After 34 years on the Strip, ‘Crazy Girls’ seeks a home

The show that weathered an implosion, a move to a new hotel, and a series of similar competing productions couldn’t survive Caesars Entertainment’s axe.

“Crazy Girls,” an iconic show on the Las Vegas Strip, is among the shows lopped by Caesars Entertainment’s incoming ownership team from Eldorado Resorts. Well-known for its famous “No If Ands Or …” derriere signs and statue, the show opened in September 1987 at the Riviera. It then moved to Planet Hollywood’s Sin City Theater in 2015, and until Thursday was the second-longest-running production show currently operating on the Strip. Only “Legends In Concert” has held on longer, since 1983.

But for the moment, the “Crazy Girls” show is homeless.

“I’m not used to looking for a room, after 34 years,” producer Norbert Aleman said Friday. “But will find one. We have a great cast, and great fans.”

One interested party, we can confidently report, is Mosaic On The Strip. The free-standing venue across from Park MGM is where the male revue “Aussie Heat,” retro-music production “Queens of Rock” starring Elyzabeth Diaga, and the incoming “M.J. The Evolution” show are all in rotation. Notoriety at Neonopolis, too, is a suitable home for the show and has shown interest.

The “Crazy Girls” creative team, led by Norbert and director/choreographer Jennifer Aleman, learned Thursday its showroom would close. In a mantra from the other Caesars Entertainment productions receiving that sad news, they were stunned.

“We thought, even a few days ago, we would be coming back,” Jennifer Aleman said. “We had called expecting more information about reopening, not this news.”

“Crazy Girls” has logged more than 17,000 productions since opening at the Riv. The show originally ran three shows per night, including a midnight production. It had already made its deal at Sin City Theater when the Riv closed and was subsequently knocked down to make room for the Las Vegas Convention Center’s West Hall.

“Crazy Girls” is certainly resilient. As the show was hauling out of Riviera to move to Planet Hollywood in 2015, a moving truck stuffed with equipment, costumes, sets and props was stolen from the Riv parking garage.

The truck was later recovered, but the stolen items — valued at more than $200,000 — were never recovered.

The “No If Ands Or …” campaign was launched in 1994. Soon, elected officials took issue with the images of dancers in G-Strings, derrieres to the camera, and ordered them covered in cloth skirts. That decision led to accidents, as vehicles slowed to look under the skirts, which were eventually removed.

The statue, which has been visited (and rubbed, for good luck) by millions of fans will soon be pulled from Planet Hollywood’s casino floor.

“The butt statue will go with us,” Jennifer Aleman said. “Wherever we go, it follows.”

John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His “PodKats!” podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts. Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.