Crazy Girls

Topless Revue.

The longest-running show on the Strip.

Crazy Girls has undergone a complete transformation recently. See write-up below.

$34.95 - $40.00
9:30 nightly, dark Tuesdays.
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Pushing the Envelope
Celebrating 20 years of Crazy Girls
By Bobbie Katz Las Vegas Magazine

In the dark showroom, right in front of your eyes, a beautiful girl reclines on a bed, provocatively posturing to reflect her beautiful nearly nude body in the soft patterned lights. As the bed turns and the sexy undulations increase, you ask yourself, with your eyes wide open, "Am I dreaming?" Or could it be that you're witnessing a new spin on Las Vegas entertainment?

With the latter being the case, the naked truth is that the very intent is to drive you Crazy. And the only remedy (if you really want one) is simply to take two tickets and rejoice about it in the morning.

No ifs, ands or butts about it, this latest version of Crazy Girls Fantasy Revue at the Riviera, one of the longest running revues on the Las Vegas Strip, is the edgiest so far. Having just undergone a complete transformation to celebrate its 20th anniversary, complete with four new girls in the nine-member cast and 10 new numbers, the show is looking to combine beauty, sensuality, class and unique choreography and lighting into controversy by design.

"It was the initial controversy about the show that helped us get our audience after I debuted it at the hotel on Sept. 17, 1986," said Norbert Aleman, creator/producer of the revue. "I was the first to bring this kind of revue to the Strip and people were not used to that kind of show. In the beginning, a few of the numbers offended people and some actually walked out. Then, state Sen. (Bill) O'Donnell and the county tried to ban my ‘No Ifs Ands or Butts' billboards and cab-backs. So people wanted to see the show out of curiosity."

"But audiences have evolved over the last 20 years—they are more liberated, more Europeanized, more accepting of nudity," he said. "That's why, for our 20th anniversary, I wanted a change that was totally fresh and different. This show is sexier, more aggressive, revealing and artistic. I wanted to be more controversial. I wanted to be the first again to be more avant-garde and to be copied once more. So many shows have tried to copy Crazy Girls but haven't survived."

Aleman describes Crazy Girls as the symbol of a beautiful woman, as seen by himself and every normal man. In some respects, such as in the staging and lighting patterns on the girls' bodies, the show resembles the Crazy Horse show in Paris, which was its original intent. In fact, when Meshulam Riklis, who owned the Riviera back then, was looking for an original show to put into the hotel, Aleman, who had come here from his native Paris in 1976, proposed a Crazy Horse-like revue.

"I knew the creator of Crazy Horse, Alain Bernardin, and his original choreographer, Victor Abshaw, and I were good friends," Aleman said. "I had danced with Victor at the Lido de Paris in Paris. I asked Bernardin if he had any intention of doing the Crazy Horse in Las Vegas and he told me that it belonged to Paris and would stay in Paris. He gave me his blessing to do a like show in Vegas, and I brought over Victor and his team to do the choreography, lighting and more."

The similarities stop there, however. According to Aleman, French women are kind of flat and there is no glamour in France as there is in America. As a result, the show has been "Vegasized," infused with much more energy, heart, sexuality and love, as well as more glamorous costumes and colorful wigs, than its predecessor.

Aleman is currently in the process of creating a Crazy Girls reality show, for which he is talking to the Bravo network, and in February he starts filming a Crazy Girls movie called Crazy Girls Undercover, which he is talking to HBO or Showtime about buying. To get these things accomplished, he has turned over the reins of the show and the title of producer to Karen Raider, who has been company manager for the last five years since quitting dancing in the show. Raider was one of the original Crazy Girls, who performed a pole dance to Eartha Kitt's "How Could You Believe Me?," one of the few older numbers that still remains in the production, and calls Aleman her mentor.

"We've really pushed the envelope this time," she said about the changes in the revue. "But the show never crosses the line to pornography and everything is done in good taste. Over time, you get to know what's too much for an audience. There are ways to rein things in, such as with the lighting. But the girls are all a class act."

"There's a definite place for this show in this town and it has made a name for itself," she summed up. "It's sexy but playful with a naughtiness to it, and the girls are beautiful. And it's something people aren't going to see at home."

That's why Aleman and Raider are still "crazy" after all these years.