Photo by Danielle Brown, IGLV
Susan Thompon hosts "The Playboy Show," with performers
dressed in sheer Las Vegas-style costumes to
present the illusion of nudity.

Playboy show is
full of dance

By John Berger
Special to the Star-Bulletin

IT'S been more than 20 years since Jack Cione rocked Waikiki with "The Follies Polynesia" starring Prince Hanalei at the club he dubbed Le Boom Boom, and almost exactly 14 years since Stewart Macpherson shook Honolulu prudes with "Brasil Tropical" in the Blaisdell Concert Hall.

Both shows added color and variety to the local entertainment scene. The Playboy Show, celebrating its official grand opening tonight after a soft opening Tuesday night, does the same.

ON STAGE What: "The Playboy Show" When: 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. nightly, except Wednesdays Where: Ilikai Nikko Hotel, 1777 Ala Moana Boulevard Tickets: Cocktail show $35; dinner packages available before the first show $70 to $94, seating at 5 p.m. Kamaaina rates $19.50 for cocktails, $42 to $56.40 for dinner. Validated parking. Call: 946-6107

Playboy is the name. Dance is the game. The show combines dramatic choreography, brash costumes, colorful props, imaginative staging and high-tech sound and lighting. Each dance number seems more impressive than the other. Every choreographer, dancer and aspiring dancer in town should see this supercharged alternative in showroom entertainment. It's a fine choice for open-minded non-dancers as well.

Pert Shannon O'Keefe leads the female dancers through routines that match anything going on in town this side of the bar girls in "Miss Saigon."

The three male dancers also look like they'd be able to hold their own against anyone on the local "all-male revue" circuit. They are all in superb shape.

A segment built around the erotic compositions of The Artist (back when he was still Prince) is one of the highlights. A fashion show of fabulous befeathered showgirl costumes is a showstopper.

Singer Susan Thompson is an engaging mistress of ceremonies. Her romantic comments about the significance of a first kiss and related topics add to the sense that this is as much a show for couples as for bachelor and bachelorette parties.

Rebecca Scott, Miss August 1999, adds marque value as a Playboy Playmate. She addresses several songs as well and gets a lucky guy on stage for a brief "date." They share a banana, dance and pose for a comic photo.

The men dance topless of course; it wasn't all that long ago that male toplessness was considered shocking here. Both the men and women wear thongs in some segments.

Have no fear, Honolulu, there's no smut here. Yet it must be said of the women's wear: The costumes cry out for artistic bralessness. Most of the costumes comprise sheer nude fabric to appease local prudes.

The tops should go. What's the big deal about bralessness when nude dancers are performing a few blocks away just across the street from the Hawai'i Convention Center?

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