Tropicana sues Comedy Stop owner over rent

By Steve Green

Thursday, April 23, 2009 | 1:36 p.m.

The Tropicana hotel-casino is suing the owner of the Comedy Stop, the long-running but now-canceled production at the property on the Las Vegas Strip.

A lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court on Tuesday alleges Kephart and Corti Productions Inc. fell behind on rent for its use of space in the hotel and then vacated the premises on April 2.

Under a lease dating to 1993, Kephart and Corti was to pay monthly rent of $19,975 and reimburse the Tropicana for its portion of the live entertainment tax paid for the show, the lawsuit says. The suit indicates the lease was last renewed in 2006 and was due to expire at the end of 2007, but that Kephart and Corti continued operating at the hotel through March of this year.

"The Comedy Stop at the Trop" was in the Monte Carlo Room on the mezzanine level of the Paradise Tower, and now owes rent and entertainment taxes for the period of December through March, the Tropicana alleges.

Bob Kephart, a principal in Kephart and Corti, could not immediately be reached for comment. In local advertisements, the Comedy Stop has promised to reappear at another as-yet unnamed casino in Las Vegas.

The Comedy Stop continues to operate at the Tropicana in Atlantic City. The two casino resorts are being separately managed through bankruptcy proceedings.

"Les Folies Bergere" also closed this spring at the Las Vegas Tropicana, but the resort earlier this month unveiled what it called "a variety of new and exciting entertainment options."

They include Soprano's Last Supper, Hypnosis Unleashed and comedian Bobby Slayton.

Dirk Arthur continues to perform Xtreme Magic with his dancers and exotic big cats at the Tropicana.