ACWeekly.com Nightlife Awards Party A Hit

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Thursday night's 3rd Annual Reader's Choice Nightlife Awards party at Boogie Nights at Resorts was the biggest and most exciting one yet.

By AC Weekly Staff

Add Comment | Comments: 1 | Posted Jan. 28, 2011

Resorts debuted its new Flapper Girls Thursday night at Boogie Nights for the Nightlife Awards. The beautiful girls helped pass champagne and Red Bull, one of the event sponsors.

Photo by Donald B. Kravitz

Click here for a photo gallery from the 2011 ACWeekkly.com Reader's Choice Nightlife Awards at Boogie Nights at Resorts.

ATLANTIC CITY — The frigid weather didn't keep the Atlantic City nightlife industry or its patrons at home Thursday night, Jan. 27.

Neither did Wednesday's minor snow event.

But the event of the week was the third annual ACWeekly.com Reader's Choice Nightlife Awards, held at Boogie Nights at Resorts.

Click here to see list of winners.

Casino executives, representatives, friends, colleagues, family and others within the sphere of the Atlantic City region's vibrant nightlife scene flocked to the Boardwalk in droves, dressed to the nines, and ready to party at Boogie Nights and celebrate the area's dynamic and unique nightlife spots, performers, DJs, bartenders, and other assets of the Atlantic City region's nightlife impressive scene.

As it was meant to be when the idea was first tossed around by Boogie Nights owner and creator Dave Pena and AC Weekly editor Jeff Schwachter in the fall of 2008, the night celebrated those nightlife industry workers who help make the region the tourist attraction that it is.

"They're always working," says Schwachter, "so we wanted to throw a party for them. Our many readers voted online in several categories. We got 3,000 votes online this year!

"The categories were pared down this year to make the program flow a bit better and I think it worked out very well. A great turnout, great crowd, great dancers and beautiful Flapper Girls! We want to thank a lot of people for last night's tremedous success, especially Resorts owner Dennis Gomes, all of our sponsors, including Kim Lucasti and all of the models from Eleganza, Chuck Darrow from the Philly Daily News, all of the AC Weekly columnists and writers who presented and came out, and Scott and Jade [Starling] who did an amazing job hosting."

Held at the retro-themed dance club Boogie Nights, the event included the debut of the Flapper Girls (pictured) who will be working inside Resorts on a regular basis as the casino's new Roaring '20s theme evolves.

For those who have not been to Resorts lately, check it out soon. The '20s music is already being piped in and plays throughout the property, which is being transformed with a Roaring 20s theme in light of the nationally heralded Atlantic City-based, award-winning HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Between the music, the less stringent atmosphere at the casino hotel (since the extraordinarily sharp-minded Gomes took the helm), the old building's Art Deco architecture, the re-decorated Starlight Ballroom and the Flapper Girls, Resorts is set to become a lovely reminder of Atlantic City's rich past as it pulls Atlantic City with an optimistic perspective into the uncertain future the town currently faces.

The evolving Roaring' 20s theme at Resorts, done right, could become one of the biggest attractions in the city this year as the anticipation for the sophomore season of Boardwalk Empire builds. (Our guess right now is that the second season will kickoff in the fall.)

But stepping outside Resorts Thursday night to catch some air on the Boardwalk, with the '20s music still very audible as it was being piped out of the building as well, and the quiet of the Boardwalk — you could literally shoot a cannon from Resorts straight down the Boardwalk to the Hilton late Thursday night and not hit a soul, commented Chuck Darrow — one could have sworn they had walked into a scene from Boardwalk Empire.

Minus the throngs of people.

But inside Boogie Nights, which took home the grand salami of awards last night, being named Best Dance Club in Atlantic City by the readers of AC Weekly, the awards party, which has been held at the venue every year, it was a different story.

The venue was packed with people of all stripes as a tremendously positive vibe was present throughout the night. Eleganza, a locally-owned boutique shop inside The Pier Shops at Caesars, and a sponsor of the event, brought several models to the event this year to assist the presenters in handing out the close-to-40 awards. There were 25 categories and 14 honorable mentions.

"This is great," said Kim Lucasti, who heads up the Eleganza models and shop and worked close by the stage at Boogie Nights Thursday night, directing her stunning models and helping to ensure that the program ran smoothly.

Which, of course, it did.

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