La Find

Kirk Baird

Friday, June 29, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

The MGM Grand is taking a less-is-more approach with its newest show, "La Femme."

Imported directly from the well-known Crazy Horse in Paris, the topless show is MGM's way of "getting back the adult entertainment Las Vegas was known for and has gotten away from," said Bill Hornbuckle, president and chief operating officer of the hotel-casino.

"It's very exotic and very classy," Hornbuckle said of the show, which opened earlier this month. "It ties into the whole Las Vegas experience the freedom to get away from your daily life and to experience something you couldn't or wouldn't otherwise do. The show is right on target with what we want to do.

"I made a tongue-in-cheek comment the other day that Dorothy and Toto have left the building. If theres anything weve done that represents that, its this show."

"La Femme," which has two nightly performances Wednesday through Monday at the La Femme Theater, is not a topless show, per se, in that's it's "classy" enough for couples to attend.

Featuring 13 classically trained dancers from the Paris show, "La Femme" is about the graceful beauty of the feminine form. As detailed under the colored lights and strobe effects, there is an artistic quality to the 12 performances, some of which are solo while others feature a group of dancers up to and including the entire cast.

The "La Femme" cast is part of 32 dancers from Crazy Horse. Women who range in age from 18 to their mid-20s come to Paris from all parts of the world to audition. Out of about 10 auditions per week, only five or six women are chosen annually.

The dancers usually sign a yearlong contract, but can stay as long as their bodies permit. (The rule of thumb is, whatever a dancer looks like and weighs when she's hired, that's the appearance and weight she must maintain to remain with Crazy Horse.)

The idea is to rotate the dancers every three months to give all the women a chance to visit Las Vegas, to keep those in Las Vegas from becoming homesick (except for visits from family and significant others, the women are here only with the show's crew) and to keep a rotation of fresh faces and bodies for repeat business.

All told, it took about two years of planning to make the show possible, including designing the theater and dealing with the aspects of bringing international performers to the United States.

Moving history

The Las Vegas show represents an accomplishment to the Bernardin family, whose father, Alain, founded Crazy Horse in 1951 in the basement of a building on Avenue George V, near the Place de l'Alma.

Since that time the show has proven immensely successful: more than 5 million patrons -- including Madonna, Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Elvis Presley and Sting -- have seen it.

Despite its popularity, however, Crazy Horse remained a Paris-only attraction until recently. After the death of Alain seven years ago his daughter and two sons inherited the business and began to think about expansion.

There was a one-time performance in Hong Kong in 1997, just before Great Britain relinquished control of its colony to China. Then there was a running show for two years in Monte Carlo, which ended about a year ago.

"Dad's dream was to come to Las Vegas," said Sophie Bernardin, co-owner and artistic director of the Crazy Horse franchise. "Since he died we have been looking to add another show."

With the MGM Grand wanting to create some "adult" fare, it was only natural that the two interested parties would discuss moving a Crazy Horse show to Las Vegas.

Hornbuckle said after visiting the Crazy Horse 2 1/2 years ago, he knew it was the show the hotel-casino had been seeking. His belief was reinforced after watching a few other topless reviews and realizing there "wasn't anything out there" that competes with the Crazy Horse.

"Crazy Horse is a cultural icon," he said. "Nothing else carried that kind of brand quality and that kind of panache. We knew what we wanted and the question was could we get it."

The MGM Grand and Crazy Horse began negotiating to bring the topless show to Las Vegas. It didn't take long before a deal was ironed out and for a 10-year agreement to be reached.

The hotel-casino then spent $3 million renovating the Cabaret Theatre to more closely match its Parisian cousin, which includes duplications of the stage dimensions, interior design, fabric, colors and tabletops.

"Obviously, it's got to perform," Hornbuckle said of the financial investment and contract with the show. "But we see it as a long-term commitment."

He mentioned that other hotel-casinos, such as Harrah's, Mandalay Bay and Luxor, have topless shows, all of which point to a public demand for such adult entertainment.

But Hornbuckle was quick to add that there are differences between those topless shows and "La Femme."

"(La Femme is) in a league of its own in terms of the way it's presented," he said. "I don't want to speak negatively of our competitors' (shows), but there's a sophistication level it brings and an elegance to this show that we don't feel the others possess."

And what is that "elegance"?

Bernardin said it's the unique mixture of lights, sounds and beautiful women -- a combination that's often imitated, but never duplicated.

"Some people try to do what we do, but no one has succeeded yet," she said. "There are many shows in Paris where women are topless or nude. But we have a different way of doing things. That's why we're here."

Dance fever

Volga Moskovskaya said it had been a dream of hers since she was young to be a Crazy Horse dancer, especially after seeing a TV program about the show in her native Poland.

After a friend of hers was hired as a Crazy Horse dancer, she recruited Moskovskaya, who was 21 at the time and too "chubby" for the show.

She persisted, however, auditioning several times -- in each case losing more weight -- before she finally was hired.

That was in 1995. Two months ago the statuesque blonde was promoted to dance captain, which means she supervises the dancers almost daily at rehearsals, acts as a sort of mentor for the dancers and serves as their spokeswoman. (Moskovskaya is the only dancer of "La Femme" allowed to speak to the press.)

And, in case of emergency or illness with one of the dancers, Moskovskaya can fill in. Each dancer, including Moskovskaya, knows multiple dance routines and can be interchanged for others when necessary. Sitting in a comfortable chair backstage between shows, Moskovskaya, with some translating help from Bernardin -- she speaks fluent Polish and French, while her Russian and English are less-polished -- said she has thoroughly enjoyed her time with Crazy Horse and plans to stay with the show as long as she can.

"Crazy Horse is my life," she said. "It's better than my dreams, but my life (in the group) is very, very hard."

Moskovskaya also defended the show's nudity.

"Crazy Horse show is topless, but it's an illusion of nudity when I'm onstage," she said. "I'm not nude -- the clothes, the lights, the makeup. It's not," she paused for a moment to think of the correct word, "crude."

Hornbuckle, not surprisingly, had the same view as Moskovskaya that "La Femme's" nudity is tastefully presented. And, he said, he had taken his wife to see the show "with absolutely no hesitation."

Which is why he said he feels the show will be successful.

"I don't want to sound overly optimistic," he said, "but once the story is fully told, I think when you come to Las Vegas it will be something that you must do."