Rodio is bullish on Atlantic City’s future and doesn’t agree with a recent study that suggested the resort would continue to struggle for another five years.
Boogie Nights when at Resorts
ATLANTIC CITY — When veteran casino executive Tony Rodio returned to Atlantic City earlier this year, he hinted he was going to make some big moves as the new president and CEO of Tropicana Casino & Resort.
But grabbing a wildly popular attraction away from a competing property wasn’t initially on his radar. Yet that’s precisely what he did last week when he announced that Boogie Nights, the ’70s- and ’80s-themed club he initially installed at Resorts four years ago, would be moving to the Trop next spring.
“I had a space for a club [at Tropicana], and there were a couple of other things that we were kicking around,” Rodio says. “But I didn’t think we’d be able to move Boogie Nights, because it was under contract.”
But several months ago, that contract apparently ran out, and Boogie Nights — developed by club operator Dave Pena — was a free agent. Other properties were angling to get Boogie Nights, but Tropicana was “lucky enough to get them to move here,” Rodio says. When the Trop location opens, it will become Pena’s fourth Boogie Nights club, which appeals to a core demographic of people between 40 and 60, but has also proven popular with 20- and 30-somethings looking for a retro music and dance experience.
In retrospect and hindsight, a reunion between Boogie Nights and Rodio was probably preordained by the disco music gods. The casino executive and the club date back to the very beginning of the brand.
Not only did Rodio help create Boogie Nights at Resorts four years ago, but in 2010, when he was general manager of the Hollywood Casino in Indiana, Rodio brought Pena and his Boogie Nights club to the Midwest gaming hall.
Pena opened an 8,000-square-foot, two-level club in Indiana, and just like at Resorts, the club was a winner from the moment the first disco song began pulsing through the sound system.
The Boogie Nights that will be installed at Tropicana will be approximately 8,000-square-feet, or about double the space at Resorts, which has retained the disco-era club and last week re-branded it Night Fever.
The Tropicana club will bare little resemblance to the flagship nightery, which opened in a space that had been occupied for nearly 30 years by Resorts’ original steakhouse, known as Camelot.
“I think when this club is done, people are going to walk in and there’s going to be a wow factor,” Rodio says. “The club is going to be on a much higher level than it was down at Resorts.”
By doubling the size of the room, thereby expanding the number of guests it can accommodate, increased revenues will allow the new Boogie Nights to reach out to artists from the era to make personal appearances in the club.
The Trop is doing more than just grabbing a brand away from Resorts. Boogie Nights is more than a name; it’s an attitude that’s carried out by the staff of the room, who are as much entertainers as they are bartenders, beverage servers and celebrity look-alikes like Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna.
The new club’s location — just off the skybridge linking the Tropicana casino floor with the self-park garage — will also be the catalyst for more change at the Trop designed to enhance non-gaming offerings.
Carving the club out of existing casino space reverses a trend in Atlantic City. Properties used to take non-gaming space and turn them into part of the casino floor.
Tony Rodio must be doing a great job at Tropicana. The Las Vegas-based Tropicana Entertainment Inc. announced that Rodio has been named the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. In addition, Rodio has been nominated to the position of director of the company, which nomination is subject to stockholder approval at the company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders scheduled for May 17.
Boogie Nights grand opening at the Tropicana photos and video.
Like a slinky, the basic concept was pretty simple, but once Boogie Nights was unveiled on what seemed to be a retro-starved public about five years ago, the ’70s and ’80s themed nightclub took off like Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon.
Versatile entertainer Stephen Sorrentino has been doing impressions since the age of five, is a multi-instrumentalist, pursued a career as a rock singer and has toured and performed for Legends in Concert with his Elton John tribute. All of the skills he honed in those stops along the way come together in his engaging musical comedy variety show Stephen Sorrentino: Voices in the Head.
In the world of gaming, ups and downs are part of the enticement. One moment you are down to your last dollar, the next minute you hit it big. That equation can apply to a casino property as well. Tropicana Casino and Resort, celebrating its 30th anniversary in Atlantic City this month, has demonstrated that the roll of the dice can be both favorable and unfavorable over the course of decades
'I think what you’ll see [Tropicana] do as we move forward is make a series of small announcements about things we’re doing to improve the property. Hopefully, maybe in about six months, we’ll have our master plan done and be able to make a big announcement about the future of the Tropicana.'
Tropicana officials recently announced that a deal has been reached to bring the popular retro nightclub Boogie Nights to Tropicana.
A unique partnership was recently launched between Resorts Atlantic City’s Boogie Nights nightclub and Fro-Me-A-Party party supply headquarters of EHT. The collaboration will coincide with the month-long promotion of Boooo-gie Nights II — the two-night Halloween celebration presented by 95.1 FM WAYV, and scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Oct. 30-31.
Even without live entertainment, The Wave would make an ideal locale to culminate the evening after taking in a show at the Grand Cayman, or to dance the night away following a tryst at the Trump Marina Hotel Casino gaming tables. But live bands, many of which are exceptionally talented and widely renowned, are what set The Wave apart from many of the other area nightclubs. "I believe we cater to a bit more of a sophisticated crowd, probably in the 30-something age group," says Trump Marina beverage manager Joe Crilley. "We play a little more of the classic music but also a lot of the up-to-date music as well. And how many clubs in Atlantic City still have live bands?" Crilley is well reputed as a former nightclub owner who gave local musicians a live forum to play in as 20-year proprietor of Crilley's Circle Tavern, which closed in 1999, and The Barefoot Pub, which existed at the site of what is now the Laguna Grill Martini Bar. Both were in Brigantine. He also co-owned Lefty's 1200 Club in Atlantic City for five years with singer Sandi Fontana. Many of the bands that now perform at The Wave -- which was established when...
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1. Anonymous said... on Dec 21, 2011 at 09:41AM
“what happened at Resorts? Why the change? Is this a first for a major casino club in AC ??”
2. Anonymous said... on Dec 21, 2011 at 11:19AM
“I just hope that Resorts renovates that space because Night Fever will be lights out with a brand new Boogie Nights!”
3. Anonymous said... on Dec 22, 2011 at 10:27AM
“Boogie Nights at the Tropicana is going to be great. I love the Trop and with Boogie Nights it's going to be even better!!”
4. Anonymous said... on Dec 22, 2011 at 02:25PM
“Boogie Nights at Tropicana! Best move ever!!! I can't wait!”
5. torro~~~~ said... on Dec 23, 2011 at 05:19PM
“I can't wait!!! I love Boogie Nights and DJ Gabor rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
6. R. H. Bowman said... on Dec 30, 2011 at 04:02AM
“As a long term patron of Boogie Nights, I look forward to The day that the Brand Begins its new incarnation at Tropicana!!!! Looking forward to more from DJs Kevin Edge and Gabor and the Boogie Nights Family!
RHB "AKA Whistle Man"”
7. Anonymous said... on Jan 11, 2012 at 08:54AM
“Yeah, as one door opens another closes, Corky's is closed!!!!”
8. Anonymous said... on May 15, 2012 at 11:13AM
“WE NEED A REALITY SHOW IN AC!!! I was at opening of Boogie nights, it was awesome...”