Separated from his last gig by a couple of miles and four years, nightclub impresario Ivan Kane is looking to pick up at the Tropicana where he left off at Revel.
From the moment it opened, Kane’s Royal Jelly Burlesque at the now-closed Revel was one of that property’s rare bright spots.
Unlike Revel’s casino, which struggled to attract customers, Kane’s 21st-century reinvention of the burlesque experience always drew crowds and — breaking with convention — attracted a broad demographic. It wasn’t unusual to see 20-somethings mixing it up with folks in their 50s and 60s, and all of them having a good time without a hint of awkwardness.
Kane hopes to debut his new nightclub experience, Kiss Kiss a Go Go, at the Tropicana around Memorial Day in the space originally occupied by the casino’s long-running Comedy Stop club, which closed abruptly in July because of financial problems. Typical of Kane, the new club will be unlike any other nightclub experience.
This one, he says, will take guests “down the rabbit hole” to the neon-fueled clubs in Bangkok, Thailand. But Kane will be careful not to cross any lines that separate good clean fun with the sexual hedonism associated with Bangkok.
“I’m very comfortable pushing the line and going right up to that line, but I’ll never cross it,” Kane says. “At the end of the day, it’s about having fun, that’s all we’re trying to do in a sexy environment. So I never let it get to that point where someone’s going to walk in and then walk out (because they’re offended).”
There’ll be no traces of the former comedy club by the time the new room opens. Guests will enter through a 50-foot tunnel wrapped in neon lights. Inside, dancers will perform atop a 50-foot bar, but instead of the usual disco-style cones, the performers will be dancing inside cages made of virtual light shafts.
DJs will spin an open mix of music, which means the club should have broad demographic appeal to people from their 20s to their 50s and 60s.
That’s just fine with Tony Rodio, the president and CEO of Tropicana Entertainment, the parent company of the Tropicana Atlantic City. Rodio has been a fan of Kane’s work ever since he visited Royal Jelly Burlesque while Revel was still open.
“I went to Royal Jelly a couple of different times and he hit the nail on the head,” Rodio says. “You go to a lot of these nightclubs and they really are targeting (certain demographics). You go to The Pool (at Harrah’s Resort) and they do phenomenal business, but I feel like a grandfather in there, because it’s 21-year-olds to 29-year-olds. But when I went to Royal Jelly, it was 21-year-olds right up to people in their 50s and 60s. It’s a totally different genre.”
Rodio says Kane’s club concepts are similar to the Trop’s retro club Boogie Nights, which specializes in music from the 1970s and 1980s.
“It appeals to kids and the older people and everybody in between,” Rodio explains.
Ever since Revel closed 18 months ago, Kane, a former actor, has wanted to find another location to set up shop in Atlantic City. He already has clubs in Las Vegas and Los Angeles — Kiss Kiss a Go Go was originally supposed to be in L.A. — but hadn’t given up on Atlantic City.
“I believe in Atlantic City, I love the community, I love the people here,” he says. “I think it’s misunderstood through the media. I think we are going to show everybody that this is an incredible market. It’s so vibrant here and so diversified in terms of what you can do here. And I just wanted an opportunity to come back but I was very particular about how I came back.”
Enter Rodio, who’s always looking to add something new to the Tropicana, which has undergone more than $100 million in improvements and expansion ever since Wall Street billionaire Carl Icahn snapped up the property at a bankruptcy auction in 2009.
Guests will enter the former Comedy Spot space through
“We’re always trying to break new ground and I think this is a perfect partnership,” Rodio said of Kane’s new club.
Kane began thinking of a Bangkok-influenced club after his first visit to the Thai capital years ago. But he was originally planning it as a stand-alone spot in Los Angeles.
“It really is a very visceral experience (in Bangkok) where all the sex clubs are. Everywhere you look, there’s neon. And it’s just one sensory bombardment after another,” he says. “That’s what we’re going to do with (Kiss Kiss a Go Go). I started creating it in my head, and when (Rodio) called me and said I could do whatever I wanted to do, I knew I was going to be taking everyone here on a trip down the rabbit hole into Bangkok.”
All of Kane’s previous clubs have been “high concept,” and the new room coming to the Trop won’t stray from that, Kane says.
“Whether it’s music or a particular art form, like burlesque, or whether it’s Bangkok, it’s just a starting off point for me, a visual reference that allows me to create the look and feel of the club and the experience,” he explains.
“We’re not replicating a Bangkok sex club. We’re not replicating an experience you’re going to get in Bangkok. But we’re certainly going to riff on that kind of experience.”
Around town
Rockin’ the Paradise, a Styx tribute band, performs a free show in the Golden Nugget Showroom on Friday at 9 p.m. as part of the casino’s Flashback Fridays series.