Enduring ‘Folies’ keeping step with the times

Friday, March 26, 2004 | 8:23 a.m.

The production surgeons at the Tropicana from time to time give their classic "Folies Bergere" a little cosmetic surgery to keep the nation's oldest continuously running show looking young and fresh.

A nip here, a tuck there. Some new costumes. A couple of new songs and dances. A few lighting changes.

Lead surgeon Jerry Jackson has kept the now-44-year-old paradigm of Las Vegas glamour alive and vibrant for the past four decades.

Other topless productions from the '50s, '60s and '70s succumbed to age and public whim long ago.

"Lido de Paris," "La Parisienne," "Casino de Paris," "Viva les Girls" and numerous other adult-themed French revues that helped make Las Vegas world famous are now distant memories.

But "Folies," which debuted on Dec. 24, 1959, is still very much alive and doing the can-can for some 40,000 fans a month in the 950-seat Tiffany Theatre.

There are a lot of challengers to the production's claim to being the most glamorous show in town.

Among the young upstarts are "La Femme" at the MGM Grand, "Skintight" at Harrah's and "Midnight Fantasy" at Luxor.

Each is good in its own way, but none of them achieve the grandeur of the exciting spectacle that "Folies" has provided for the past 43 years.

Jackson, the show's director, choreographer and designer, recently unveiled his latest revisions.

Among them is the addition of a scene that takes place in the 1940s in the Club Tropicana in Cuba. Lead male vocalist and emcee Dan O'Brien begins the scene singing the lively "Jumpin' East of Java," accompanied by female dancers in brightly colored dresses and male dancers in black zoot suits dancing the mambo.

The entire production is infused with a pageantry of colorful costumes, enhanced by the traditional sequins and feathers.

One of the most interesting numbers of the evening is reminiscent of a Busby Berkley production from the '30s. Dancers create a kaleidoscope effect as they lie down on a round, rotating stage and their leg movements are reflected in a large, tilted mirror.

Many of Jackson's production numbers, such as the ballroom and the Paris Latin scenes, are breathtaking.

The adagio dance team of Stephanie Shaw and Chris Nicholson are magnificent when they perform a routine to "Hope" (a musical piece written by the multitalented Jackson).

Lead female vocalist Traci Ault, attractive and athletic enough to be one of the dancers, continues to be a rewarding part of the production.

During the scene "Pin-ups," she is featured in a number dressed as Betty Grable, the original pin-up girl. Ault sings "Keeping Out of Mischief Now."

Another popular part of the show is Wally Eastwood, billed as the fastest juggler in the world.

He may be.

During one bit he juggles three silvery bowling pins. With the light hitting the metallic sheen in the semi-dark room, it gave the illusion that he was actually juggling small bolts of lightning.

No matter how often Eastwood's fans see him perform, they never seem to tire of his routines, which include playing a keyboard by bouncing tennis balls on the keys to produce such numbers as "La Cucaracha" and "God Bless the U.S.A."

While individual elements within "Folies Bergere" occasionally are tweaked, the overall show remains the same.

It is a celebration of women, tracing their changing roles in society from decade to decade, beginning with the ballroom era of the 1850s, when females were demure, polite and gracious, and ending in the first decade of the 21st Century, when they have evolved into dynamic forces and equal partners with men.

Jackson's operation is a success.