The instant image that comes to one’s mind when hearing the
word “Chippendale” is either “style of furniture” or
“cuff-and-collar-wearing-bare-chested-hunk-who-performs-a-striptease.” Now unless you’re a cabinetry buff, eighty
years old, and living in a house covered primarily in plastic, I’m hoping that
by mentioning the word “Chippendale,” your mind automatically targets the
latter.
Gotta love the Chippendales.
They’ve had an interesting history, from both a business-concept and
legal standpoint. But, still, the idea
works – male erotic dancing performances with those distinctive cuffs and
collars (trademarked, by the way). A lot
of people don’t know that the Chippendale troupe was first formed in 1979, specifically
to serve an all-female audience, and it actually assisted with legitimizing
stripping as a form of entertainment.
To be a Chippendale (today) is high end, and probably more
distinctive than being on Broadway.
Their home is the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where
they perform in a $10,000,000.00 theater and lounge that was specifically built
for their show. They perform for
approximately two million people annually, in 100 cities worldwide – including
the United States, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and South Africa.
Despite its current popularity, the Chippendales had a rough
start. Founded by Somen Banerjee
(accused of murdering partner and choreographer Nicolas de Noia in 1987, he
committed suicide in his jail cell in 1994 during his trial), Paul Snider (who
killed his estranged wife, Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten and then himself
in 1980), and Bruce Nahin. Later Steve
Merritt and Mark Donnelly re-invented the show, and recruited the most
attractive men they could find from Venice Beach, Manhattan Beach and Santa
Monica Beach. Merritt taught the men how
to perform while Donnelly conceptualized the show into its current format. Lawsuits continued to hound the owners,
though: personal injury, sexual bias against male guests, racial
discrimination, etc., and the legal problems and publicity generated by the de
Noia and Snider deaths didn’t little to help.
However, those hurdles were eventually cleared, and today Chippendales
USA is currently run by Kevin Denberg, who bought it in 2000 after the last
round of lawsuits regarding its ownership were settled. He then immediately set about distancing the
company from its more risqué past.
The current official
lineup (not to be confused with other copycat, touring shows and casts)
according to its website are: Bryan
Cheatham, Kevin Cornell, Jace Crispin, Mikey Cross, James Davis, Kris Davis,
Juan Deangelo, Sami Eskelin, Johnny Howes, Billy Jeffrey, Kenny King, Gavin
McHale, Matt Marshall, Nathan Minor, John Rivera, Dylan Rush, Chaun Thomas
and Jaymes Vaughan.
When it comes to other member mentions involving the
Chippendales: Joey (sometimes
Joseph) Lawrence performed with the
group as part of a special engagement in 2012; the troupe also featured, in
another special engagement, Ronald Lee
Clark and Christian Saraceno of
the reality show Pit Boss (notable as
Clark and Saraceno are “little people” – actors and entertainers with
dwarfism). And of course, who can forget
the hilarious sketch from Saturday Night Live that portrayed
Patrick Swayze and Chris Farley as competitors for a slot in the troupe?
The two “James”s (Davis and Vaughan) got a bump – and grind
… HA! – of personal publicity as well as
for the Chippendales when they competed in Season 21 of The Amazing Race, coming in second.
Needless to say, they weren’t shy about using their good looks or animal
magnetism to achieve their goals; in Russia they had to don Speedos for one
task, and resorted to going bare-chested with their cuffs and collars on the
streets of the Netherlands in order to complete another.
(Vaughan deserves special mention – he
came out in the pages of QVegas in
2012. While he was already out to
friends and family, he wanted to be open about his sexuality to be a role model
as one of the few openly homosexual entertainers on The Strip:
“I
hope to be able to take advantage of a platform so that my fourteen-year-old
self that was sitting in Chesterfield County, Virginia, might find some hope. The fourteen-year-old that had no one to look
up to; whose mama told him he better not be gay; whose church told him he was
going to hell; whose best friend killed himself because he didn’t “fit in." Because he didn’t have any hope. I
thought for so long you had to cover up who you were to be successful. I’ve
realized you can be more successful by being yourself.”
He's partnered with the "NOH8" campaign and also started a wellness foundation after his father was stricken with cancer - it's motto: F*** CANCER. Love it. And he's pursuing music and acting as a solo career: he released a music video in 2011 for a single
called “Vampire.” Although there’s no
real skin, it’s hot and definitely worth the download from YouTube. He really is easy on the eyes. I approve.)
Notable past Chippendalers include Jeff Timmons (founder of
98 Degrees); Ian Ziering of Beverly
Hills, 90210 fame; and Jake Pavelka of The
Bachelor. (The name of pornographic
actor/clothing model Charles Dera also came up as part of a search of
Chippendales alumni, but I wasn’t able to confirm it independently.)
And lastly, what’s a good show without shopping? Chippendales provides its own line of
products for men and women alike – everything from sex toys to underwear (I
would think the Chippendales would have to wear Chippendales underwear – I
could be wrong), and currently, they’re running a promotion on a “Build Your
Own Cuffs and Collar” set (you might want to check it out and surprise your
significant other with a private Chippendales show!).
All the Chippendales items and descriptions are available at
www.boutique.chippendales.com. I couldn’t find the original SNL Swayze/Farley skit on YouTube, but
this is darn close: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngdYGCavAyY. Vaughan’s music video can be linked by
following http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqPsqokPPxY. (I’ll be addressing vampires in a future
post, but if this is what they look like, sign me up.)
Now … here are the photos you have undoubtedly been waiting
for: the Chippendales review; a shot of the "James"s during their Russian Amazing Race task; Chippendales underwear; and a still of Vaughan from the “Vampire”
video. Commence salivating!
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