Bunnies Heidi Wheeler, left, and Maya Kilam work at the new Playboy Club at the Palms. Photo by Norm Clarke/Review-Journal.
Bunny mania is raging again, decades after the downfall of Hugh Hefner's 30-club rabbit-eared empire.
Two weeks after the opening of the first Playboy Club in 25 years, cottontail fever is still running rampant.
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"People are offering to buy our Bunny ears, cuff links and tails. Even our name tags are being stolen off the (gaming) tables," said Heidi Wheeler, a Bunny-dealer at the new Playboy Club near the top of the Palms' new Fantasy Tower.
"I've had guys pull my tail off and run for the elevator," said Maya Kilam, like Wheeler, one of 25 dealers who wear the retro black-and-white Bunny outfits.
"I've been offered $100 for my ears," Wheeler added.
"We've had ladies ask whether they could buy the outfits," said Sharla Jensen, a cocktail Bunny.
An employee at the Palms was offered $1,000 for a Playboy key that was sent to VIP invitees for opening night.
April Rawlings, another Bunny cocktail server, can vouch that the allure of the Bunny mystique is alive and well.
The dark-haired stunner, who came to Las Vegas from Chicago with a degree in theoretical science and landscape architecture, has been offered trips to New York and Los Angeles by smitten customers.
Not to mention a full-court press from a randy-andy young tennis star who made it clear he was very single.
Some of the Bunnies weren't prepared for the frenzy of attention.
"We were grabbed and groped all night (on opening night)," said one, who asked that her name not be used.
"We should put squeaky toys in our tails just to shock people," added Jensen, who was a bathtub model at Tao Las Vegas before becoming a Bunny.
Said Wheeler: "One of the first things they had us all say out loud at our first meeting was, 'I am a celebrity.' We didn't believe it, but ... it's such a big deal!"
THE SCENE AND HEARD
We continue to hear rumblings that the Riviera is in talks with Roseanne for a headliner slot.
'EROCKTICA' SHOCKER
In a move that clears the way for Prince to take over the former Club Rio space, the cast of "Erocktica" has been given notice that the topless revue is closing Monday "until further notice," a Rio rep confirms.
Reached by telephone Saturday, Gabriella Versace, the show's lead, said the two-day notice was passed down to the nine-member cast Friday.
"We're heartbroken," said Versace, a former Miss Pennsylvania who adopted a stage name.
"We had heard the rumors, but sometimes they're just rumors. It's sad because it seems like revues have become passe. They're closing left and right," she added.
The Rio show opened in February 2005.
SIGHTINGS
Future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens, dining at Wolfgang Puck's Lupo (Mandalay Bay) on Friday. ... Paris Hilton, with her new beau, New York model James Neate, at Tao (Venetian) and pals Kim Kardashian and Nick Cannon. ... Artist Christian Lassen, partying at Tangerine (Treasure Island) with Playboy's Girls of Hawaiian Tropic on Friday after dinner at Social House. ... Pride fighter Vandelay Silva, on the town with friends at Pure (Caesars Palace) on Friday. ... National League home run champion Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies, at Jet (Mirage), taking in former teammate Marlon Byrd's bachelor party Friday. ... At Light and Fix (Bellagio) on Friday: Phillies catcher MikeLieberthal, living it up at his bachelor party.
THE PUNCH LINE
"The population of the United States reached 300 million yesterday. In a related story, the population of Mexico is now 38 people." -- Jay Leno
