A Q&A with ‘Sexxy’ dancer-producer Jennifer Romas

For who knows how much longer, Jennifer Romas is the only producer of a production show who also performs in her show.

A knee-shattering accident that steered her into producing “Sexxy” at the Westgate Las Vegas is the same one that will eventually force her to retire her athletic solo numbers, drawn from a childhood divided between dance and gymnastics.

The topless caberet revue opened in January and turned out to be a constant in a transitional year for the hotel. Westgate Resorts founder David Siegel invited Romas to create the show during a brief phase when he was personally promoting the property. Casino operations and entertainment have since been delegated to other operators.

But the opening night of “Sexxy” was a reminder that Romas knows just about everyone involved in Las Vegas entertainment. Whatever happens next, wherever she goes, she will be, well, noticed.

Review-Journal: There have been so many cabaret shows over the years they tend to blur together. But at some point I started noticing you and going, ‘Oh, she was in such-and-such.’ You stand out so much because of your look and your gymnastic dancing.

Romas: It’s harder to get work, but I’ve never been hired well as an ensemble dancer. My look is harsh and my body build is different than most showgirls. I’m big-boned, I’m muscular. It’s worked against me many times. ‘We love you to death, but you’re just not right for us.’

Review-Journal: It was a scramble for you to get “Sexxy” open in time for Super Bowl weekend, with only three weeks to pull it together. The good news was the chance to produce a show. The bad news was they needed it yesterday and you were supposed to be having knee surgery. How did all that shake out?

Romas: Ice pack in purse as we speak. It was the chance of a lifetime, to be honest. You say yes and you figure it out later.

But I’m in complete pain every single day. There will come a time very, very shortly where I’m going to have to not perform.

Review-Journal: Tell me about the night you got dropped.

Romas: It was August 6, 2012 (in the short-lived “iCandy Burlesque”). We were doing a duet number, a move that we do all the time, and not necessarily a super-dangerous move. My dance partner partnered 17 different girls throughout the whole show, so maybe it was fatigue. Accidents happen. But I got dropped and my kneecap shattered. Two surgeries in one year took a complete toll on my body. Just took me down.

For me it was so frustrating because it wasn’t my fault. I didn’t trip, I didn’t fall, or twist my own ankle. There was nothing I could do to control the situation. I still carry a little of that anger with me. But in mediation you have to just learn to let it go and move on, otherwise it will affect you and hurt you. And it did for a while. It took me down for a couple of years, emotionally and physically.

Review-Journal: You’re the only situation where the producer is also in the show. Given what’s happen to you, does it make you better at knowing what’s fair to ask dancers to do and what isn’t?

Romas: It’s very difficult, I’m not gonna lie. My cast is very, very close. I treat my girls well because I know what it’s like. I remember what it was like when things were unfair for me. I try to be open and honest with them. I’ve been burned before by other people.

But I have a whole different respect for the other end of showbiz. Dealing with the money, the marketing, the promo, as a performer you don’t necessarily understand why. ‘Why can’t this happen?’ Now, understanding those things, it’s different. It’s a lot of hats.

To be honest, it’s very hard to run my cast management-wise and to perform with them onstage. It’s hard to be Boss Lady and be friendly. Dealing with some issue and then turning around within a half-hour’s time and performing with the cast is different, and difficult. But it’s work. The girls are all my friends and we’re all family.

Review-Journal: So you’re a fourth-grade gymastic champion who studied jazz dance in Chicago, and found yourself working in a topless Vegas show downtown (“Exposed” at the Union Plaza in 1997).

Romas: I was on the way to L.A. with a friend of mine to try out for music videos and concert tours. We stopped in Vegas on the way to have a little fun. I auditioned for a show, got hired, and suddenly I wasn’t going to L.A. anymore. Why am I going to L.A. to wait tables while I try to get a gig, when I just got hired for a show?

Review-Journal: How was that first call to Mom and Dad?

Romas: Oh my god, my mother had a heart attack. My mother actually came to see the show, and the opening scene we’re in these black coats, completely naked underneath. One at a time we would walk up and open the coat. (laughs) It was embarrasing.

They had a hard time with it at first, I think as any mother would. Again, not living here and not knowing, it’s not as accepted as here, when it kind of is what it is.

— Read more from Mike Weatherford at reviewjournal.com. Contact him at mweatherford@reviewjournal.com and follow @Mikeweatherford on Twitter.