It’s all about the hustle and the shuffle at Ivan Kane’s Forty Deuce.
“Sexxy,” Jennifer Romas’s indefatigable adult revue, is sashaying into the Wednesday night void at the Mandalay Place nightspot beginning May 20.
The show has zigzagged around VegasVille and beyond for more than a decade. Romas is finally marking the show’s Strip debut over four performances. The mini-residency continues May 27, June 3 and June 10. Tickets run $49 and $99, in GA-t0-VIP packages (go to fortydeuce.com for intel).
The idea is to fill the venue and create some local buzz after Franky Perez and the All Nighters closed out their Wednesday-Thursday residency. The band’s final show was April 30, the day the announcement was issued that the residency was ending.
Perez, whose new album, “Damelo,” is a gem, is still playing no-cover Fridays at Rocks Lounge at Red Rock Resort. The Vegas native said in a statement he is grateful for the chance to play the room, looking forward to returning someday, “but at this time we have decided not to renew the residency.”
Romas has stepped in with her nine-member “Sexxy” production. She is the show’s visionary, producer, director and star. Forever enforcing the show’s brand, Romas possesses the proven ability to turn even a simple conversation into a residency.
She met Kane at his namesake club recently, unexpectedly. Now tickets are on sale, and she’s deep in rehearsals.
“I came in here one night, and he happened to be here, and we started talking, and started carrying on a conversation, and we’re like, ‘Let’s do it. Let’s make it happen,’” Romas said in a phone chat during a break in rehearsals. “So yeah, I’m super excited. The show obviously has to adapt to the layout of the venue. And everyone knows this venue is very, very different.”
Kane’s club is a largely standing experience with the stage arching around the crowd. Several booths are available for VIPs.
“We’re actually going to do a ‘Sexy After Hours’ meet-and-greet, where we open up to a nightclub after the show. People can hang out and dance and meet the cast,” Romas says. “We’re looking at the possibility of doing a special performance. Even though we can’t bring in a lot of our big props, it’s going to be super-powerful.”
Kane is happy to partner with a performer who knows Vegas, on and off the stage. He says, “I’m thrilled to have a consummate pro like Jennifer bring her iconic show into the Forty Deuce fold. ‘Sexxy’ will fit like a glove.”
Romas is used to adapting. She is currently running until the shutdown of Primm Valley Event Center on Saturday, and again May 24. This partnership was expected to build to more dates, but Primadonna Company confirmed Wednesday all of its properties would shut down July 4.
“I found out about it through the media, like everyone else,” Romas said. But the popular Vegas entertainment pro is experienced in swift changes. Romas run “Sexxy” for more than 1,000 performances at Westgate Cabaret from 2015-2021, then built the production into the parking lot Dreamland Drive-In at FreshWata Studios during COVID. Later, a “Sexxy” variation played Larry Flint’s Hustler Club.
Romas performed a one-off at Virgin Hotels in March, celebrating the brand’s 10th anniversary. Recovering from knee and replacement surgeries, she returned her signature “November Rain” bathtub number. She is bringing that act, and “Sexxy,” back this month.
“We’re putting Sexxy into Forty Deuce,” the producer says, not needing to remind that in her description, it’s sexy with the double-X.
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. Contact him at [email protected]. Follow @johnnykats on X, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.