I caught one show there apart from Tony Orlando's. It's called "X" and its a revue filled with gorgeous women, loud rock music, minimal costuming and a pretty good stand-up comic named John Padon. He has the unenviable task of following some steamy naked ladies, and jerking the crowd's attention towards comedy…but he pulls it off. When he entered, three frat-type gents seated near me expressed audible ire that the parade of flesh was being preempted by a guy in a suit. By the time Padon was finished, he'd won them over and I heard one ask, "Hey, that dude's coming back, isn't he?" If you'd seen these fellows, you'd know what an achievement that was.
The show's at the new Aladdin, which may have set some industry record for rapid descent into Chapter 11, soon after opening. There are probably many reasons but the most obvious to the consumer is how poorly-designed the place is; how impossible it is to navigate. Hopelessly unable to locate the showroom, even following signs with arrows, I finally stopped a security guard to ask. "Go that way," he said, pointing me in the exact opposite direction that a large, illuminated placard was indicating. When I called his attention to the discrepancy, he said, "Oh well, if you're going to follow the signs, you'll never find it." The showroom for "X" was designed with the same functionality, its seating configured to afford maximum view of the back of the head of the person in front of you, and not much else. If the lady ahead of me hadn't had pierced ears, I wouldn't have been able to see a thing. Anyway, it seems to be an entertaining show…what I could see of it.