Cirque du Soleil marks Rainbow Theater’s anniversary with $10,000

Rainbow Company Youth Theatre is celebrating its 40th season. On Dec. 1, Cirque du Soleil presented the program with a birthday present, a $10,000 cultural action grant.

Nancy Deaner, director of the city of Las Vegas Office of Cultural Affairs, said the money will go to good use.

"The grant will help with the '(W)rites of Passage' show, which is based on the writings of local schoolchildren describing their experiences of growing up in Las Vegas," she said. "So that will be a really terrific show and a wonderful way to use these funds."

Brooke Wahlquist, project coordinator of community events for Cirque du Soleil, said supporting the cultural community, especially youths and emerging artists, is a priority for the company. She said the grant is awarded by a committee representing Cirque's 1,700 Las Vegas-area employees.

"It's important to us that our employees see the value and the wonder that Rainbow brings to our community," she said.

Performers from the Rainbow Company's production of "A Year with Frog and Toad" celebrated the grant along with Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman and Cirque representatives at Art Square Theatre, 1025 S. First St., home to the Cockroach Theatre Company.

"I'm excited to announce that, for the first time, one of the shows will take place right here in the Cockroach Theatre," Deaner said. "So that's a really nice outreach effort on our behalf."

Cockroach Theatre representative Will Adamson welcomed Rainbow Company and told everyone not to worry about the insect-inspired name.

"Although we did find a friend or two when we moved in, the name goes back to 2002 when we started the theater company," he said. "The theater we started in was the Las Vegas Little Theatre. We could only afford to rent it at midnight, and so we decided maybe Cockroach Theatre was the right name because maybe us and the cockroaches would be the only ones enjoying the show because it was so late at night. Over the years, cockroach has come to mean something a little different for us. For those of you involved in the arts, you understand how difficult it is to create art and sustain it. Las Vegas is no different than any other city in the world in that respect. It's a constant challenge to be producing art and creating it. And we felt cockroaches — you can't get rid of them in Las Vegas. So we felt that Cockroach Theatre was a name that said 'you can't kill us; you can't keep us down, and we can get by on very little.' "

Most of Rainbow Company's shows are performed at its home theater at the Charleston Heights Arts Center, 800 Brush St. The center also hosts Rainbow Company classes, which share the aspects of storytelling, improvisation and theater arts with students ages 4 to 18. An audition-only ensemble of 40 is selected each year for in-depth training.

"I just want to stress that the ensemble teaches kids all areas of theater — front of house, back of house; you name it," Deaner said. "Theater is a wonderful vehicle for kids to learn about everything, not just the arts. They learn about math. They learn about social sciences. They learn about everything through the theater. It's a one-stop shop for arts."

Ensemble member Keegan Nakano, a film major at Las Vegas Academy, said Rainbow Company has been everything to him in the six years he's been involved.

"It's family," he said. "It's a place to go express yourself. The lessons you learn are so incredibly important."

Alexi Harber, a technical theater major at Las Vegas Academy, said she loves that she gets to learn set and stage skills at Rainbow Company.

"It's really a holistic theater education," she said.

Leta Marcellus, a Las Vegas Academy theater major, agreed.

"That's my favorite thing about the Rainbow Company is that you get to do so much more," she said.

College of Southern Nevada student and aspiring playwright Austin Roberts said the theater company means a lot to everyone.

"To me, Rainbow holds a special place in my heart because I used to take improv classes," he said. "Since then, I just come back to Rainbow because I feel like it's a second home to me."

Ensemble members say the sacrifices they make to squeeze theater rehearsals and performances into already busy lives are worth it.

"It's hard, but I make my schedule around Rainbow," said Hyde Park Middle School student Sage Fernandez.

Six-year program veteran Deimoni Brewington, a choir major at Las Vegas Academy, agreed.

"I love Rainbow," he said. "I've been with them so long, they're kind of in my schedule; everything else is worked around them, basically."

Visit rainbowcompany.org.

— Contact View contributing reporter Ginger Meurer at gmeurer@viewnews.com. Find her on Twitter: @gingermmm