Entertainment

🎭 Broadway rave | Murder improv | Rockin' vox | Meadow yoga | Leather queens | Saddle sonnets

Andrew Kiraly

22 Jan 2025 — 8 min read

Theatrical release: Belting show tunes in the shower not cutting it anymore? Broadway Rave Jan. 24-25 at The Space takes your musical theater obsession public with a glitter-bombed dance party where you can finally unleash your inner Elphaba (or Glinda, no judgment here). Consider this permission to finally wear that Phantom mask to the club.

OOOH, GETTING POLITICAL up in here: I for one ain't gonna drill an ulcer into my gut via doomscrolling every jerk and twitch of the dark 'n' fashy new regime. It strategically feeds on the paralytics of such obsessive despair. Art, theater, music, ideas, food – all the good human things – have just become that much more vital and necessary. And we're bringing the vitality this week, from riotous sing-along shindigs to spirited yoga meetups to roller disco ragers. Stay defiantly human, and cheers! – Andrew Kiraly 🤍

The Last Showgirl

Pamela Anderson is a feathered phoenix who has to figure out her second act.

Jan. 24-30 ✦ The Beverly Theater

➤ Also: Shred air guitar at this no-strings-attached competition Jan. 23 at Jive Turkey ✦ Get lit with a stack of jokes from bibliophile comic Dave Nihill Jan. 23 at Wiseguys Arts District ✦ Skate Rock City rolls into its fourth year with a wheel cool weekend Jan. 24-26 ✦ Laughter is no mystery at Don't Tell Comedy Jan. 25 at Fergusons Downtown ✦ Hitchcock meets improv hilarity with South by Midwest Jan. 23 at Mom's Basement Theatre ✦ Pompadours and power chords collide at Las Vegas Punk & Rockabilly Jan. 25 at Double Down ✦ Funky Ruben brings the boogie Jan. 24 at Swan Dive ✦ Lace up for this roller skate calendar release party Jan. 25 at The Griffin ✦ Lindy hop 'til you drop at Swingin' at the Blue Ox Jan. 25 ✦ Get lit at the Glow Party Jan. 25 at The Usual Place ✦ Broadway powerhouse Ellie Smith drops her villainous new album Jan. 26 at Vic's.▼

Voctave

They turn Disney and Broadway classics into vocal magic.

Jan. 25 ✦ UNLV

➤ Also: You can't beat the taiko drumming by percussion sensation Kodo Jan. 22 at The Smith Center ✦ Native flutes meet modern vibes with Twin Flames Jan. 24 at Whitney Library ✦ NYC jazz royalty Frank Vignola brings the Birdland bounce Jan. 24 at Myron's ✦ Mr. Roboto storms The Strip when Styx hits the stage Jan. 24 at The Venetian ✦ Celebrate the music scene's terrific twos Jan. 25 at Taverna Costera ✦ Three Dog Night is still barking Jan. 25 at Westgate ✦ Desert Winds converge classical streams Jan. 25 at Pinecrest Academy ✦ The Tap House All Star Band shines Jan. 26 at The Italian American Club ✦ Mozart gets the spotlight with Las Vegas Sinfonietta Jan. 26 at Clark County Library▼

Yoga on the Meadow

Get some sunny savasana in. It's gonna be a long four years.

Jan. 25 ✦ Spring Mountain Ranch

➤ Also: This witchcrafting class Jan. 23 at McMullan's Irish Pub will put a spell on you ✦ Strengthen your passion for compassion at Light of Pride Jan. 23 at The Interfaith Contemplative Center ✦ The verse is yet to come at Spotlight Open Mic Night Jan. 23 at Taverna Costera ✦ Namaste buzzed at bend-and-brew yoga sesh ReJIVEnate Jan. 25 at Jive Turkey ✦ Downward dog meets upward spirits at this candlelit yoga-and-wine flow Jan. 25 at Vegas Valley Winery ✦ The sky's certainly not the limit at Valley of Fire's stargazing soirée Jan. 25 ✦ Swap seeds and stories at green thumb gathering National Seed Swap Jan. 25 at Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve ✦ Ladies lace up for Women's Walk Jan. 26 at Wetlands Park▼

Fraggle Rock Live

Supersized Fraggles dance their cares away in this puppet-powered show.

Jan. 26 ✦ The Smith Center

➤ Also: Pirates arrgh and treasure maps unfold at Treasure Island Jan. 22-24 at area libraries ✦ Kids run away with Social CirKISH Jan. 23 at East Las Vegas Library ✦ Big cats get their close-up with Nat Geo's Wild Cats Revealed Jan. 24 at The Smith Center ✦ Winter wonderlanding goes indoors at this cozy Snow Daze Jan. 25 at Mt. Charleston Library ✦ Local scribes and sketchers share their stuff at the Authors and Artists Fair Jan. 25 at Clark County Library ✦ Trek the Old Spanish Trail's textile tales Jan. 26 at Nevada State Museum.▼

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THE CH33SE 🧀

🥩 The Dish List

The Karl Strauss Beer Dinner Jan. 22 pairs suds with sustenance at PUB 365 ✦ Classic vs. Curious Jan. 25 uncorks traditional and trippy vinos at Crush Pad ✦ Get fried and filled at the Gamekeepers pop-up mixer Jan. 25 at Berlin ✦ Rio's Wine Cellar and VooDoo Steak team up for a high-altitude sip-and-feast Fridays and Saturdays at The Rio ✦ Kirin Ichiban pours Lunar New Year libations Jan. 29 in Downtown Summerlin ✦ Bagelmania's Backroom Comedy Jan. 30 serves laughs with a side of lox ✦ Delilah's Lunar New Year bash goes full Far East fantasy with Chef Angie Mar Feb. 2 at Wynn Las Vegas.

🎨

I'm all for a swirling, Pollock-style canvas — dig the splashing spontaneity! — but I really love hard-edged abstracts, the kind that emphasize a precise use of line, shape, color. Think Ellsworth Kelly. Better, think Yoko Kondo Konopik, and belay that who? Trained in Tokyo and Paris, she's lived here for years but is just now getting her due. The pieces in On Canvas, her retrospective at UNLV's Barrick Museum, convey an exactness of judgment, a sense of careful evaluation. See for yourself during a reception for On Canvas and three other Barrick exhibits Jan. 24. ✦ The legacy of the late Nevada artist Rita Deanin Abbey was spectacularly revived by the 2022 opening of a private museum bearing her name. Now, long-unseen drawings and prints, freshly freed from the museum's archives, promise to expand your appreciation of her boggling expressive range. ✦ And while you're grooving on all this modernism, duck into the Winchester Dondero Cultural Center for an aesthetic adjustment: the opening of Folk Jan. 23, a show exploring traditional arts from Ireland, China, and other faraway datelines. ✦ Or, hell, just create your own at the Las Vegas Collage Collective's Collage Jam Jan. 25. Rescue your inner artist from obscurity! – Scott Dickensheets

💃 All for Naughty

If you a notice a certain lubricious zing in the Las Vegas air this week, that's because the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo is at lol Virgin Hotels Las Vegas Jan. 22-25, a four-day fleshfest oozing with adult stars, content creators, and industry brands. Better yet, the pornucopia is spilling over into Vegas' other holes, too. Carnal confessions go deep at kickoff event Dirty Little Secret Jan. 22, a night of sexy storytelling at Virgin's Skybox ✦ Work those kinks out at The Lair Fetish Party Jan. 24 at The Usual Place ✦ Catch some quirky twists and twirls at The Jiggle Room Jan. 24 at Cheapshot ✦ Burlesque gets a big-top spin at Obsidian Circus Jan. 24 at The Phoenix, doubling as a b-day bash for Miss Brawling Beauty ✦ You're bound to meet a fair-leather friend at the bodacious-sounding Bondage Ball Jan. 25 at Fremont Country Club, with six distinctly themed fetish zones ✦ Hungry for more than love? Try Spearmint Rhino's $5 burger-fries-and-beer special ... or just nibble briefly on the post's cutting comments and click away.

Promote your brand on The List! We offer Supporting Sponsorships as well as display ads priced for small biz and indie creators. Hit me up at [email protected]. Not ready to splurge? Buy us a coffee to keep us perky! – AK

🤠 Rhyme 'Em Cowboys

Marking its 40th year, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering Jan. 27-Feb. 1 in Elko is much more than a mere literary event – though the sophisticated work of the gathering's headline verse-makers is plenty reason itself for the epic drive north. Well beyond that, it's a wide-ranging celebration of and investigation into the nuances of Western heritage through panel discussions, craft demonstrations, writing workshops, and live music. Most interesting to me is how so many of these folk iterations of "real" art practices seem to arise out of the distinct mental sphere of the West – a kind of attentional realm configured by large swaths of space and time. In other words, the beautiful fruit of disciplined boredom.

🛋️ Designs on You

Yeah, sure, whatever, The Las Vegas Market And More Jan. 26-30 is only for properly industry-credentialed "qualified buyers" officially in the furniture and design biz blah blah – but I'm putting it on yr radar just in case you have a friend who knows a friend who knows a friend who can flow you a lanyard. Years ago, ensconced at a more traditional publication, I scored a media pass and had a blast plunging through the market's dizzying fantasia of countless interior design vignettes. Hella recommend if you can find a hookup.