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Tropicana's 'Les Folies Bergere' Closes, Criss Angel Remains

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 3801 Las Vegas Blvd S [map], Las Vegas, NV, United States, 89109
March 30, 2009 at 9:28 AM | by | Comments (0)

It's a sad day in Vegas today. This morning marks the beginning of the first week in almost 50 years without the Tropicana's "Les Folies Bergere," the classic French-import Vegas showgirl revue that had been running since 1959.

Due to thinning audiences and the relative unpopularity of showgirl-style entertainment on the strip (compared to shows like Cirque du Soleil and whatnot — and, um, we suppose the stiff competition posed by Criss Angel's tanking "Believe" at The Luxor), "Folies" had its very last show on Saturday night after a whopping 29,000 runs since Christmas of '59.

Today, the Las Vegas Sun ran a vintage review of one of the very first productions of the show, written almost 50 years ago:

From beginning to end this is the most dazzling entertainment which any city has been privileged to see. It’s saucy, piquant and racy in the splendidly provocative French way.

It’s the Old French theory of “girls, girls, girls.” They come at you from all sides in the most dazzling of costumes and shapes. And not just a display of feminine nudity but beautiful, talented dancers whose facial expressions and body movements are continental theatre.

Um, and what do we have for Vegas entertainment in 2009? We have Criss Angel's "Believe." It is still surviving. Somehow. Yes, life is unfair.

[Photo: Leila Navidi/Las Vegas Sun]

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