Battle of the Spartans Vegas-Style: “Magic Mike” vs “Men of Steele”

Behind the walls of this ordinary dance studio, battle plans are being drawn.  Two armies of shirtless muscle hunks are about to go to war. But unlike the three hundred Spartans that engaged the Persian Empire of Xerxes, these soldiers will be using dance moves instead of swords. Let the battle begin.

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If rumors are to be believed, an epic confrontation may soon be taking place onstage, where the power of magic is about to take on the strength of steel. Specifically, we’re talking about London Steele, the real-life “Dallas” of Magic Mike, facing off against Magic Mike himself, actor Channing Tatum.

First, a little backstory. London Steele was portrayed by Matthew McConaughey in the original Magic Mike film.  He once operated a male stripper club in Florida where Channing Tatum performed. During a recent interview at Backstage Dance Studio, London told me that he met Tatum in 1999 and put him onstage for his male revue. That risque debut, along with video footage, eventually caught the attention of the tabloids and TMZ. The public’s fascination with Tatum’s stripper past is how the film Magic Mike was born.

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Although Tatum claims that the script was entirely fiction, Steele disagrees. He says that actual scenes from the film really took place, and that Tatum didn’t give Steele or his associates any credit or compensation. Legal shenanigans followed, and both sides had their say. That’s where the story supposedly came to an end.

Fast forward to late 2015, and I hear that Dallas and Channing are about to collide once more. London Steele is in Las Vegas, auditioning for a new male revue to carry his name and brand. And Channing Tatum is reportedly in negotiations with Hard Rock Hotel to bring a type of Magic Mike Live production to the stage.

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If that battle of brawn wasn’t intriguing enough, the Las Vegas Sun reported that Jeff Timmons, former boy-bander and frontman to yet ANOTHER male revue called Men Of The Strip, offered funding to get the Magic Mike show locked down.

I reached out to my source at MOTS, who was instrumental in getting that show rolling. He would neither confirm or deny the LV Sun report, but said “we are preparing for a spring residency”. He wouldn’t specify whether “we” meant Men of the Strip or Magic Mike Live, but he promised to let me know of any further developments.

All of this might sound a bit confusing, and raises the question of whether there is enough of a market in Vegas for all of these male revues. So, I turned to an expert – a longtime member of Chippendales, which continues to set the standard for this type of entertainment. “There are plenty of women that come to this town looking for a good time”, he said. “So there will always be room for plenty of shows like ours”.

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Those words should come as reassuring news to London Steele, who put up everything he has to make The Men Of Steele a reality. Steele came out of retirement and temporarily relocated from Tampa to Las Vegas in order to get this production off the ground. However Men of Steele is received, it may be his final legacy to the world of male erotic entertainment.

None of that pressure was evident when I sat down with London at Backstage Dance Studios in northeast Las Vegas. He was brimming with excitement as he invited me to meet his team of dancers and sit in on several production numbers during their final day of rehearsals.

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Steele began the search for a new cast via online video auditions. Unfortunately, he didn’t find the qualities he was searching for that way, so live auditions began in Las Vegas. When asked “why here?”, he seemed rather surprised.  “Of course it had to be here. This is THE City of entertainment. Las Vegas has the best of everything”.

London is admittedly thrilled with his cast and choreographer Shawn Dean, who previously worked with the Chippendales. Members Jewel Pearson and Kris Davis also have Chippendales pedigrees. A third Chippendale dancer alumnus appeared in original media materials, but has since disappeared, taking the troupe from eight members to seven. “We’re a family”, London said. “In six short weeks these guys have come together and bonded like I’ve never seen”.

Of course for audiences, all that matters is if the guys look great…and if they can shake their groove thing. Well, no worries with that. The five numbers I watched were splendidly carried out with lots of funk, acrobatics and heat. Despite the lack of full costumes (no, seriously) and an absence of screaming fans to heighten the excitement, what I saw left me desiring more. Again, no jokes intended.

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London Steele (foreground, left) and Maurizio Trejo catch their breath as a camera crew sets up the next shot for Men Of Steel docu-series

Now that things are ready to roll out, London has returned to Florida to plan a tour and possible residency. The official Facebook page is active and a fan-created page has already spun off. For now, Men of Steele has returned to the internet where it began, via a docu-series detailing the show from inception to the present.

When asked how he felt about the possibility of an actual face-off in Las Vegas with Channing Tatum, London looked shocked. Either he hadn’t heard reports of a “Magic Mike Live”…or perhaps he was just surprised that I knew about it as well.  No matter…it only took him a second to recover, and he leaned forward with a confident smile.

“If that’s what happens, then I welcome it…and I wish Channing the best. But Men of Steele will come out on top. I have no doubts about that. We’ll be the number one male revue in Las Vegas”.

Original photos by Sammasseur, movie stills via Warner Bros.

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