LAS VEGAS - In a marriage made for Las Vegas, the nation's top adult movie maker has entered into a licensing agreement to open a nightclub on the Strip.
But don't expect to see any nudity when entering the 9,000-square-foot Vivid inside The Venetian hotel-casino.
The Vivid Entertainment porn stars making periodic appearances won't be taking their clothes off because the club isn't licensed as a sexually oriented adult business. Fornication and nudity are forbidden.
"I don't think I'll be performing," blonde actress Savanna Samson said recently after arriving at the club with a gaggle of other porn stars.
Nevada gambling and county regulators, along with Venetian officials, will be keeping an eye on the club to make sure it practices clean, wholesome fun.
State investigators will do spot checks to ensure any pornographic pranks remain in the movies and not on the dance floor.
"If inappropriate activity would occur, The Venetian would have to answer to it," said Keith Copher, enforcement chief for the Nevada Gaming Control Board. "We've been assured that everyone is going to be clothed."
Ark Restaurants Corp. owns and operates the club inside the megaresort's mall. The parent company of The Venetian sold the mall to General Growth Properties. Ark signed the licensing agreement with the Los Angeles-based Vivid, making it the porn company's first foray in the nightclub business.
Paul Gordon, Ark vice president, said the site, which replaces the former Venus nightclub, won't permit any unseemly behavior that could give gambling regulators pause.
"We are not going to do anything to upset the apple cart," he said. "We have no intention of crossing the line."
While casino revues have featured topless showgirls for years and scantily clad dancers and cocktail waitresses are common along the Strip, authorities have restricted adult oriented businesses like strip clubs to areas outside the tourist corridor. Last year, the Hard Rock hotel-casino paid a $100,000 state fine related to a provocative ad campaign.
Other than a giant red bed behind the bar, Vivid doesn't stand out much from its rivals on the Vegas club scene. It boasts holographic images of scantily clad women dancing that are projected on the club's walls.
Samson said the porn divas will circulate through the club in the hope of luring patrons. She understands she's a fantasy. The men who'll be praying to get her phone number better realize that, too.
