Topless at 7? 10 pros and cons
It messes with the natural order.
At least the order of a night on the town.
As nightclubs drain audiences from traditional Las Vegas shows, topless cabaret revues have been the one genre able to hold its own in what now is considered the late evening: “X Burlesque” and “X Rocks” at 10 p.m., “Fantasy” at 10:30 p.m.
Makes sense, as that transitional time between dinner — or happy hour, if dinner was a pizza slice — and whatever the rest of the night brings: a test of your new blackjack strategy, late-night negotiations for lap dances at strip emporiums, etc.
But now comes “Sexxy at 7.” That’s the slogan making the best of “Sexxy” moving into a 7 p.m. time slot in the Westgate Cabaret at Westgate Las Vegas, starting this week.
Producer-performer Jennifer Romas says the show had been pushed to a 10:45 p.m. door time, which in practice meant starting at 11 p.m. or later. “Not a super-positive time on that property,” she says.
So when the ’80s soul-funk group Cameo never came through with the “Word Up” after an announced stint at 7 p.m., Romas decided to give the time slot a try.
Here are five reasons why it could work — real ones, from the producer — and five reasons why it could go terribly wrong, which we just made up.
Good idea:
1. Because the Westgate is partly time-share now, “there’s more traffic during that time period,” Romas says. “A mix of people eating and convention people.”
2. Those staying in time-share rooms tend to stay more nights and don’t charge as hard as weekenders. “They want to stay on property and they need entertainment,” she says.
3. Romas pictures the 7 p.m. show as a start for bachelor parties or other group gatherings; something the whole gang can do together to kick off an evening before splitting up for the women to head to Chippendales and the guys to get to the gentlemen’s club that “Sexxy” quite possibly served as an appetizer for.
4. So many Las Vegas visitors fly in from the East Coast that a 7 p.m. show is, yawn, really like a 10 p.m. show for their body clocks.
5. The other option was 5 p.m.
Bad idea:
1. When you sold your wife on the spontaneous weekend getaway to Vegas, “all those buffets” you mentioned didn’t mean a choice of six topless dancers on one stage. Saying “You look tired. How about you wind down while I take another pass through the casino?” just doesn’t play as well at 6:30 p.m.
2. Yeah, it’s fun to say “Benihana or boobs?” In reality, it’s a tough call. Stomach growling during “I Put a Spell on You”? Or being the youngest person in The Buffet line at 5 p.m. because, well, sorry Pops, but you have a topless show to get to.
3. No good pickup lines can result from this. Just because the International Bar is a few feet away from where you just saw “Sexxy,” the conventioneer still wearing her name tag is going to suddenly remember she has to meet someone if you say, “You won’t believe what I just saw these gals do with riding crops.”
4. So, yeah, “Sexxy” is your gateway drug to a strip club, and you jump in a cab to get to one right after the show. And before you know it you’re out of money and hoofing it back to your room, and when you get there the late news hasn’t even come on yet. At least you’ll get some sleep.
5. What if this actually works? Then we’d open the floodgates: “Sexxy Cocktail Hour Show” at 5 p.m. “Menopause the Sexxy Musical” at 3 p.m. And the “Sexxy Comedy Magic Show” at 1 p.m.
— Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com and follow @Mikeweatherford on Twitter.
