County orders gay comedy shut down in Las Vegas

[Thom Little]

The Las Vegas Little Theatre company has staged hundreds of plays in its 28-year history, including a handful that involved bare flesh.

But when it presented a gay-themed comedy in December with glimpses of male nudity, theater organizers say a Clark County official ordered the production shut down.

"Who knew Sin City would be so conservative?" theater President Walter Niejadlik said.

The play, "Making Porn," has had successful runs in New York, Chicago, Atlanta and elsewhere without incident. But it was too much for Clark County Business License agent Dawn Barlow, who apparently overstepped her authority trying to bring down the curtain.

Barlow, who issued a notice of violation to the theater, cited county regulations prohibiting "the showing of human male or female genitals" at establishments that serve liquor.

The Little Theatre does not serve alcohol.

"The hardest stuff we have is caffeinated coffee," Niejadlik said.



http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2006/jan/06/519924234.html

[davidinalameda]

1. this is Las Vegas?

guess Showgirls must have been set in another Las Vegas then?

[Brian_Expat]

2. This is the same state which is "defending marriage"

by banning gay nuptuals. Gay marriages, and not drive-through Elvis wedding chapels, cause poor heterosexual marriage statistics apparently. :)

[MADem]

3. Only boobies may be served with booze!!!!

How ..... SILLY!!!!! This woman, apparently, fell off the DUMB TRUCK--she cannot even keep her rules and regs straight!!! And that theater has a friend in the ACLU, and they have deep pockets:

After the Las Vegas Sun inquired about the incident Thursday, county officials scrambled to correct the situation. County Manager Thom Reilly said that the whole thing was a big mistake.

Reilly said Barlow cited the wrong code, and he promised that the county would retract the violation notice. He also said staff would review the decades-old ordinances pertaining to community theaters and consider updating them....
American Civil Liberties Union attorney Allen Lichtenstein said case law around the country differentiates between legitimate theaters that occasionally show nudity and those that are adult-oriented exclusively.

"I think the people in Business License need to get better guidance before they run into significant constitutional problems," he said. "We would be happy to represent the Little Theatre," Lichtenstein added.