Fantasy: The Strip's Sexiest Tease (formerly known as Midnight Fantasy) is a revue performed on the Las Vegas Strip at the Luxor casino hotel, in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Opened in November 1999, Fantasy is the topless production in Las Vegas with the longest duration at a single venue. Of female revues on the Strip, Fantasy was the earliest to open. The show is produced by the choreographer Anita Mann. It features 15 dance acts accompanied by classic and contemporary pop music that a vocalist performs live. After MGM Mirage purchased the Luxor in 2005, the production was renamed from Midnight Fantasy to Fantasy. MGM requested changes to comport with its focus on attracting a more youthful clientele. Choreographers Cris Judd and Eddie Garcia revised the numbers, lip synching was cut, and the number of topless scenes was reduced. Fantasys dance routines and songs are changed annually.
Lead vocalists who have performed on the show have included Stephanie Dianna Sanchez (previously known as Stephanie Jordan), Angelica Bridges, Jaime Lynch, and Lorena Peril. Peril, the current lead vocalist, has been on the show since 2016. Comedians have also performed on the show including Carole Montgomery, Sean E. Cooper, John Padon, Murray SawChuck, and Shayma Tash. Other performers have been the juggler Anthony Gatto, the tap dancer Lindell Blake, and the stunt performer Jonathan Goodwin. Fantasy lacks "crass" or X-rated content, which—according to reviewers—explains why the show's audience has many women and couples. Reviewers, for the most part, have praised the show's dancers for their artistry and skill—in particular, singer Lorena Peril has been lauded for having a strong voice with wide range.
History Fantasy is a revue, vampish show, cabaret as well as variety show. Joel Fischman, Mandalay Bay's entertainment director, reached out to the producer Anita Mann in 1999. He requested that she create an adult production for a theater housed in Luxor Las Vegas, a casino hotel in Nevada, United States. Mann was given six weeks to choose, train, and outfit the performers after the company approved her plan. The topless show Midnight Fantasy began previews in October 1999. It debuted on November 1, 1999. Midnight Fantasy initially was scheduled to be performed for five months. It was later renewed and has been in a "one-year rollover contract" since 2000. Fischman said Midnight Fantasy is "about exemplifying the female body and not degrading in any way ... it's a really classy, old-style topless show that's not vulgar in any way". While Las Vegas properties targeted experiences to families in the 1990s, Midnight Fantasy was part of a trend in the early 2000s for resorts to try to attract a new, more hedonistic customer base. It violated Mandalay Bay's enduring "no nudity" rule at its properties.
When it opened, aside from a Tuesday rest day, Midnight Fantasy ran daily. It was performed at 10pm every day, while Saturday had an additional midnight performance. After the impressionist Bill Acosta departed from the Luxor in November 2000, Fantasy increased the number of performances and refined the stage designs and outfits. That month, the show had midnight performances on Fridays and Saturdays. In 2001, the showtimes were set for 8:30pm and 10:30pm. Mann was the founding producer, while Tiger Martina was the founding choreographer. Midnight Fantasys nine founding dancers were Betsy Alletzhauser, Georgia Bernasek, Dejah Juarez, Lisa Leieritz, Stacy Lyons, Jennifer Rohlman, Shannon Seil, Charidy Sullivan LaFontaine, and Jennifer Young. Bernasek and Young were the founding head dancers, while the founding floor captain was Dejah Juarez. The founding singers were Betsy Alletzhauser and Charidy Sullivan LaFontaine.
After years away, it was Mann's comeback to the Strip. She previously had produced both family-friendly shows and stimulating revues. Throughout the show's history, Mann has introduced additional numbers. When Mann attends a performance, she documents her observations in a notebook and provides feedback to the cast who implement it in the following show. Featuring two cast members from the Las Vegas show, Midnight Fantasy was performed in 2004 at Gold Strike Tunica in Tunica Resorts, Mississippi.
The entertainment company MGM Mirage purchased Luxor in 2005. Mann was tasked with updating the show to comport with the company's focus on attracting a more youthful clientele. MGM wanted Fantasy to have a "fun, young, party feel" and not to rival their MGM Grand topless show La Femme. With MGM's consent, Midnight Fantasy was renamed to Fantasy in August 2005. Since the show no longer performed at midnight, audience members were often bewildered by the name. The show, which had not been refreshed since the end of 2000, underwent several changes. The show reduced the number of segments where the dancers were topless. MGM asked that long-time performers comedian Carole Montgomery and tap dancer Lindell Blake be excluded from the show which Mann implemented. Sal Salangsang, a comedian who had performed on MGM Grand's EFX Alive!, was brought in to take their place.
Fantasy kept most of its existing songs but got rid of the performers' lip syncing. The choreographers Cris Judd and Eddie Garcia were enlisted to revise the dance routines. Judd made occasional trips to Las Vegas to gradually change the routines so that the show could continue running without interruption. Of the show's 10 dance numbers, six were eliminated. In assessing the changes, Las Vegas Sun reviewer Jerry Fink found that the movements and several of the outfits were "funkier" and gave off a music video vibe. Although some of the performers sported jean jackets with sequins and glistening jewelry, they largely no longer wore fancy attire. By 2008, Fantasy had sensuous hip hop numbers. Judd and Darren Sher, the musical director, composed music for the show, while Judd and Martina came up with updated dance routines. Every one to two months, the production introduced additional acts. Judd and the singer Stephanie Jordan wrote new songs for the show. Pop songs like "Let's Get It Started"—which Las Vegas Review-Journals Mike Weatherford said rapidly shifts from new to laughable—were supplanted by these new songs. According to Weatherford, although the original pieces might barely exceed the level of "guitar-funk Prince riffs or dance-diva pop", Jordan exudes confidence when singing her original "Goin' to Vegas" and brings the identical vibrant zeal into the traditional go-tos.
Fantasy performed continuously from its founding until December 2013 while its venue, Atrium Theater, underwent nearly three weeks of refurbishments and the installation of upgraded sound and lighting systems. On May 4, 2017, Fantasy performed for the 7,000th time. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Fantasy alongside other shows at MGM Resorts' Las Vegas properties temporarily shut down. It resumed shows on November 6, 2020, but had to shut down again close to Thanksgiving after Nevada regulations restricted the number of spectators to at most 50. During its November performances before the shutdown, the performers did the show in a bigger venue, wore masks, and had to be socially distant from spectators. While the dancers and spectators were required to put on masks, the singer could go without a mask during her performances. Fantasy resumed shows a second time on February 19, 2021.
Usher watched Fantasy with his girlfriend in 2021 and spoke with the performers following the show. Sting—the singer-songwriter of "Roxanne", one of the songs sung in Fantasy—attended a 2022 performance. Mariah Rivera, a dancer on the show, became Fantasys co-producer alongside Anita Mann in 2022. Rivera was given the responsibility of overseeing the show's social media initiatives and public events. She also oversees the retail of Fantasy products sold on the Internet and at the venue.
Fantasy is the topless production in Las Vegas with the longest duration at a single venue, which is the Luxor Las Vegas casino hotel. Of the female revues on the Strip, Fantasy was the earliest to open. The Las Vegas Weekly gave the show the 2020 "All-Time Best of Vegas" award in the "Best Female Revue" category. Reader voting determined the recipient of that award. The newspaper's readers in 2021 chose it as the "Best Production" show which the publication said was owing to its "scorching-hot dancers, comic relief and advanced production elements"
In October 2024, Fantasys staff commemorated its 25th anniversary. At the time, the Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John Katsilometes called the show Las Vegas's "longest-running adult revue". The longest-serving performer, Mariah Nieslanik, had appeared on her 3,978th Fantasy show on October 16, 2024. At its 25th anniversary, a total of 122 dancers, 39 singers (inclusive of swing performers), 21 guest performers who provide entertainment midway through the show, and 16 aeralists had performed on Fantasy.
Venue Midnight Fantasy opened in November 1999 at Luxor Las Vegas's Pharaoh's Theater, which seats 350 people. The theater was renamed to Atrium Showroom in 2005 after the casino executive Felix Rappaport began running Luxor. The theater was in a sharply inclined, rake space. It had a single raised stage containing runner lights. The travel writers Don W. and Betty Martin said the "steeply tiered" design allowed each spectator to have a good vantage point. The theater was movable and probably had been employed in a cruise ship's theater, Las Vegas Review-Journal reviewer Michael Paskevich speculated. In a nod to Midnight Fantasys name and when it is last performed, the theater had a flat-faced clock stuck at 12 past the hour. The dancers made their way onto and off the stage via a large clock that doubles as a screen. Since 2005, Carrot Top has performed in the Atrium Showroom which he has occupied alongside Fantasy.
When the show reopened in November 2020 after temporarily closing because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was performed at the Luxor Theater. It was the first time since the show's founding that it was not performed in the Atrium Showroom. Located at the same level as the casino, the theater was where the Cirque du Soleil show R.U.N. used to be performed. The Luxor Theater has a capacity of 1,500 people. The show had to temporarily relocate because of a requirement that there be in between the performers and the spectators as well as in between every group of attendees. While the dancers and spectators were required to put on masks, the singer could go without a mask during her performance. Fantasy returned to the smaller Atrium Showroom in July 2021. Around 2023, the Atrium Showroom put in place a LED screen which is used in the production.
Show
First production When Midnight Fantasy opened in November 1999, it featured dance routines and solo dance performances from a nine-member female-only dance ensemble. The women wore loose clothing that was fashioned to come off quickly, facilitating extensive showing of their exposed breasts. Two of the dancers performed live vocals over recorded music. The initial act featured every performer and was in homage to Luxor Las Vegas's Egyptian theme. In "Naughty Nurses", another act, nurses dressed in seductive outfits performed physical examinations on one another while a vocalist sang "Fever". The act had a trio of three musical performances. In the next act, disco music was played, while the dancers were clad in neon G-strings, wigs in many hues, and unfastened vests with feather adornments. The vocalists performed "Some Like It Hot" and "Sexual Healing". A vocalist sang "Why Haven't I Heard from You" in a segment depicting cowboys and rodeo activities as performers wearing vibrant red chaps danced.