway invites the public to celebrate Syttende Mai, an annual commemoration of Norway’s constitution, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 at Boulder City Veteran’s Memorial Park, located at 1650 Buchanan Blvd. The event will showcase a festive procession, cultural costumes, delicious cuisine, lively music, and engaging games for attendees, along with a water play area and recreational area. The venue will supply meat, bread rolls, and beverages. Attendees are encouraged to bring friends, relatives, lawn chairs, Norwegian flags, traditional outfits, and homemade dishes. The entertainment will consist of Bingo, Cornhole, and Toss the Lutefisk. “Our Constitution Day is as important as Independence Day is to Americans,” said Vegas Viking Lodge Sons of Norway President Karen Holien Buehrer. “The annual celebration helps those of us with ancestors and relatives in Norway connect with our Norwegian heritage. As we did last year, we would like to share it with the community again this year.” Syttende Mai, or the Seventeenth of May in Norwegian, celebrates core Norwegian values and national identity. It marks the annual recognition of Norway’s constitution, which was signed in Eidsvoll, Norway, on May 17, 1814. The Vegas Viking Lodge of the Sons of Norway was organized in 1992 and has been involved in a wide variety of special events featuring traditional and contemporary programs ever since. The non-profit organization is a fraternal benefit and cultural society dedicated to preserving Norwegian and Scandinavian heritage and strengthening the ties between North America and Norway. The lodge is known for its popular annual lutefisk dinner, holiday bazaar and appearances at local parades and school functions. The group meets monthly and has provided more than $30,000 in scholarships to local Norwegian-Americans in recent years. To learn more about the Lodge and its activities, visit Vegasvikings.org or follow on Facebook @ VegasVikingLodgeofSonsofNorway

Did you know that the opera composers Mozart, Rossini, Offenbach, and Donizetti collaborated to write The Billy Goats Gruff? Neither did they! John Davies cleverly re-purposed music from world-famous operas to tell the familiar Grimm Brothers story of three billy goat friends whose after-school games are spoiled when a bully blocks the bridge, preventing them from going home. Using what they learned about bullies from their moms, dads, and teachers, the trio prevails and even teaches a lesson about forgiveness and friendship. Free performances include May 10 and May 12 at Whitney Library and Clark County Library. The three friends and their nemesis find ample opportunity to sing and cavort entertainingly, and in this production, Grimm’s familiar, humble characters are married to operatic singing of the highest order. These family-friendly performances appeal to children of all ages, and indeed, many regular opera patrons also show up in force for these adaptations. Young families learn about the operatic art form and its universal appeal by presenting classical music in such a delightful fashion, followed by an audience meet-and-greet. Along with the timeless music, The Billy Goats Gruff imparts an uplifting message. When the goat Lucy has seen her beloved doll, Lucie D. Lammermoor, snatched from a safe hiding place by the meanie, Osmin; she at first feels helpless to cross the bridge to retrieve her “friend.” But she refuses to abandon her and won’t leave her alone to go for help along with her friends, Ernesto and Dandini. Instead, she confronts the bully Osmin, and prevails by inadvertently pushing him into the creek below. Immediately concerned for his well-being, Lucy shows her would-be adversary kindness by asking if he’s okay. He responds in kind by asking if she’s okay. By the time Ernesto and Dandini return with help, Lucy is able to introduce a soggy, forlorn ex-bully as their new friend. The moral: Kindness is contagious. Adaptor Davies seized on an artistic opportunity to present the concept that acceptance of others unlike us is an important contemporary subject and, more importantly, that our attitude toward others who are “different” is a lesson we learn when we are young. Athena Mertes (Lucy) is well known by OLV audiences for such soprano roles as Zelda in Mack and McGuire’s The Ghosts of Gatsby, and Silvia in last fall’s World Premiere of Fowler and Flack’s Behold the Man. Soprano Lisa Elliott (Ernesto) has been heard as Barcarole the Dog in  Opera Las Vegas’ The Bremen Town Musicians, as well as a featured soloist in Linda Lister’s State of Grace at UNLV Opera Theater.  Baritone Chase Gutierrez (Dandini) is remembered for playing the jailer in OLV’s Tosca, and Marchese D’Obigny in last season’s La traviata. Bass Norman Espinoza (Osmin), was last seen by OLV audiences as a soloist in Holiday on Broadway, as well as Voices Raised for Vets. The Opera Las Vegas Youth chorus as the friendly Woodland Animals is rounding out the cast. The production is directed by Dr. Linda Lister, a renowned soprano, teacher, composer and author.  As a singer, she was featured in OLV’s West Coast Premiere of Mack and McGuire’s The Ghosts of Gatsby, and she has directed numerous successful productions as head of UNLV Opera Theater, such as Britten’s The Turn of the Screw, Poulenc’s Dialogues of the Carmelites, and most recently, Rossini’s Count Ory. Performances are scheduled for 6 p.m. May 10 at 6 p.m. at Whitney Library, 5175 E Tropicana Ave., and 3 p.m. Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. No tickets are required for the performances, and general seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, visit  www.operalasvegas.com.