‘Flirty, not dirty’ ‘Pin Up’ good for the ears

"Pin Up" stars, from left, Koree Kurkowski, Megan Kovitch and Sarah Short perform during the 10:30 p.m. show Friday in the Stratosphere Showroom.

Give me a minute to adjust expectations here.

No two guys can be expected to react to those “Pin Up” billboards around town in exactly the same way, I suppose.

I see baby-faced young Playmate Claire Sinclair and mentally swing the needle to the cute side of the sexy scale, away (but not all the way) from the sweaty palms, hubba-hubba side.

That may be one reason why the show as a whole lands there for me as well. But I think it’s more the 10:30 p.m. time slot that messed me up.

The goal here is to review what’s on the stage, not to second-guess where a show fits in the marketplace. And I knew going in “Pin Up” would not be topless; “flirty, not dirty” as host Sinclair tells us.

But it still sounded like another entry in the late-night burlesque-cabaret genre. I assumed erotic intent, and that it would be at least “surrogate topless,” in the manner of “iCandy the Show” (by legal mandate, in that case) at the Saxe Theater.

What I saw in “Pin Up” — which has its official opening Monday — is a strong if uneven music and dance show. But hot it is not.

One of the most original segments explains why, perhaps unfairly, it’s on uneven footing with the late cabaret shows. Scored to the instrumental classic “Sleepwalk,” it finds Sinclair climbing into bed, where her pillow jumps up to a magical life of its own. Again, as the overused word goes, cute.

The segment caps with two female bedmates materializing to join the party. But “Pin Up” blacks out at the reveal, while, say, “X Burlesque” would stick around to see what happens next. It ain’t that kind of party, boys.

In fact, “Pin Up” plays right to an older, flirty-not-dirty demographic, from its vintage calendar-girl concept to most of its music. This is a show that digs into Thelonious Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser” with passion and treats Katy Perry’s “California Gurls ” as obligatory afterthought.

So you wonder if it would fare better running at 5 or 6 p.m., before roommate headliner Frankie Moreno. But that’s one for the Stratosphere to ponder (this is the rare show produced by the casino, rather than contracted out). For me? Expectations recalibrated. Let’s continue.

David Perrico’s outstanding band is the point of distinction from other dance-oriented shows on the Strip, and in many ways the true star. Without it, the spare corners of the production budget would be more obvious and much of the dance content would seem more generic.

The players mix right into the action. Drummer Brian Czach takes on tap-dancing Sarah Short in a rhythmic duel, where he puts his sticks to work on a stage riser, and it becomes the most memorable moment of the night.

Moreno was involved in the early stages of creation, so femme fatale singer Anne Martinez covers his swanky original “Tangerine Honey,” along with Ann-Margret’s “Thirteen Men” and “Heart” from “Damn Yankees.”

The music has an energy and a retro-cool vibe the visuals struggle to keep up with on a restrictive stage that doesn’t make it easy to pull off everything the creators envision.

A few flaring moments of originality lose focus when the tone shifts to a Six Flags, cruise ship vibe. Dance numbers such as a “Rosie the Riveter” World War II thing are built around the athletic dance moves of Ryan Kelsey and the choreography (in certain numbers) by Lacey Schwimmer of “Dancing With the Stars” fame.

“Pin Up” is still a moving target, delaying its “official” opening while adjusting and evolving on its feet for a full two months now. Two promising segments were scheduled to go in after I saw it, including an airline piece set to “Come Fly With Me.”

Director and co-creator Drew DiCostanzo already has done an admirable job of finding things to do for 21-year-old Sinclair, who, remember, was a magazine model and not a trained singer or dancer. But she does have that “it girl” quality and a likable, if not yet entirely natural, audience rapport.

“Pin Up’s” modest approach to the cheesecake may give you less than an eyeful. But man, is it good on the ears.

Contact reporter Mike Weatherford at mweatherford@
reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0288.