The Las Vegas Folies Are Still Kickin
The Folies Bergère is the longest running production show in Las Vegas, nestled at the Tropicana Hotel/Casino for the last 50 years or so.
That's not counting the original spectacle in Paris, France (that's the one with the real Eiffel Tower).
The name was a French word "folies," derived from the Latin word for leaves (foliae), the idea being that it was an outdoor venue, combined with the name of one of the nearby streets, the Rue Trevise.
A financial backer of the production who was a rich nobleman didn't want anyone to think he was associated with a scandalous enterprise, so as a result it was changed to the present name on September 13, 1872, after another nearby street the Rue Bergere, a locale in the Montmartre a place that was the inspiration of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings and thereby immortalizing, the infamous Can-Can performance.
These days a walk through the Venetian's Canal Shoppes one can see more female flesh without effort in see-through blouses and lingerie that doubles as outerwear to thongs and high heels.
(Not that there's anything wrong with that...
) But back to the Folies.
I was the audio engineer for the Las Vegas Tropicana Folies production in the late nineteen-nineties and I probably have seen that show well over 1500 times.
What used to amaze me was that the women would come in looking like any other person and transform themselves with makeup and costuming to dazzling majestic goddesses that could cause any mere mortal man to drop to their knees and beg to marry them on the spot.
There were indeed, among a flock of fifty or so women, a few truly natural perfect physical specimens that could wake up mussed-in-the-morning without make up and still look to die for, but youth fades and thankfully most of the women I had known were very intelligent as well.
Vicki Petterson, for example was writing a historical novel, that she since abandoned and now has her third book out in the genre of horror, based in Vegas.
( http://www.
vickipettersson.
com) She was an absolute delight to talk about any subject, but obviously our connection was the art of writing, as we were both attempting the difficult task of writing our first novel and being published at that time.
If you look at the posters that promote the Folies show, that is Vicki, although she is long gone.
Actually she looked even more gorgeous without the makeup.
The topless show is tame by today's standards, but it still entertains you, utilizing huge sets from days past and acrobatic dancers that aren't from Montreal (that have invaded every other theater, with 6 versions of the usual suspects from all of the Cirque de Soleil acts).
The audio system is what it is, and at this point no one is going to spend the $300,000 it would take to upgrade to today's digital standards, although Louie Maldanado does an outstanding job of making it sound the best anyone could.
The energy level is kept high regardless of the lack of capital investment in new sets or costumes and the Can-Can portion is still one of the best highlights of the show.
The futuristic portions are a little outdated but the show on the whole is still, year after year, decade after decade, something that you will never see anywhere else.
Bally's Jubilee is the only other show that comes close, but it doesn't have the history or the pedigree of The Folies Bergère.
The Folies has undergone changes through the years, but it is the last of a breed that will probably never be duplicated again.
It is much like walking through a high-end antique store, as great beauty is timeless and this show is as well.
If you are in Las Vegas or are a local, go and see it if you can before the less than astute new owners have to sell it to another casino conglomerate and they bring in the wrecking ball to level the place for a parking lot.
That's not counting the original spectacle in Paris, France (that's the one with the real Eiffel Tower).
The name was a French word "folies," derived from the Latin word for leaves (foliae), the idea being that it was an outdoor venue, combined with the name of one of the nearby streets, the Rue Trevise.
A financial backer of the production who was a rich nobleman didn't want anyone to think he was associated with a scandalous enterprise, so as a result it was changed to the present name on September 13, 1872, after another nearby street the Rue Bergere, a locale in the Montmartre a place that was the inspiration of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's paintings and thereby immortalizing, the infamous Can-Can performance.
These days a walk through the Venetian's Canal Shoppes one can see more female flesh without effort in see-through blouses and lingerie that doubles as outerwear to thongs and high heels.
(Not that there's anything wrong with that...
) But back to the Folies.
I was the audio engineer for the Las Vegas Tropicana Folies production in the late nineteen-nineties and I probably have seen that show well over 1500 times.
What used to amaze me was that the women would come in looking like any other person and transform themselves with makeup and costuming to dazzling majestic goddesses that could cause any mere mortal man to drop to their knees and beg to marry them on the spot.
There were indeed, among a flock of fifty or so women, a few truly natural perfect physical specimens that could wake up mussed-in-the-morning without make up and still look to die for, but youth fades and thankfully most of the women I had known were very intelligent as well.
Vicki Petterson, for example was writing a historical novel, that she since abandoned and now has her third book out in the genre of horror, based in Vegas.
( http://www.
vickipettersson.
com) She was an absolute delight to talk about any subject, but obviously our connection was the art of writing, as we were both attempting the difficult task of writing our first novel and being published at that time.
If you look at the posters that promote the Folies show, that is Vicki, although she is long gone.
Actually she looked even more gorgeous without the makeup.
The topless show is tame by today's standards, but it still entertains you, utilizing huge sets from days past and acrobatic dancers that aren't from Montreal (that have invaded every other theater, with 6 versions of the usual suspects from all of the Cirque de Soleil acts).
The audio system is what it is, and at this point no one is going to spend the $300,000 it would take to upgrade to today's digital standards, although Louie Maldanado does an outstanding job of making it sound the best anyone could.
The energy level is kept high regardless of the lack of capital investment in new sets or costumes and the Can-Can portion is still one of the best highlights of the show.
The futuristic portions are a little outdated but the show on the whole is still, year after year, decade after decade, something that you will never see anywhere else.
Bally's Jubilee is the only other show that comes close, but it doesn't have the history or the pedigree of The Folies Bergère.
The Folies has undergone changes through the years, but it is the last of a breed that will probably never be duplicated again.
It is much like walking through a high-end antique store, as great beauty is timeless and this show is as well.
If you are in Las Vegas or are a local, go and see it if you can before the less than astute new owners have to sell it to another casino conglomerate and they bring in the wrecking ball to level the place for a parking lot.