Many Vegas Showgirls Also Change Diapers

LAS VEGAS —  On stage they’re an essential element of this city’s flash and pizazz. But between shows many of Las Vegas’ celebrated showgirls sneak away from the glittering resorts and head for nearby homes to tuck in tots, help with homework, tend to family pets or administer bedtime baths.

“My babies get hugs and kisses between shows,” Faye Ladner, a dancer at the Tropicana, says of Juston, 3, and Ja’Neece, 1. “They’re my life. That’s all I ever asked God to give me was healthy children. And he granted me that prayer. I couldn’t ask for more.”

Many of the showgirls who take to the stage nightly say motherhood is an excellent way of bringing them back to reality after three hours in the make-believe world of sexy costumes and bright lights.

Two-Hour Break Used

Judi O’Rourke, a dancer at the Stardust’s Lido de Paris, retreats to her home on the city’s east side during the two-hour break between shows to oversee baths for sons Michael, 6, and Matthew, 18 months. Now three months pregnant, she says with mock resignation that No. 3 “will probably be a boy, too.”

Sally Mitlyng, a singer in Las Vegas shows for 13 years and now a principal singer in the MGM Grand’s Jubilee, says daughter Lynette, now 22, and son Michael, 14, have always been her first priority.

“I brought those children into the world,” she says. “That was my idea. They are my No. 1 responsibility; show business is second. One of my first numbers goes ‘I’m Gonna Love You Like Nobody’s Loved You,’ and if I picture my son or my daughter I can really put my heart into it.”

Takes Lots of Energy

Lynn Chernoff, a dancer at the Tropicana, says “having enough energy for both jobs” is the toughest part of being a showgirl and mother. “You’ve got to make sure you’re divvying up your time the way you should, making sure of your priorities.”

Juston Ladner has seen his mother in the Tropicana’s Folies Bergere just one time.

“He loved it. He was so impressed, so infatuated,” Ladner laughed. “He’s always talking about the girls. I think he’s more impressed with the other girls than he is with me.”

Ladner, 25, started in the business when she was 16. A California native, she has lived in Nevada since she was 4 and won the state gymnastics championship in 1972. She spends the 90 minutes between shows at home and has to fend off Juston, who “wants to pull my eyelashes off, then put them back on.”

“He gets upset if I don’t come home between shows. He knows there’s a time there when Mommy comes home.”