Boogie Nights ready for Trop debut

Tonight's the night the wraps officially come off the new Boogie Nights disco at Tropicana Atlantic City.

"I'm freakin' pumped!" proclaimed club creator David Pena. "We did a dry run [last] Thursday with an employee party and a VIP party last Saturday and people loved the room."

Joining in the celebration, which is open to the public beginning at 9 p.m., are '80s popster Tiffany ("I Think We're Alone Now"), comedian J.J. Walker ("Good Times") and Randy Jones, better known as the original "cowboy" in The Village People.

To refresh your memory, Boogie Nights is a danceteria that pays homage to the pop culture of the 1970s and '80s. It began life in November, 2007 in the space that for decades was the Camelot steak house at Resorts Casino Hotel. Initially, the plan was for it to operate on a selected-nights (e.g. holiday weekends) basis. But the out-of-the-gate success of the nitery--whose clientele tends to be older (30-plus) than that of such casino danceterias as Mixx at Borgata and The Pool at Harrah's Resort--led to an every-Friday-and-Saturday operating schedule.

Late last year, Pena cut a deal with the Trop to move the club to a space that has been carved out of what was a slot area on the casino floor.

According to Pena, whose burgeoning Boogie Nights empire has expanded to casinos in Baton Rouge, La. and Lawrenceburg, Ind., at 9,000 square feet, the new Boogie Nights is 80 percent larger than its predecessor. The room, like the original, is a veritable shrine to the music, film and TV of the era it celebrates.

The décor includes a wall containing numerous celebrity photographs. Another will trumpet inductees of the "Boogie Nights Hall of Fame" (the first honorees will be disco chart-toppers K.C. & The Sunshine Band). Then there is the wall about which Pena is particularly excited.

"I had a graffiti artist do a 'Boogie Nights' wall," said Pena, who also co-owns the popular Planet Rose Karaoke bar at The Quarter, the Trop's retail, dining and entertainment complex. "It's a real reflection of the '80s graffiti style." He added this will be where visiting celebs will post their autographs.

Unlike the Resorts club which, by necessity, had limited seating, the new Boogie Nights has a series of themed seating areas. Among them is the "That '70s Suite," whose accoutrements include an authentic, circa-1977 "Charlie's Angels" pinball machine, and numerous photos of pop culture heroes from the decade including Muhammad Ali, Evel Knievel and Mike Schmidt. There is also an all-pink "Awesome '80s Lounge" Pena anticipates will be a hit with those planning bachelorette parties.

The Boogie Nights experience will actually begin before people even enter the club. The space leading to the entrance has been reconfigured as a "party pit" boasting Boogie Nights-themed slot machines and table-game layouts, as well as a DJ.

For the second time in a week, a local casino will celebrate its official opening with a weekend filled with special events and promotions.

This time, it's Valley Forge Casino Resort in King of Prussia that is partying. The "Tour de Valley" festivities include $5,000 drawings held hourly between 4 and 8 p.m. Friday, Saturday's performance by comedian Sinbad and Sunday's Playboy Sweepstakes in which slot players will be eligible to win $1,000 in cash every 15 minutes from 6 to 9 p.m. Playmate Michelle McLaughlin will pose for photos with every winner, and all winners will be given a VIP discount admission pass to 7 the Nightclub.

It was just last weekend that Golden Nugget Atlantic City (formerly Trump Marina) marked its official opening.

Pro Bar milestone

From the Time Flies Department comes word that Resorts is spending the weekend celebrating the first anniversary of Pro Bar, which remains the only casino nightclub—anywhere--catering to the lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgendered demographic.

A slew of celebratory events are on tap for the disco that was christened Prohibition when it opened on the casino's 13^th floor last spring. Highlights include Friday's debut of the Piano Bar, an intimate boite, adjacent to Pro Bar and a performance by whacky Judy Tenuta in the Screening Room, which is also located on the 13^th floor (9 p.m., $20, 800-736-1420, www.ticketmaster.com).

Saturday will see the official Pro Bar party that includes an appearance by actor Jason Dottley of "Sordid Wives" and a musical performance by Crystal Waters ("100% Pure Love," "Gypsy Woman").

The party wraps Sunday with the "Diva's Bingo Brunch" at noon in the Ballroom.  The event features performances by the boys-will-be-girls cast of "Believe: Divas In A Man's World" (which also celebrates its first birthday this weekend) in between the bingo games.

Revel may be offering a slew of one-of-a-kind attractions and amenities, but even the $2.4 billion behemoth on the eastern end of the AyCee Boardwalk doesn't have what Golden Nugget has installed in its main lobby. Nugget customers can actually purchase real gold from, of all things, a vending machine called "Gold to Go."

We're not talking souvenir tchotkes, but honest-to-goodness gold (and silver) coins and bars. The gold pieces run from five grams to one troy ounce, which recently had a price tag of just under $2,000. The prices are based on the global gold market and are updated electronically every 10 minutes.