Photos: NEWSICAL and A MUSICAL ABOUT STAR WARS Open in Las Vegas

The Las Vegas strip was buzzing with laughter courtesy of two of Off-Broadway's biggest hits, the award-winning NEWSical The Musical and the fan-favorite, A Musical About Star Wars, which both opened this week at The V Theater, located at The Miracle Mile Shops inside Planet Hollywood. The audience was filled with many familiar Las Vegas faces, Tom D'Angora and Michael D'Angora and, star of stage and screen, Catherine Hickland, among others.

See photos from opening night below!

Both shows feature cast members from the Off-Broadway productions. Returning to Las Vegas with NEWSical are Emmy Award winner Kristen Alderson (One Life to Live, General Hospital), Taylor Crousore and Carly Sakolove. They are joined by Dylan Hartwell who starred in the Off-Broadway run for many years. Crousore, who co-wrote the book to A Musical About Star Wars, will be performing in both shows along with Sakolove who will be joining the musical in the role of Emily. Rounding out A Musical About Star Wars is Gregory Sullivan.

NEWSical The Musical is the always changing musical comedy of all the news that's fit to spoof. Through sketches and original musical numbers, the show mocks and parodies everything from the lowest depths of reality television to the highest office in the land. The long-running musical broke Off-Broadway records, won the Off-Broadway Alliance Award, received Senate and Mayoral Proclamations for its contribution to New York entertainment and political scenes, as well as welcomed several celebrity guests to the cast, such as Perez Hilton, Kandi Burress, Cheri Oteri, Jackee Harry, and La Toya Jackson, during its decade long run.

Whether you love or loathe the Star Wars franchise, you're guaranteed to laugh your asteroid off at A Musical About Star Wars, which hilariously looks at fandom, nerd culture, cosplay, and of course, the biggest film franchise in history. The show-within-a-show follows two moronic super fans, Scott and Taylor, as they attempt to perform their (very unauthorized and very homemade) "Star Wars musical" in hopes of catching the eye of the Comic Con presenters. However, dark forces are looming over their production...and her name is Emily, a local actress of questionable talents who has a lot to say about "boys whipping out their lightsabers."

Both shows are produced by Tony nominated producer, Tom D'Angora. Tom was recently represented in Vegas with Naked Boys Singing (winner, BroadwayWorld.com/Las Vegas - Best New Musical) which just celebrated its first year on the boards. In New York, D'Angora was a Co-Producer on the recent Broadway Revival of Caroline, or Change and the Broadway bound Barry Manilow musical Harmony. Both shows are co-directed by D'Angora along with Mark Waldrop (NEWSical) and Michael D'Angora (A Musical About Star Wars). NEWSical was created and written by Rick Crom. A Musical About Star Wars features music and lyrics by Billy Recce and book by Tom D'Angora and Taylor Crousore.