Las Vegas Weekly

SIMPLY EDITORIAL

Fashionistas the Show Trailer #1

Fashionistas” is a triumph for eroticism (And this ain’t no puff piece!)

In a town drenched in sex, there’s a show playing at the Empire Ballroom (3765 Las Vegas Blvd. South, next to the MGM, behind Walgreens) that brings together artistry, imagination and eroticism without taking the cynical step to explicitness.

The brainchild of legendary porn director John Stagliano, “Fashionistas” is stunning theater for a new age … and a new consciousness.

“I didn’t know I was going to transfer the movie into the dance show until about five months into the success of the movie,” says the 55-year-old Stagliano, referring to his award-winning adult film of the same name. “I thought I could do anything and got more ambitious than I normally would have been. I saw shows in Vegas and thought it would be a good fit there.”

While Stagliano would like to see the show earning more, audience reactions suggest that it really is a good fit. Hopefully, word will continue to spread and a fine product will be rewarded by rising revenues.

On the matter eroticism versus sex, Stagliano, the show’s writer, director and producer, says: “That’s kind of my goal in general in life. It’s one thing to appeal to the lowest common denominator but it’s another to lend substance to something. The fact that there are cool little ideas behind the dynamics of the love stories, for example -- I added the S&M theme later in the process. Utilizing the power of dance and the passion of music was exciting for me.”

“Fashionistas” tells the story of a brilliant young girl, Jesse (Marceea Moreno), and her attempts to seduce famous fashion designer, Antonio (Alin Campan). Jesse is the brains behind Fashionista, an innovative fetish fashion company. Helena (Kelly Adkins), the woman in red, is the vivacious owner of Fashionista as well as Jesse’s possessive lover.

The love-business-fetish triangle evolves by means of various media: music, video, dance, and some amazing aerialists who dangle overhead performing spectacular maneuvers.

“Early on,” says Stagliano, “when we were looking for some specialty acts, a girl came along who was an aerialist. Then there was a second. And I thought, ‘Wow! This is really sexy.’ We changed things around to allow us to use the aerialists.”

Few people would know that Stagliano has a very diverse resume, including the fact that he started out as a trained -- and very accomplished -- dancer. This, in turn, shaped his thinking about how he wanted “Fashionistas” to tell its story. “One of the things I always felt training as a dancer was that dance was really boring to watch.”

It’s a frank admission, but all boredom pitfalls have been completely avoided here. The dancers are not only expert in their delivery, the choreography is in an avant-garde niche all its own. And yet, this aspect of the show wasn’t the creator’s primary goal.

“Most of the time the [audience] response is that the dancers are really good: which isn’t exactly what I’m looking for. But if it brings them along with the story, then that’s good.” He continues, “I didn’t want to do something that was pounding them over the head with the story. Some people didn’t get the story and they feel they missed something. That’s probably my biggest disappointment. I’ve thought about tweaking it.”

On top of everything else, Stagliano is a tough self-critic. But tweaking or no, “Fashionistas” is worth a look-see by anyone interested in progressive theater, erotic arts, or simply being entertained.

“Fashionistas” show and box office info: 702-836-0833 or go to www.fashionistastheshow.com. E-mail Web Content Editor Adrian Zupp at adrian.zupp@gmgvegas.com.