A month ago, the Chippendales celebrated their world premiere at their new theater on the Strip. It was the show’s first move in 23 years. It was also night of the first measurable rain in more than 200 days in Las Vegas.
Chippendales’ new home is Mat Franco Theater at Linq Hotel. If you know anything about rain and Linq’s parking garage, this is not the atmosphere in which to invite a VIP crowd — or any crowd — to the property. The show should have performed an “Islands In the Stream” number to mark the occasion.
Fortunately, or otherwise, the only water effect related to the show is the show’s sudsy shower scene. Steam emanates from the stage, and from the audience, in this crowd-pleaser.
As if prophetic in its themes, the Chipps also unleash road-construction number. The guys groove around orange pylons in matching vests and white hardhats. Fans shrieked as this performance, certainly from excitement and maybe after suffering road anxiety after the drive to the hotel.
On Sunday, the Chipps are premiering “Chipps & Salsa.” This is not a dance number but the new show’s new “beefcake brunch” at Linq’s Chayo Mexican Kitchen. The brunch starts at 1 p.m., leading to the 2:30 performance in the theater (go to Ticketmaster.com or Chippendales.com for intel).
A Chipps trek
As always, the Chipps get points for style and credit for resiliency. The forever bow-tied, cuff-linked male revue closed at the Rio on New Year’s Eve. Outgoing Mayor Carolyn Goodman, on her final official duty, presented the show with a proclamation and Key to the City of Las Vegas on Nov 30.
The show then held auditions in January, ahead of its move to Linq, re-casting the lineup. This is where things get, um, chippy. In October, Actors’ Equity Association Communications David Levy announced the dancers planned to unionize.
The news release announcing this move referred to substandard pay and a lack of health benefits, a lack of adequate compensation for the cast’s promotional and rehearsal time, among other claims. Equity President Brooke Shields quickly posted her support of the effort. (We have learned Shields is such a Chipps fan she spent her 19th birthday with the troupe in May 1984.)
Ongoing cast members glowered behind the scenes that these characterizations were false. The two cast members who led the union effort, the married couple Freddy Godinez and Alex Stabler, were among five members not rehired through the January auditions.
As Stabler notes, the five who didn’t return had affiliations with the union. Equity had already filed an Unfair Labor Practices with the National Labor Relations Board in December, saying producers had strong-armed cast members in private meetings related to the Equity effort. These filings are still being reviewed.
The show’s effort to unionize hasn’t led to a vote among the cast, some seven months after Equity’s initial announcement. The NLRB needs to finish its work before a vote takes place. Chippendales Director of Operations Katerina Tabakhov commented last week, “At this point in time there is no decision or update on any pending matters or a possible scheduled election date regarding unionizing as that is up to the cast to organize, not management.”
Cool venue, tight schedule
On stage, the Franco Theater suits this often-unsuited show just fine. The audio and video tech is superior than in the Rio showroom. The stage is vast and first-class. The cast can more easily move through the crowd for the requisite lap-dance elements.
We also have inspired guitar work from dance captain (and a member of Las Vegas performance royalty) Ryan Kelsey and Mozart Alhamawandi, who also sings and plays the Spanish song ““Canción del mariachi,” the Antonio Banderas-Los Lobos collab from 1995’s “Desperado.”
But the issue remains, the show I’ve called the Yankees of its genre is playing a room named for someone else. (Franco himself was a good sport in wearing a T-shirt of a buffed midriff on stage opening night).
In this partnership, the Chipps don’t control their own schedule, as they did in their own room at the Rio. The production has juggled its current start times, moving their shows back to 9:30 p.m. from 9 p.m., cutting the 11 p.m. shows on Fridays and Saturdays, adding a 2:30 p.m. matinee. The show is as flexible off the stage as on.
A legacy in bow ties
The Chippendales ran successfully at the Rio up until COVID shutdown in its long partnership with Caesars Entertainment. Then (they contend) they had their marketing unplugged by incoming owners Dreamscape Companies. The Star Wars spoof ‘The Empire Strips Back” is now four-walling that venue, opening May the Fourth (be with you, yes).
The Chippendales continue to represent a famous brand, have a track record of more than two decades in Las Vegas. A happy destination for bachelorette parties, male revues work in this city, if done right (Thunder From Down Under at ExCal and “Magic Mike Live” at the Sahara joining the Chipps as solid sellers on the Strip).
The Equity squabble will reach resolution, we expect, at least while the show is still staged at the Linq. Smoothing out its load-in/load-out with Franco will ease tension. The show can then work its own magic, serving up the Chipps and salsa and showering to .
Cool Hang Alert
“The Noir Nightingale” and jazz chanteause Laura Shaffer is back at Maxan Jazz from 7-10 p.m. Saturday. The Vegas native has been performing in town since age 19, bringing silky vocal stylings and Hollywood glam to the party. Go to maxanjazz.com for intel.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
