Las Vegas Weekly

September 30, 2009 · 1:56 PM

A change at Luxor’s Fantasy is quiet, but won’t go unnoticed

By John Katsilometes

Stephanie Dianna. She smiles, she sings.

Rarely has the passing of a torch seemed so lacking in fire. Fantasy, the adult revue at Luxor, quietly bids farewell to Stephanie Dianna tonight. Stepping in for her is former Baywatch cast member and Playboy pictorial subject Angelica Bridges of Strawberry Blonde -- check out the accompanying video for “Do It 2 the Music,” where Bridges is doin’ it on a black satin-like or silk-like sheet. Like those sheets, the Fantasy transition is smooth and apparently seamless. Bridges is contracted to perform for three months and starts her run at Atrium Showroom on Thursday night. I hope by the weekend, she has cut at least one YouTube video where she is complaining about something.

This Baywatch babe swap at the old Lucks-Or is a bit of a bittersweet turn of events. Dianna, a favorite of The Kats Report primarily for her sizzling disposition and terrifically singsong phone manner, has just finished work on a CD titled Small Town Girl (about which I have previously blogged). The CD has been “mastered” and about to be “mixed” and soon will be “packaged” so it can be “sold.”

I’m tempted to say I’ll miss Dianna in her starring role in Fantasy, but I’ve only seen the show once. Still, her departure does mark something of a turning point in one of the more remarkable performing careers in Las Vegas. Dianna, who for years was known by her married name Stephanie Jordan, is an indefatigable 41-year-old single mother of two who has the type of career to get behind, especially if you live in Las Vegas.

Her first job onstage was at age 17 in Halleluiah Las Vegas at Bob Stupak’s Vegas World. As she said in a story about “firsts” I wrote for Las Vegas Weekly a couple of years ago, “It was absolutely a loss-leader. It was a 99-cent show, and I couldn’t believe this, but they gave back the penny so the customers would go back into the casino and start playing penny slots.”

The costumes smelled like cat pee, Dianna remembered, and during the premiere, Stupak watched the show from the back bar, his shoes on the floor and his toes poking through holes in his socks. “It was a makeshift Vegas revue,” Dianna said when recalling Halleluiah. “It wanted to be Jubilee, but it was not Jubilee. It really didn’t matter what you put out there; as long as there was alcohol and a show to bring in people, we were good.”

Since those days, Dianna has not moved far, geographically, just to the Strip’s south side. But she has come a long way, from a kid to a mom, and just this afternoon was to teach Bridges the show in its entirety. “I hope she’s a fast learner,” Dianna said, laughing during a phone conversation as she was about to enter rehearsals. Even if the Strawberry Blonde learns the notes and all the steps in one night, Stephanie’s is a tough act to follow. It should be celebrated, somewhere. Too bad Vegas World is no more.

This is the NFL’s galaxy

Galaxy Theaters at the Cannery in North Las Vegas has committed the entertainment version of a false start. Galaxy was hosting a free weekly “Monday Night Football” viewing party, which was great fun until the NFL reminded the theater company that it had stepped out of bounds on the frozen tundra that is federal trademark infringement law.

After the first regular-season Monday night game, the league office was notified that Galaxy was holding these viewing parties and fired off a cease-and-desist letter that was delivered faster than Brett Favre’s game-winning bullet to Greg Lewis to beat the 49ers last Sunday. The parties, which were free to the public, were halted at once. Of course, where the NFL is concerned, there is no such thing as a free party when their product is being used without “their express written consent.” Galaxy officials were working in partnership with ESPN Radio to broadcast from the site, but ESPN did not have authority from the league to allow the games to be televised at the theaters. As NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said, “We did have a conversation with the Galaxy people and reminded them we own the copyright to any game telecast, and what they were planning to do was not authorized.”

If the theater had asked permission, McCarthy said, “We would not have granted it anyway.” That’s a five-yard encroachment penalty, throw in a loss of down, and here comes the punting unit. ...

'King of Clubs' being dealt

Friday was the premiere of Playboy TV’s reality show King of Clubs, featuring the notorious Palomino Club in North Las Vegas (across from Jerry’s Nugget, for those uninitiated) and the mighty Gentile clan: attorney Dominic, ex-wife and numbers-cruncher Michelle and club owner son Adam. The 12-week series airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on Playboy TV’s pay-per-view Cox Cable channel 590, so it’s not terrific exposure in that sense (but is in the physical sense, as Playboy displays the women fully Monty).

“It’ll take a little bit of time, but hopefully people will know us from the show,” Adam Gentile said during a phone conversation Tuesday. “It’s tough, even with a national TV show, to compete when Seamless is paying $100 a head to cabbies.” This is an oft-repeated complaint of Gentile’s about other adult clubs paying cabbies to haul business -- in the form of pliable male tourists -- to their establishments. Gentile says he’s planning more special events, like the “Stripper Olympics,” to tie into the show (watch out for the 110-meter high hurdles). “I had four guys last weekend say they’d seen the show,” Gentile said. “But already it seems like I’m the only person on the show they don’t recognize.” Should’ve worn a monocle during taping, eh?

Notes a la bloggage

Matt Goss turned Gossy-One Tuesday, so Happy Birthday to the Palms headliner. His dad wore Crocs and black socks to the show the other night, an extraordinarily non-Gossy move. … As of Sunday afternoon, the sports book at Bellagio had posted futures odds on all but two NFL teams: the Raiders and Lions. … Speaking of sports books, I’ve known Wynn Las Vegas Race and Sports Operations Director Johnny Avello for years but didn’t realize until we interviewed him for video the other day at the Wynn that he looks a lot like Eugene Levy. … Legends in Concert at Harrah’s is adding Michael Jackson tribute artist Damian Brantley back into the production, the first time since 2002 that a Jacko has been used in the show. The lineup these days is Bette Midler, Jackson, Jerry Lee Lewis, Tina Turner, Elvis and Milli Vanilli (not really, just making sure you were still with me). … Scheduled for Oct. 15 is an inspired charity event, the “Blind Wine & Cheese Tasting,” to benefit the Nevada Blind Children’s Foundation. Guests will be blindfolded as they sample fine wines and cheeses. Somewhere in here there is a joke about a blind drunk. … Creed was in town Sunday playing The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel, as reported by my colleague and insistent Canadian Melissa Arseniuk. They should start wearing spacesuits and rename the band Apollo Creed. … “Vs.” is back at Liberace Museum tonight, the competing themes being “Forgive” vs. “Forget.” Ali Spruck and Keely Vasquez are again at the reins, so hide behind something solid, like maybe a piano. … Louis Prima Jr. is looking to stir up some action in Las Vegas. He was at the Zowie Bowie Vintage Vegas opener two weekends ago. Seems like we should find him a room, eh? He's got the genes. … Speaking of Z.B., I heard their second Vintage show was a lot better than the first. They must’ve piled up all the backup dancers’ costumes and set them aflame. … Nobody official or influential from TBS, Caesars or AEG Live is talking for the record, yet, about The Comedy Festival pulling out of Caesars Palace this year (the festival has been held each November since 2005). Sort of ominous. Nobody’s saying the party’s over, forever, but I’d like to hear someone say that it isn’t.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats.

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