Producing a show for the Las Vegas Strip is not for the faint of heart. Many show producers with successful shows elsewhere in the world come to Las Vegas with dollar signs in their eyes. Thinking they can take what works in Chicago and duplicate it here. To them, Vegas is just another city.
Then they open a show here and brag to all their show Biz friends for the first week that THEY have a show on the Las Vegas Strip. About a week or two, maybe a month later, they get their backsides handed to them as the show goes broke. They quietly exit the city, stage left.
Then you have Anita Mann. An accomplished and well-respected dancer and choreographer showed up and saying “I have an idea for a show”. And over twenty years later, that show is still going strong! There are not many people who can say they did that!
So who is Anita Mann and what is her show idea?
First off, you need to know that Anita has a long list of impressive credentials on and off the stage. She is also the recipient of five Emmy Awards and accolades from every corner of the industry. She has been in front of and behind the camera. Anita Mann has danced with and choreographed for Elvis Presley, Lucille Ball, Michael Jackson, and countless other stars while maintaining a four-decade relationship with all the major networks.
Her idea for Las Vegas? A classy and always updated, an adult revue that NEVER takes the audience for granted. Yes, I know what you are thinking. The adult revue/topless show idea has been done hundreds of times before and they are all the same. Well, if that were the case, the show she created would have opened and closed years ago. But hers has stayed. So there must be something different about her show. And there is. right!
Earlier this month, her show, FANTASY, the sexy adult revue at the Luxor Hotel and Casino, celebrated its 22nd year on the Las Vegas Strip, and our friend and photographer, Tom Donoghue, was there to capture some of the excitement.
So What’s the Secret Sauce?
For a show to last long on the Vegas Strip, it needs to stay fresh. It needs to change with the times and Fantasy has. It needs to be more than just pretty women who can dance on a pole, smile, and remove their tops to the beat. That gets boring after the first five minutes
Fantasy, for the times I have seen it, has been well-choreographed dance routines, mixed with dancing, singing, and some named brand comedy thrown in between some of the numbers. All in all, it’s overly entertaining, always evolvin and it’s the one adult show I would have no problem bringing my wife to.
The show also has one thing most other Adult Revue shows on the Strip don’t have. Realistic variety. What I mean by that is that the show offers a little bit of variety that reflects much of their audience. From young adults to mature fans. There is something for almost all taste buds.
To watch them perform, or just to watch them, you will see they are different; Hardworking, talented and energetic. They are not just going thru the usual moves because they are being paid to be there. These ladies are there because they enjoy being a classy set of entertainers and they enjoy showing off their abilities and talents.
When I recommend this show to my tour guests when they ask, I tell them this: As an adult show revue, it is not what you think of when you think of a Las Vegas “adult” show.
Fantasy is a well-put-together entertaining show for adults. It’s certainly classy, definitely not raunchy. You see some gorgeous ladies who enjoy getting out in front of the stage and strutting their stuff. Some sing (and sing very well, thank you), all of them dance. Very entertaining. In between some of the sets, you will get a comedian who will make you wonder why he doesn’t have a show of his own on the Strip. He is THAT good!.
You will walk away with a smile on your face! (And that’s the secret sauce)
As a wrap, I would like to congratulate Anita Mann and her crew for their 22 years of success on the Las Vegas Strip. I know it isn’t easy and you have earned all the awards you have been given. To the ladies of Fantasy, keep up the good work entertaining the tourists and I am sorry I missed the calendar release party!
Be the first to comment