A few speed bumps slow fast-paced ‘Headlights’

Monday, April 24, 2006 | 7:21 a.m.

What: "Headlights & Tailpipes"

When: 7:30 nightly, except May 4-6, May 11-13 and May 17-20, when the show will be performed at 10 p.m.; beginning Wednesday, the 7:30 show will be replaced by a 9 p.m. show

Dark Mondays and May 24-27 and May 30

Where: Stardust Theater

Rating (out of five stars): 3.5

You can count on Jeff Kutash to put on an entertaining, albeit often kitschy, production.

"Splash!" has been amusing and bemusing fans at the Riviera for more than 20 years. Kutash's latest effort is "Headlights & Tailpipes" at the Stardust.

The fast-paced, sexy, topless revue will be the swan song of the Stardust showroom, which for 33 years (from 1958 until 1991) was the home of another topless production - "Lido de Paris."

"Lido" and "Headlights" may be as different as night and day, but they appeal to different generations.

While "Lido" was sophisticated and elegant, "Headlights" is more earthy - filled with street dancing, sometimes vulgar songs, automobiles, motorcycles and blue collar humor. The perky troupe of topless dancers in "Headlights" is a pleasure to watch as they use classic cars and motorcycles for props.

In spite of one or two roadblocks, Kutash's production has a lot of potential.

The "Resident Hunk" Willie Hulett adds a masculine touch. The BMX Road Warriors, young men on bicycles, provide some additional excitement.

The sets are well done; costuming superb and - as would be expected with Kutash - the dancing as exciting as any on the Strip.

The 90-minute show opens with videos of automobiles, and then the stage reveals five cars that some enthusiasts will find as appealing as the women.

Each of the cars is tied into a classic song: For the Thunderbird, it's "Fun, Fun, Fun" by the Beach Boys; a hot rod evokes Jan and Dean's "Little Deuce Coupe"; and for the Mustang, there's "Mustang Sally."

After the opening number involving the cars, a couple of performers dressed as crash dummies riding human transporters (the gyroscope-balanced scooters you stand on) perform a quick routine while the set is changed. It's interesting, but not particularly entertaining.

Another diversion is the husband-and-wife comedy team of Lonesome Dave and Ludo Vika, each performing at different times during the show.

Neither elicited a lot of laughter. But they were merely speed bumps during the evening.

The worst bit was a Q&A conducted by Lauren Anderson, the July 2002 Playboy cover model. She is gorgeous, and if she just stood in the middle of the stage and allowed the show to revolve around her, she would have been an asset.

But to give her something to do, they allowed her to conduct the Q&A - asking audience members questions about cars flashed on the screen. Some won prizes - free dinners, T-shirts. It was excruciating and it brought the rapidly paced production to a dead stop, as if crashing into a brick wall.

But it recovered and quickly picked up speed again.