Shane Scheel remembers that moment when he felt his little production show might well become something grand and fantastic.
That moment centered on Barbra Streisand, James Brolin and a stroll through West Hollywood.
This was shortly after the show Scheel helped conceive and bring to the stage — “For the Record: Baz” — opened in the cozy confines of the nightclub DBA. Word about this show was spilling in the L.A. entertainment culture. Those who wanted to tap into the grooviest new production in the city had started to take notice of the rock musical based on the films of Australian director Baz Luhrmann.
Streisand and Brolin were two such luminaries and sent word to the theater that they would like to see a performance. Scheel was notified of this and was summarily thrilled; and shortly before a performance, he received a call from an unknown number.
“Hi, we’re here,” said the voice on the call. “We’re walking up now.”
It was Streisand.
“Not a representative of Barbra Streisand, but the Barbra Streisand,” recalls Scheel, co-creator and executive producer of For The Record, the company behind “Baz,” which opens June 19 at Light in Mandalay Bay. “I thought we might have some big, black car pulling up, but they were just walking up the street. They parked in a metered spot.”
Just like regular fans.
But “Baz” is not a regular experience — though, thus far, the show is largely a mystery to Las Vegas audiences, as it has never been performed in the city. Another who has become a fan is Quentin Tarantino, a frequent visitor to the production in L.A. and who is known to pop his head backstage before performances and call out, “Let’s go, thespians!”
Al Pacino, Francis Ford Coppola and Garry Marshall are among the show’s fans in Hollywood.
“This has become a place for people to go who want to feel a cool nightlife experience but aren’t the type who would go to a big nightclub,” Scheel said during Thursday’s first day of rehearsals at Light. “The word of mouth has carried the show from 60 seats to what we have now in L.A., which is about 210. It’s just grown and continues to grow very organically.”
As Scheel talks, cast members descend from the wings of the stage built specifically for the production, a performance space with three short runways jutting toward the audience. “Lady Marmalade” is the song as the dancers meet in the middle of the stage and face out to an unseen audience.
It is apparent that those in the cast, many of whom glance skyward at the colored, rectangular lights beaming down from the top of the nightclub, are impressed with the size of Light. The 500-seat club might seem a relatively intimate space compared to some Las Vegas venues, but it is a veritable fortress compared to DBA.
“This is a larger scope, and we will need to get used to moving around this room because it will be a lot more challenging for us physically,” says Ginifer King, who portrays the plumb role of Satine in the production. “But this is actually an ideal space for what we do.”
Which is to blend the stories and music in Luhrmann’s films, specifically “Romeo + Juliet,” “Moulin Rouge” and “The Great Gatsby,” into a freewheeling rock-musical production.
The numbers are familiar, as are the themes. We’ll hear “Lady Marmalade,” naturally, along with “Kissing You,” “Love Is in the Air” and “Crazy In Love.” Though Scheel is not fond of the word “immersive,” which is already becoming stale when describing these sorts of nightclub productions, the show does bleed into the audience in a manner that is foreign to fans of traditional musicals.
The fourth wall is broken down even before audience members are seated, as the Sidler and Green Fairy characters meander through the club and warm up the crowd. Even afterward, the cast in L.A. hangs and mixes with the audience.
This type of interactivity brings to question why the show needed to be cut by 30 minutes, but that inartistic decision is a byproduct of the time-honored tradition in Las Vegas that audiences won’t sit still for a 2 1/2-hour show.
“They want people back in the casino, right?” Scheel says, as if answering his own question. “But what we are trying to establish here is an experience that is beyond just the stage show. You are in a club, you are enjoying live music and a great story, and you are not just sitting and watching. You are experiencing.”
There is even an effort to provide padded seating areas atop the booths at Light so that audience members can view the spectacle in a more casual posture.
“Baz,” to its undying credit, features a live band and advanced choreography from Spencer Liff (“So You Think You Can Dance”). If Scheel and the production team are seeking advance word of mouth, they have at least achieved a level of curiosity. The entertainment community is asking about this production of Hollywood that has infiltrated a genuine Las Vegas mecca of electronic dance music.
The show’s 8 p.m. start will lead to the more typical evenings of DJs and EDM, and the show is being staged when the club has usually sat dark (show nights are Wednesdays through Mondays; tickets are $55).
I ask Scheel what needs to happen for him to say, simply, “Baz is a success.”
There is an inordinately long pause, as only “Lady Marmalade” is audible.
Finally, he says, “To be here three years from now. ... To find our audience. Success, for me, will be to change the landscape of how entertainment is presented and how nightlife is perceived in Las Vegas.”
It’s not such a far-flung objective. Just ask the famous folks who have already embraced the show elsewhere.
But if “Baz” becomes a hit on the Strip, we suggest using valet.
Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at Twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow “Kats With the Dish” at Twitter.com/KatsWiththeDish.
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