A first: Chippendales at the Rio to unionize

The famed adult revue at the Rio has announced plans to unionize with Actors’ Equity Association. Union reps made the move official Monday.

The production is the first all-male revue ever in Las Vegas to attempt to unionize.

A supermajority among the two-dozen or so cast members signed union authorization cards last week. That move reinforced the cast’s intention to hold a formal vote to unionize with Equity.

The Chipps performers have also filed paperwork with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to hold a union election. The time table for that vote is in the hands of the NLRB, likely within a month.

Chippendale’s producers have been notified of the move, and at this writing have not responded to the union notification. Chippendales Director of Operations Katerina Tabakhov said she had no comment about Equity’s new partnership with its cast.

If management doesn’t offer Equity recognition, dancers plan to move forward with their authorization vote. The membership would cover the Chipps residency show in Las Vegas, and its national and international touring productions.

A Vegas success story

Chippendales has had an unbroken run (aside from COVID) since opening at the Rio in 2002. The show remains the most recognizable international brand among male revues.

The Las Vegas production has added such “stunt” celeb cast members as actor/model Tyson Beckford, “Jersey Shore” mainstay Vinny Guadagnino, and this past spring, “Dancing with the Stars” professional Gleb Savchenko.

The show prides itself on its name recognition and durability, having performed than 8,700 shows in its 22-year-run, originally presented at Club Rio for two years before moving to the mezzanine.

The dancers today groove it up in a $10 million, 400-seat theater, equipped with stage-wide LED panels and a runway into the audience.

Dancing with Equity

Members of the troupe began investigating union membership about a year ago. Cast member Freddy Godinez was among the Chipps looking to pursue an Equity partnership. He’s been with the company for two years.

“The biggest issue that was surprising to me was health benefits, specifically, and sick leave,” Godinez said in a phone chat. “There are performers there that have been with the show for seven yeas, one of them has been there 10 years, and the there are no benefits offered for the performers.

“To me, that is kind of a minimum that companies should be able to provide for, especially for their full-time performers.”

Godinez was a Vegas newbie when he arrived from California. But his husband and fellow cast member, Alex Stabler, has performed in Vegas for nearly two decades.

Stabler was a member of “Zumanity” at New York-New York, and later “Le Reve” at Wynn. Both shows closed during the pandemic. He moved on to perform with the Chipps.

The entertainment vet was impressed with the show’s production quality, less so in its compensation. Godinez and Stabler both said it was “common knowledge” around the Vegas entertainment scene that the Chipps dancers are underpaid, compared to those in other revues.

“When I started, they offered me the same rate that my ex-boyfriend was offered 15 years ago,” Stabler said, joining the same phone chat as Godinez. “I was told, ‘That’s how it is,’ and I said, ‘No, it isn’t.’ As performers, we’re kind of trained to believe that we’re disposable, and so you have to be grateful for what you can get, because it’s such a competitive market. But Freddy was the one who really encouraged us, and pushed back and said, ‘No, we deserve better.’”

Whither the benefits?

Those voting to unionize are seeking health benefits and higher wages, among other issues. They argue that their pay has been stagnant for more than a decade, and they are not afforded health coverage or collect sick leave. Some dancers are provided health coverage through employment elsewhere. If not, they pay for care out of pocket.

Representing an international brand, performers are paid a base rate, which includes the performance and hanging out with customers for 15 minutes after the show. Photos are made available with guests for purchase, for which they receive less than a dollar.

There also is no additional compensation for using our likeness for posters, billboards, cups, calendars, T-shirts, playing cards, nail files, magnets and any other promotional materials or merchandise. Rehearsals and promo events are paid the same minimal hourly rate.

Those voting to unioniza are seeking improved compensation for those job requirements, which can add many hours to the regular work week. Some might not identify with the fact that hanging out with a bunch of clawing bachelorettes in Flirt Lounge is a grind.

But it can wear out a performer who does it following every show, especially after a two-show night on Fridays and Saturdays.

“We’re required to mingle with the girls after the show with no additional pay, it’s all part of our contract,” Godinez said. Stabler interjected, “Their usual replay was, ‘Well, this is how it is,’ but that doesn’t mean that’s how it has to be.”

Men at work

Chippendales is indeed in a competitive sub-genre of male revues, which historically have impressive repeat business on and off the Strip. The show is battling for attention among shrieking bachelorette partiers with “Thunder from Down Under” at Excalibur (which opened a couple of months before Chippendales in ‘22) and A-lister Channing Tatum’s “Magic Mike Live” at Sahara.

Union reps, as expected, welcomed the Chipps’ decision to organize.

“The entire Las Vegas Equity community is thrilled to welcome the Chippendales into our ranks,” Las Vegas-based Equity leader Marci Skolnick said in a statement. “The recent victory by the Culinary Workers Union, who successfully unionized the hospitality workers up and down the entire Strip, proves that Las Vegas is, and always has been, a union town.”

Equity wants to expand that identity to the city’s stage shows.

“Actors’ Equity Association is here to help the Chippendales get union contracts,” Skonick said, “complete with union benefits, that will enable them to make a real living doing what they do best.”

Unions among us

At the moment, the “Equity community” in Las Vegas is formally represented by one show: “Menopause the Musical” at Harrah’s produced by Glist Entertainment founders Alan and Kathi Glist.

“We’re like the little mouse that roared, the only Equity show of about 160 in Las Vegas with Equity representation,” Alan Glist said. “When I think of any show to go union in Las Vegas, it would not be a male revue. I was pretty shocked, because Equity shows are usually scripted productions. But it seem Equity is finally making a push in Las Vegas.”

The ill-fated “Jersey Boys” relaunch at Orleans Showroom was a split between Equity and a non-Equity cast and crew. The original show at Palazzo and later Paris Theater, which closed eight years ago, was an Equity production.

The most recent large-scale production shows to work with Equity contracts were “Jubilee” at Bally’s (closed in 2015) and “Folies Bergere” at Trop (closed in 2009).

Primary Las Vegas entertainment unions are the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), with about 2,100 members. The Musicians Union of Las Vegas, American Federation of Musicians Local 369, reports a membership of 435. Nevada Ballet Theatre dancers joined the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) in September 2022.

Equity represents some 51,000 professional actors and stage managers on Broadway and in live theatre across the United States.

The Chipps fallout

The Chipps move to Equity status could trigger a series of similar efforts in shows across Las Vegas. Such production companies as Cirque du Soleil, Spiegelworld and Adam Steck’s SPI Entertainment lineup (which has “Thunder” on its roster) are non-union. But none of these casts have formally moved to organize.

Nationally, Equity also represents strip-club employees, and also Disneyland character performers. Las Vegas is rife with club performers, and atmospheric entertainers (Area15 is expanding by 35 acres, for instance), eligible to seek Equity status.

Equity reps clearly want the Chipps show to serve as a toe-hold to increased membership across Las Vegas. So do the dancers who voted to organize.

“Las Vegas is a world-class entertainment city, so Equity was the right fit for us,” Godinez said. “We want to change the whole landscape of the entertainment industry.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.