Tonights
performance at House of Blues marked the end of a one
and a half month run of Hedwig, by the Nevada Theatre
Company. The production of Hedwig was performed in full
tonight, despite rumors that there would only be a handful
of songs performed. The audience was delighted, and
Marcus Weiss played to the crowd perfectly. Dancing,
prancing and flouncing about onstage and off as he delivered
the comedy meets tragedy monologe with passion. Amy
Carelli plays an incredible Yitzak- husband of Hedwig
and former drag queen star from Zagreb. Filled with
angst and petulance, Carelli's portrayal of Yitzak is
gripping.
It was a real treat to those who were able to witness
the engrossing performance of Hedwig tonight. The cast
did a beautiful job, leaving the audience going wild
with cheering and applause at the end of the show. As
the lights went down, Weiss swept Carelli up into a
giant bearhug. And so ended the remarkably successful
run of Nevada Theatre Companies, "Hedwig". DJ Love took
the stage again, and once again we were assaulted by
the teeth jarring thump of dance music, as Uberschall
set up their instruments- including THREE full drum
kits- behind a curtain. A group of four audience members
entertained the crowd with some wild dancing as we waited
for Uberschall and The 3 Ring Cabaret to begin.
Finally, the host(ess?) of the evening, or if going
by the credits on the playbill handed out at the door,
"Bitch-In-Charge"- Craig Hempsted appeared onstage,
looking oh so stunning in his barely there lace and
g-string. "Ladies and gentleman," he announced. "I present
to you now- UBERSCHALL!" The curtain came up and the
dance music faded away into the tribal and rhythmic
beat of Uberschall.
Uberschall is made up of a group of musicians from the
strip production at Luxor, Blue Man Group. Formed by
guitarist Elvis Lederer, Uberschall is comprised of
six, and sometimes even seven musicians that rotate
on occasion from the pool of band members available
from the Blue Man Group show. Tonights lineup was Elvis
Lederer and Mike Burns on guitar, Aki Ishihara on bass,
and Jordan Cohen, Jeff Tortora and Todd Waetzig on drums.
Waetzig, I will note- just arrived back in Las Vegas
the day before, after over seven months on the road
with Blue Man Group, who have been touring in support
of their newest album, "The Complex." Uberschalls music
has been described as tribal, electronica and trance.
They are completely free-form. Having no specific songs
or setlist, Uberschall improvises their entire performance,
each musician feeding off of the ideas of the others.
During Uberschalls set, the front stage was filled by
amazingly talented performers from Les Folies Bergere,
Mystere, "O", and others. Tribal dancing, contortionists,
choreographed dance routines, ribbon dancing, vocalists,
and other talent accompanied the hypnotic music of Uberschall.
One young female contortionist balanced on a small metal
bar mounted on a table on her hands, bent her spine
around backwards and shot an arrow offstage with her
feet. Meanwhile, off to the side of the stage, an artist
was painting a beautiful mural on a huge canvas, that
was available for purchase after the show.
Eventually, the show drew to a close. Uberschall and
The 3 Ring Cabaret wandered offstage, and the crowd
began to disperse. All in all, I would say this years
benefit for Nevada Theatre Company was a huge success.
Watch out for Circus Freaks 4 in the spring of 2004!
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