Peeking at the power behind ‘Peepshow’

It's not easy being a female performer on the Strip. You can't just be talented. You have to be mostly naked, or impossibly thin, or both. But at least, women wield more power in their sexualized roles.

At "Peepshow," the new, nudie burlesque show at Planet Hollywood, co-star Mel B (of the Spice Girls) sings and dances in a see-through fishnet body stocking. She didn't realize until she saw photos that she "looked that naked."

"I was like, 'Wow. It FEELS like I'm covered,'" Mel B told me, although she wasn't complaining about nudity at all.

Her co-star, Kelly Monaco, dances nude for a while, except for a G-string and chest coverage. She is unreal thin, yet in good physical shape. When she won "Dancing With The Stars" a few years ago, she lost so much weight, she wore size double-zero jeans, or sometimes shopped for pants in a children's department.

Now, Monaco has gotten in such shape for "Peepshow," jeans are falling off of her once more.

"It's happening again. You get into incredible shape when you're dancing like this, moving and rehearsing all day long," she said, also not complaining about her nudity.

Mel B and Monaco's "Peepshow" is a series of fairy tales, updated with pop songs and contemporary dance moves. In Las Vegas, "contemporary dance moves" sometimes means "stripper moves."

So at one point, 13 dancers sidle up to stripper poles, all at once, and do their leg-scissoring thing. They wear pasties made of Swarovski crystals. Dancers prance about in cheerleader outfits, or schoolgirl skirts, or a little girl-esqe negligee. This will make a number of men (and women) happy, although it may make some feminists angry.

But these female, nearly nude objects of beauty also take charge of men on stage. Mel B grabs a guy's crotch then pretends to kick it. Dancers tie a guy (who wears only boxers) to a bed, so that Monaco (sensually but dominantly) can splash pink paint on his chest and crotch.

During every show, Mel B tells at least one man in the crowd he hasn't notched enough lifetime sex to merit a night with Monaco.

"It's 'Solid Gold' meets 'Showgirls' meets 'Sex and the City,'" Lynn Comella declared after seeing it with me Thursday night.

Comella is an assistant professor in the Women's Studies Department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. She thinks "Peepshow" promotes "female sexual empowerment through the lens of male fantasy."

In other words, this is the post-"Sex and The City" form of feminism: women exert sexual control in the ways that men traditionally have, but they're still framed by male typecasting.

Comella's thesis could apply to most of the female-sexual shows on the Strip, except perhaps for "MGM Grand's Crazy Horse Paris," a feminine revue created in France, not in America.

So I went backstage to bring up Comella's idea in an interview with "Peepshow" director Jerry Mitchell, winner of a Tony and a Drama Desk award.

Mitchell said the show -- "sass, class and ass" -- is viewed through male fantasy, not female fantasy, so it can appeal to male conventioneers, who will charge their corporate credit card accounts for tickets to "Peepshow," something they can't do at a strip club.

"This is still Vegas," he said. "There are hundreds of men coming to this town, looking for something to do. If they're coming on a convention dollar, how sexy can they get?"

So for male viewers, there is wish fulfillment: "Do you know how many men would like to be painted by these girls in hee-haw panties" during Monaco's pink-paint routine?

And for female viewers, there is wish fulfillment: "I want women to [see the show] and go, 'I can put on those heels ... and whip his ass.'"

Mitchell is charming to the hilt and gay, which is pertinent but a story for another day. (Plenty of topless women in town are directed by gay men.) He is no slouch of feminism. When he directed "Legally Blonde: The Musical" for Broadway, he made the entire cast read Maureen Dowd's "Are Men Necessary," a rumination on gender bias and male-female sexual politics.

On the other hand, he thinks people should take "Peepshow" for what it is: a lighthearted, variety burlesque.

"People forget in our society, everything is so hard, and pushed in our face. Sex is supposed to be fun. We're supposed to enjoy it," he said. "A lot of time, you're giving people a license to play, to have fun with sex."

Besides, the women dancers of "Peepshow" are real people, with deep backgrounds in dance, and putting up with the pains of burlesque bruises.

"Changing pasties three times a night is killing them," Mitchell said.

I was introduced to one of those dancers, Tara Palsha (also a model), while she and I watched other dancers rehearse taking off their tops in a complicated choreography. Palsha pointed to scrapes on her own knees, and bandages on her elbows.

Palsha is working her nearly nude butt off. She joined the cast last week, after leaving the Luxor's nearly nude show, "Fantasy," then had to memorize four "Peepshow" stage numbers, including a long lead dance.

When she drives her car to work and home, she listens to the show's music, visualizing her moves. When she goes to bed, she falls asleep with a portable DVD player on her chest, memorizing videos of routines.

"This is a hard show," Palsha, also swimming in charm and smiles, told me.

Palsha -- 31, a trained classical and contemporary dancer -- said "Peepshow" is female-friendly, not intimidating, but inspiring daydreams.

Women can watch the acts and think, for instance, "I want to be on a saddle, swinging in the air."

"Peepshow" is a good opportunity for Palsha. At Thursday's show, a big group of "Fantasy" dancers showed up and supportively whooped it up very loudly for her.

On Saturday night, "Peepshow" had its official grand opening, where Palsha and her peers danced topless in front of an invite-only crowd that included the names Lindsay Lohan, Chris Noth, Donald Trump and Perez Hilton. She received a rousing ovation.

"I've been topless for six years in this town," Palsha said.

She started at "Jubilee."

"I felt that was a safe transition, because we were in $15,000 costumes ... dripping in rhinestones" as designed by Bob Mackie, she said.

"I would never do anything I'd be ashamed of. Everything I've done in this town has had class, some more than others."

For Monaco, who once posed in Playboy, this was her first topless stage production. She wanted to be in "Peepshow," she said, because it's "incredibly empowering."

She agreed with Comella's thesis -- female sexual empowerment through a male viewpoint -- but said that's a "beautiful" combination.

"The male is seeing the woman in the most confident way. It's not in a tasteless, gratuitous way. It's playful and confident. These women are owning the stage. This is their house, and you're the viewer," Monaco said.

And women viewers?

"I think women leave here and go, 'How can I do that? How can I channel my inner goddess and go after it?' Hold your head up high. Don't be afraid of your body, of your movements, of yourself, or your being."

So that's the story of how hot and thin, nearly naked, professional dancers who ride stripper poles is a step in the right direction for women on the Las Vegas Strip.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.