Friday, November 19, 2004 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SHOW REVIEW: Legs and Laughs

'X' may no longer lead the pack, but you can't knock its creativity

Roberta Lorincz is the lead dancer and live vocalist in "X," one of the original cast members at the Aladdin two years ago returning for a new edition of the cabaret show at the Desert Passage mall.

Everyone knows how fast things change in Las Vegas. That includes both shows and their marketplace.

When "X" debuted at the Aladdin two years ago this month, it pushed the envelope for topless cabaret shows into new dimensions of provocativeness, but more importantly, new areas of creativity as well.

Co-producer Angela Sampras had done enough time as one of the Riviera's "Crazy Girls" to know what worked and what needed fixing. She and Bobby Boling junked the silver wigs, the chair dances and the Joe Cocker recording of "You Can Leave Your Hat On" found elsewhere on the Strip.

The "X" women had individuality, weren't afraid to sometimes express, uhm, interest in each other and -- most shocking of all -- even talked, in a cheap-but-funny skit full of double-entendres about U.S. presidents.

"X" is back, not quite at the Aladdin but a few hundred yards away at the V Theatre inside the Desert Passage. It still has all of the above, along with an addition it didn't count on: "x"-shaped tape covering the nipples of its eight formerly topless dancers. Because the mall is separately owned and not included in the Aladdin's gaming license, the revue was forced to "cover up," if that's what you call wearing tape instead of a shirt.

But "X" seems de-fanged this time even without that curveball. A scintillating bathtub number is gone, and Cirque du Soleil changed the larger context for "outrageous" when it jumped into the game with the more androgynously kinky "Zumanity."

"X" is still well-done and easy on the male eye. But instead of being the show people talk about, it has fallen in with the rest of the pack, missing some of the edge that made it so distinct the first time around.

Still, you can't dock too many creativity points from any show using a song by the late cult favorite Kirsty MacColl, one of the last singers you would associate with this type of stuff. The island-flavored "In These Shoes?" sets up a literal interpretation of what determined dancers can manage while wearing platform boots worthy of a Funkadelic concert.

Holdovers from the Aladdin version also stand out among any of the Strip's cabaret shows: Roberta Lorincz's steamy, film-noirish interpretation of Fiona Apple's "Criminal," the "vertical bed" that delivers just what it promises, and a number that begins with three sets of upside-down legs, their owners masked from audience view by black fabric.

New to the Desert Passage production is one of those "flying on fabric" numbers that makes full use of the former nightclub's two-story ceiling. This is now done all over town, but Yelena Lagereva offers the most dramatic version of them all. The achievement is all the more impressive considering she is accompanied by a Creed song ("One Last Breath").

That's still better than Kid Rock's "Cowboy," which may have replaced Joe Cocker for the requisite cabaret show cliche, complete with red cowboy hats and boots.

The new version of "X" could fly higher if it had stronger support in the two "guest" spots. Playboy model Amy Miller -- announced as the magazine's 2002 Lingerie Model of the Year -- goes through the motions in solo strip numbers, but the impact is flatter than you'd think possible of someone with soccer ball-sized implants.

Comedian James Bean tickled some audience members with his visually oriented gags, but fell short of the forum that a ribald, almost-topless show can offer.

But there's still comedy in the show, and that may be the biggest distinction "X" still has going for it. There's the skit about the presidents -- try to guess how the name "Bush" figures in -- and the condom-dispensing flight attendants who de-pants an audience member.

If Playboy Playmates always say a sense of humor is the biggest turn-on in a guy, here's a show that proves it doesn't hurt when women have it too.