‘Sagebrush’ offers more than history

It’s not the fascinating facts about Goldfield that make Rainbow Company’s "Sagebrush Stories" so enjoyable; it’s the way director/writer/choreographer Karen McKenney turns a history lesson into light-hearted musical comedy.

The near-ghost town, located about 240 miles southeast of Carson City, wasn’t always such a quiet place, as this show tells us. A gold boom that began in 1902 (and petered out by 1920) made the village at the time Nevada’s biggest. As one character puts it, the money seemed to never stop flowing.

"Sagebrush Stories" — part of an ongoing series about our state’s past — gives us five adults (Michael Button, Michael Connolly, Kearsten Kuroishi, J Neal and Martha Watson) on a tiny stage who talk, sing and dance their adventures. They portray a multitude of characters; a minor change in costume or facial expression transforms the actor into a different person.

We learn a lot not just about the town’s past, but what it’s like, for example, to be caught in a severe sandstorm and a sudden, flooding rain. The re-enactments are greatly heightened by Neal’s sound design, which gives the tales a you-are-there sensation. We also experience the residents’ heartache as the boom goes bust.

Neal heads the ensemble as, among other characters, a guitar-strumming narrator. He has a mesmerizing stage presence. When, as the sheriff, he locks eyes with a man he suspects is stealing ore, you know the man doesn’t stand a chance. And he can play goof as well as dignity. He’s a major actor.

It’s thrilling watching Watson turn on a dime from a gruff miner to a femme fatale thief. It’s equally enthralling to watch the clever way McKenney and prop designer Kris Van Riper suggest an overflowing river. And a slow-motion boxing match between Watson and Connolly stops the show by its precisioned theatricality.

The one-hour sketch is a minor diversion. But for all the yuks, the production piqued my interest about Goldfield and resulted in a considerable stay on the Internet. When an educational-themed play elicits that kind of reaction, it seems immoral to ask for anything more.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat @aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.