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Plans for high-energy ‘Cherry Boom Boom’ come into focus

Cherry Boom Boom at NBT Studios

TVT

Cast members of Cherry Boom Boom at the Tropicana rehearse at Nevada Ballet Theatre studios in Summerlin.

Updated Saturday, June 25, 2016 | 2:12 p.m.

Cherry Boom Boom at NBT Studios

Cast members of Cherry Boom Boom at the Tropicana rehearse at Nevada Ballet Theatre studios in Summerlin. Launch slideshow »

With an opening date set for Sept. 8, further details have emerged for “Cherry Boom Boom,” the new production targeted for Tropicana Theater in the hotel of the same name. The show is to perform nightly at 10 p.m., following “Raiding the Rock Vault,” at 8 p.m., and is currently rehearsing at Nevada Ballet Theatre’s studios at Inner Circle Drive off Town Center in Summerlin.

The show is a self-dubbed “rock ’n’ roll a-gogo” production that employs a dozen dancers — five of whom have experience in Vegas shows — and a multileveled stage with a pair of video panels in the backdrop. The show features a series of aerial acts, including the use of lyra hoops, and a total of 29 numbers.

The numbers I caught Thursday afternoon were highlighted by a pulsating take of “American Woman,” replete with flailing American flags and the production’s trademark, percussive choreography. The show is high volume, aggressive and immersive in a way that the dancers should feel like they are right on top of the audience.

“Cherry Boom Boom” arrives from Los Angeles producers and directors Shana Betz and Lindsley Allen, and was a hot production at King King in Hollywood before that nightspot (named the Best Nightclub in L.A. by L.A. Weekly) closed Jan. 31. To be determined are ticket prices and an on-sale date; expect the rate to be around the same amount for “Rock Vault,” which is $59-$74, perhaps a bit higher.

Also expected to be announced soon at the Tropicana Theater is a production in the 6 p.m. slot, and I’ve previously heard the show targeted for that opening is Justin Willman and Band of Magicians. But no confirmation of the “who” of it all, only that the hotel is moving to bracket “Rock Vault” with dissimilar productions.

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Opening night of Frankie Moreno’s “Under the Influence” on Wednesday, May 4, 2016, at Planet Hollywood.

• “Under the Influence” at Planet Hollywood has become something of a cauldron of confusion, with the show’s schedule fluctuating between what has been offered online and what has been formally announced by show producers. Here is the latest: Frankie Moreno is set to perform this weekend (Friday and Saturday) and his official schedule has him returning July 1-2. Otherwise, he is currently in a back-and-forth with Base Entertainment, the production company, to arrive at a strategy and schedule that will, hopefully, keep him consistently onstage.

Clearly, this has been an unsteady turn of events, with Moreno’s show cut from five days a week to two. There are no dates booked beyond July 2, though a formal closing date for the show has not been issued, nor has any schedule update. Keep checking back and we will sort this out.

• The latest show to be added to the lineup at Sin City Theater at Planet Hollywood is Sam Tripoli’s “The Naughty Show,” set up in the 11 p.m. slot and expected to open in mid-July. The production debuted in L.A. in 2008 as a live, rowdy, adult comedy show that also streamed live as a podcast and rotated in such clubs as the Viper Room, Laugh Factory and the Comedy Store.

“The Naughty Show” is to be just a stage show at Sin City, with a series of stand-up comedians joining show host Tripoli, who graduated from UNLV in 1997 with a degree in psychology. The show leans an audience participation, with comics often placed in the crowd and drawn to the performance.

Once, six years ago, comic Ari Shaffir heckled from the crowd in the character known as “The Amazing Racist.” The late pro wrestling superstar Rowdy Roddy Piper was onstage that night, and goaded Shaffir to join him onstage. Grappling ensued, and reportedly Piper put Shamir into a Sleeper hold or similar submissive position.

No ticket prices yet set, but the show sounds like comedy magic, without actually being that.

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Gilbert Gottfried.

• Returning to the topic Tropicana (sort of), the hotel shares the same owner as M Resort–Penn National Gaming. The cross-promotion of those two properties will be helpful to one Gilbert Gottfried, who is performing at M Pavilion on Sept. 3. Gottfried has typically played clubs in Las Vegas, such haunts as the old Shimmer Cabaret, and has about 2,000 seats to fill at the M. The upshot? The venue does impressive business, with the Scintas, Rick Michel, Martin Nievera and Clint Holmes with Santa Fe & The Fat City Horns filling the place.

Follow John Katsilometes on Twitter at twitter.com/JohnnyKats. Also, follow Kats on Instagram Instagram.com/JohnnyKats1.

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