Vegas Hotels Canning Their Can-Can Shows

Is it a sign of the apocalypse when topless dancers and strippers leave Las Vegas?

Both Les Folies Bergere, a 49-year-old mainstay at the Tropicana, and the relatively new Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce burlesque revue at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino have shuttered their shows. Les Folies Bergere, a choreographed extravaganza featuring topless dancers, was shocking when it first arrived in 1959, but has since been replaced with far more shocking and raunchy topless acts. The high cost of the show, changing tastes and slumping economy are reasons for the closure.

It must be for the same reasons that Forty Deuce, a hip nightclub started in Los Angeles that came to Mandalay Bay in 2004, also halted its nightclub act. Forty Deuce, which featured burlesque performers performing 1940s-style striptease (think more Rated PG-13 than X,) ends after a five-year run. It will be replaced by a new bar and lounge to attract younger tourists. (No worries, the revue is now headed on the road.)

According to the Los Angeles Times’ Vegas blogger, the demise of Forty Deuce could mean a death knell for the nightclub industry. Nightclubs, which are essentially tenants at Vegas casinos or resorts, are expensive propositions that depend on wealthy clientele. While nightclubs may have killed off vintage shows like Les Folies Bergere, they are also struggling themselves.  And casino operators and resorts may need to revisit the idea whether nightclubs are a less expensive option than a production stage. As Richard Abowitz points out, a night of clubbing now can be as pricey as the most expensive Vegas show.

Shows closing are another sign of the recession and part of Las Vegas’ ever-changing identity and nightlife. I don’t think this is the end of Las Vegas topless dancers or strippers, but investors have to rethink scale and audience to make any show or act work.

Photo courtesy of Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino