Imagine washing down peanuts and popcorn with scotch and soda. It’s an oversimplification, of course, but in a nutshell, that’s one way to describe Dennis Gomes’ latest plan to stir up the Atlantic City entertainment pot at Resorts Casino Hotel this summer.
ATLANTIC CITY — Imagine washing down peanuts and popcorn with scotch and soda.
It’s an oversimplification, of course, but in a nutshell, that’s one way to describe Dennis Gomes’ latest plan to stir up the Atlantic City entertainment pot at Resorts Casino Hotel this summer.
The maverick casino owner has sacrificed about 130 surface parking spaces across the street from his gaming hall to erect a six-story tent that will house three distinctly different circuses targeting three distinctly different demographics.
During the afternoon, families can take in the Great American Circus, a show with a fairly traditional format that will include typical circus attractions, including clowns, aerial acts and daredevils.
In the early evening, many of the performers from the G-rated show will change into tropical-style costumes to perform Cirque Polynesian, a program with a South Pacific feel that features the “nouveau cirque” artistry and athleticism popularized by the Cirque du Soleil troupe and now copied around the world.
While there’s really nothing too novel about cirque-style entertainment in Atlantic City, it’s the late-night third show — Cirque Risqué: The Naked Circus — that’s raising some eyebrows.
Never one to shy away from controversy, Gomes — who caused a stir last winter by putting a woman’s mostly bare butt on a billboard promoting another show — says the Naked Circus would be “pretty seductive” and feature cirque performers testing the physical limitations of their bodies — not to mention costumes that will test the law.
The performers will be dressed — actually, undressed — in just enough clothing to conform with New Jersey gaming laws that prohibit nudity in casinos. That means pasties, G-strings, peek-a-boo lingerie and body paint for the women and glorified jock straps for the men.
“These [performers] are all athletes with finely tuned and beautiful bodies,” Gomes says. “The costumes will be sensual and revealing but still comply with the minimum standards of the law.”
All three circuses are being staged for Resorts by veteran circus producer Cornell “Tuffy” Nicholas, a second-generation circus performer whose father was a legendary ringmaster and whose mother was a circus animal trainer.
Two of the three circuses — Great American and Polynesian — have been performed in various locations for years. Although Nicholas has produced risqué and adult entertainment in the past, mounting this type of show in a circus format is new, Gomes says. A total of 45 performers have been hired to staff the shows. Each show will feature approximately 20 performers and last about 75 minutes.
Like just about every facet of the casino industry, shows that celebrate the holiday season have changed considerably over the years. Gone are the days when a seemingly endless array of top-name artists brought their seasonal productions to showroom stages.
In late July, Nicholas had actually rolled out three circuses at Resorts in a massive, 1,800-seat air-conditioned tent pitched on a parking lot at the casino. But when Hurricane Irene began bearing down on Atlantic City in late August, Cornell and the casino decided to strike the tent and move two of the three shows into Resorts’ Superstar Theater.
During the grand opening of Resorts Casino took place on May 27, Dennis Gomes, Joe Piscopo and Mayor Lorenzo Langford announced that several exciting attractions will be coming to Atlantic City’s newest resort.
It’s got all the elements you’d expect from one of Atlantic City’s hottest nightclubs: the loud and pulsating rhythms of popular songs, a swirling light show and, perhaps the most essential ingredient, a frenetic and sweaty energy that never quits.
By Jeff Schwachter THE LIGHTNING BOLTS that adorn Resorts Atlantic City's new tower are finally set to receive the jolt of electricity they've been anxiously waiting for this Friday morning, July 2. The casino hotel will officially cut the ribbon at its new 27-story structure, one that has been standing next to Resorts' existing tower -- under construction -- for the past two years. The shock is expected to be felt not only by Resorts, but also throughout the entire city. The tower, dubbed Rendezvous, is a $125 million project that boasts 357 rooms, 42 luxury suites, a retail space that will feature upscale shops, and 14,000 square feet of additional gaming space for Resorts. It will officially take its place in Atlantic City history with grand opening events scheduled throughout this holiday weekend. New rooms have been booked solid since the tower's "soft" opening in mid-June, and Resorts officials expect occupancy to be in the high 90-percent range all summer long. Several hundred more rooms at the foot of a recently re-nourished beach mean more visitors dining, shopping and experiencing entertainment in town as a whole. "Every hotel room helps the entire city by creating an opportunity for someone else to...
Resorts has provided AC Weekly with terrific time-lapse video showing the raising of the new Resorts Event Pavilion, where the circuses will be performed through Sept. 11, 2011.
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