From ‘Jubilee’ showgirls to ‘Crazy Girls’
The sigh of disappointment when Donn Arden’s “Jubilee” closed at Bally’s after nearly 35 years was heard in showbiz circles coast to coast: It held the record as the longest-running production in Las Vegas, and the leggy “Jubilee” showgirls were the last remaining icons of Old Vegas. When it closed Feb. 11, the cast included 19 female dancers and 23 topless dancers.
Where could they go after the spectacular shuttered? For Sarah, who was with the production since 2003, and Stephanie, Lauren and Dani, who’d danced together in “Jubilee” the last four years, the solution was to keep on dancing. They’re now at “Crazy Girls” at Planet Hollywood, where Dani also has become the new comedy MC.
“It’s a refreshing change after walking slowly with heavy headpieces and feathered costumes to be dancing and really moving around,” said 5-foot-11 Lauren. Added 5-foot-10 Sarah: “We get to be far more engaged with the show and audiences.”
Stephanie explained: “In ‘Jubilee,’ our cast size was 85, and now at ‘Crazy Girls’ there’s just seven of us, so we have far more opportunities to feature as solo dancers.” Dani, at 5’9,” chimed in: “I’m no longer the short girl! My height doesn’t play against me, and ‘Crazy Girls’ embraces my personality.
“It’s a huge opportunity to be the MC. I can give back more as a performer. It’s very fulfilling to connect and communicate with the audience. After ‘Jubilee,’ my body was shot, and I thought that I was finished with show dancing. Twice a night, we ran up and down 1,200 cement stairs from the Bally’s basement in heels on concrete floors to the stage. My body really hurt.”
Sarah told me as the other three ladies agreed: “At ‘Crazy Girls,’ it’s not just about being statuesque Amazon beauties. It’s about having fun, dancing and moving a lot more. Every night, we go into the show with a fresh brain to perform different numbers. We can all rotate, and if a swing shift dancer comes in, we move around her whereas in ‘Jubilee,’ they moved around us.”
“Crazy Girls” is toasting its 30th anniversary soon. The other three dancers, Jenna, Sara and Kelly, are from Australia, plus three swing dancers. “Crazy Girls” has entertained millions including Nicolas Cage, Magic Johnson, Tom Jones, Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. MSNBC hailed its bronze backside statue as one of the “World’s Top 10 Good Luck Monuments.”
COURTING CONTROVERSY
Producer Norbert Aleman has courted controversy over the decades winning a First Amendment fight when city officials demanded that a billboard advertising the then-Riviera show be removed from near City Hall. The bronze statue was erected as a tribute to the win. In 1999, a state senator attempted to have the bare backsides ad banned from cabs, but again the show prevailed.
The biggest controversy, though, arguably was over Norbert’s decision that his dancers perform without fishnets. “I wanted the real beauty of the woman to show. There was no way for the girls to disguise extra weight or blemishes, so it was my way of ensuring that their legs stayed fit and fabulous.”
Stephanie said: “At ‘Jubilee,’ the fishnets added to the costume. Here at ‘Crazy Girls,’ they would be a distraction. At ‘Jubilee,’ the focus was on the costume, then the woman. Sometimes we’d have a linebacker’s look with a pain in our shoulders carrying those 18- to 20-pound creations. We had to build up our neck strength.”
Keeping fit as a “Crazy Girls” star is almost a full-time occupation. Dani, who is vegan, has a 90-minute yoga and cross-training workout six days a week before each show. “We’re more exposed at ‘Crazy Girls,’ ” she added. “There’s no place to hide anything.”
Stephanie teaches three 85-minute dance classes daily to stay fit, along with a lot of running, exercises and a no-sugar diet. Lauren teaches fitness classes and works out in dancer’s barre classes. Sarah has a running, rowing and weight-training program.
Dani chatted about her Las Vegas dance career: “I’m from a small town called Niskayuna in upstate New York. As a child, I dreamed of dancing and entertaining big crowds, and now I’m working as a professional dancer and entertainer in Las Vegas, the capital of showbiz. I was hired at an audition in L.A. to dance in the legendary ‘Jubilee.’
“The four years there helped cultivate and groom me into the performer that I am today. I was a ‘short nude,’ which meant not a lot of individual attention on a stage filled with close to 70 people per night, but I loved being a part of the legacy. I also was handpicked to give backstage tours of the show and the theater.
“I loved that part because it allowed me to share my passion for the iconic show with others. I thought when ‘Jubilee’ closed that I would retire my dancing shoes. I have a degree in marketing and a successful freelance massage business, which allows me to work on and ‘fix’ many of my fellow professional dancers. Being an entertainer is more than dancing professionally.
“I get a sense of fulfillment from seeing the joy on a person’s face when I give it my all onstage. My passion for entertaining continued to call my name, so after ‘Jubilee,’ I started dancing part time in ‘Purple Reign’ at Westgate, worked as Adam Flowers’ magician’s assistant, where we appeared on ‘America’s Got Talent,’ then landed a full-time position in ‘Crazy Girls.’
‘SEDUCTIVE, EROTIC AND SEXY’
“ ‘Crazy Girls’ is a topless show, as was ‘Jubilee,’ but much different in its nature. This is a very seductive, erotic and sexy show, which forced me to push the envelope as an entertainer. As MC for parts of the show, it allows me to connect with the audience more intensely than dancing alone. I’m growing as a performer and still eager to learn.
“Norbert Aleman has encouraged my growth and has woken up a new-and-improved performer in me that I never knew existed. I’m excited for the path I’m taking and eager to learn more about myself and my talents. All I want is to bring joy, laughter and excitement to my audiences.
“ ‘Crazy Girls’ has showed me that there is life after ‘Jubilee,’ and I’ve only begun to show audiences what I have to offer. I’m not just a former ‘Jubilee’ showgirl; I’m now an all-around entertainer.”
Years ago when I interviewed actress Jane Seymour, she told me that she started out as a dancer and regularly had bloodied feet from dancing en pointe. I asked Dani how “Crazy Girls” danced through similar pain: “Once I couldn’t walk for two days. I just laid on the floor. We do it, though, to see the joy on the faces of our audiences. The pain goes away.
“You go home and cry, but it’s worth it. It’s all about outdoing yourself, having a perfectionist personality setting goals, and achieving them is satisfaction.”
‘TWO DEATHS FOR A DANCER’
Lauren added: “Every time I try to stop dancing, I simply cannot do it. I come right back to it. It’s a peace of my soul. It’s my personality to be pulled back into it. There are two deaths for a dancer: the day you stop dancing and when you cease to breathe.”
Stephanie said: “I will love dancing all my life. I can’t say no to it. It’s the only thing I feel comfortable doing. It’s 100 percent commitment, so I don’t need anything else in my life.”
I asked Norbert why he selected the “Jubilee” showgirls: “I use them more in solo numbers than they did before. They are true professionals. The audience never knows if there’s a wardrobe malfunction, but even in a topless show it happens — but it doesn’t matter so much here! They appreciate what they’re doing. They have a great discipline that other girls don’t have.
“It’s in their hearts to be reliable and perform to their best ability. I would take three more ‘Jubilee’ dancers if I could.”