Naked Boys Singing! A Musical Comedy in the Buff

The following post was contributed by WHV contributor Julie Kasperson. She can be contacted through her Facebook Site.

There’s no shortage of nearly-bare men in Las Vegas; there’s probably at least four revues running currently on the Strip. “Naked Boys Singing!” features seven men that want you to know that it’s a musical that just happens to have naked boys singing.

The show at Las Vegas’ intimate Onyx Theatre celebrated its 77th performance on June 18th, 2009. Its run has been extended indefinitely, and if the audiences are any indication of the support and enthusiasm this show has received, there will be lots more opportunities to catch this clever, funny musical.

“Naked Boys Singing!” celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. It has had productions in New York, Los Angeles, as well as worldwide. Sometimes the show runs into trouble with audience expectations, as was shown in Puerto Rico, where the show was shut down because of the nudity.

The actors I interviewed want audiences to know that “it’s a fun show, very unique, and it’s the only fully nude production in Las Vegas, and there is no audience participation.” Nolan Christopher spent two years in the production in Chicago. One can only imagine how chilly the actors must have been during the wintertime!

The cast is made up of trained actors, singers, and dancers. Christopher is in the cast of “Tony & Tina’s Wedding” while others work as singing gondoliers at the Venetian or in other productions.

Once you get over the initial shock of seeing fully nude men singing and dancing, you start paying attention to other things, like the clever, funny, and sometimes poignant songs that highlight the vulnerability of men. The show’s 16 songs were written by a group of writers with various showbiz pedigrees, and they keep the audience interested and laughing throughout.

The show is marketed to mostly gays and women. They would like to promote the show to bachelorette parties, women’s fairs, and bridal shows. The Onyx Theatre, located off East Sahara in the Commercial Center, is a small venue located inside a clothing and fetish store called The Rack. “Naked Boys Singing!” is its longest-running show, and the cast reports that owner Michael Morse has been very supportive during its run.

So if you want to catch a hilarious and entertaining musical inside Las Vegas’ “leading alternative theatrical and performance space” that happens to be performed by talented men in the buff, then this show is for you.