‘Peepshow’s’ Josh Strickland making name for himself with a little help from Holly Madison

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Holly Madison is the star of "Peepshow." But thanks to reality TV, the openly gay male lead of the topless girlie show was the cast member who was chased down in a supermarket in the very Mormon city of St. George, Utah.

"This woman was screaming behind me and running up to me," says Josh Strickland, whom "Holly’s World" fans know as Holly’s BFF sidekick.

The supermarket fan may not have realized why Strickland was in St. George in the first place. It had to do with his previous claim to fame, as the Broadway star of Disney’s "Tarzan" musical.

Tuacahn Amphitheatre is running "Tarzan" as the first regional production of the 2007 Broadway title. Strickland would have watched it for that reason alone, but his boyfriend also is in the cast.

No, he’s not playing Tarzan. "That would have been just awkward," Strickland says with a laugh.

The nine episodes of E!’s "Holly’s World" did great things for "Peepshow" and everyone involved with it. The Planet Hollywood production struggled out of the gate in early 2009. Las Vegas ticket-buyers didn’t quite grasp Broadway director Jerry Mitchell’s vision of a post-modern burlesque show with celebrity stars and big-budget production values.

"They wanted it to be a Broadway show and it was," says Strickland, 26, who was onboard from the beginning. "But it wasn’t quite working. Something just wasn’t right."

Madison’s arrival three months in helped to right the ship, as did aggressive cost-cutting that included making Holly the only name above the title. It took "Holly’s World" — Madison’s E! sequel to her five Playboy mansion years as one of "The Girls Next Door" — to give "Peepshow" national exposure and clear up "a lot of misconception," Strickland says. "Most people didn’t know what they were walking into."

The South Carolina-born singer wasn’t supposed to be part of the TV pilot. But the producers quickly discovered it’s "the people around her who make her comfortable. When we’re together, she becomes a different person. She lights up."

The two had been fast friends since Madison first joined the cast. "It was almost instant," Strickland says. "She was quiet at first. She didn’t talk, didn’t do much, and then it just kind of clicked. … We’re just both silly, outgoing people. It just was the right mix."

Factor in Holly’s assistant Angel Porrino (who will sub for her in "Peepshow" Sept. 13-19) and, "We’re just one kooky Addams Family, you know?"

The family adventures gave Strickland many chances to break into "my singing Tourette’s (syndrome)." That translates into ticket sales to people who are "intrigued by that and want to hear me sing full songs. Then they’re surprised we have equally as great girls singing. People are always saying, ‘I’m so surprised and genuinely impressed.’ "

"Peepshow" director Mitchell has said he didn’t audition the major parts in the formal sense. Instead, he called up Strickland and others he had worked with on Broadway or on "Broadway Bares," the annual AIDS fundraiser that inspired the tone and format of "Peepshow."

Strickland welcomed the chance to perform in his own persona and do a variety of pop music. The "Tarzan" musical was "such a one-sided type of singing. With this stuff, I got to show my entire voice and show that I can scream and sing Aerosmith and R&B."

That’s one reason why, as fans of "Holly’s World" know, Strickland auditioned, then retreated from a chance to go back to Broadway in "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."

"The role was singing maybe one or two songs," he says. In Las Vegas, "I’m getting to do what I always wanted to do, and that’s being just Josh Strickland onstage, singing all kinds of different music."

As a youngster, Strickland was a member of the Charleston Youth Company, a community theater group. He was a contestant on season two of "American Idol" in 2003 and appeared in the soap opera "All My Children."

Last weekend, he was set to cut a song called "Identity" by pop producer Damon Elliott. "It’s incredible how many people you can meet and how many doors can open by being in Vegas and just singing."

He appreciates the irony of the Broadway audition’s being filmed before any of "Holly’s World" aired. Producers are now more likely to embrace his celebrity and invite him to audition for larger parts as a "name."

"I’m not going to be in ‘Peepshow’ forever, but I’d like to be there for a while, absolutely," Strickland says. As a gay man, he believes he is "setting an example for the other people trying to come out. It’s great for me as a person for people to say, ‘I look up to you.’ "

However, it took a little while to get used to going to the gym and seeing his face on the video screens of other people’s workout machines.

"I don’t know if I want to see myself cry one more damn time."

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