One of the longest running shows in Las Vegas is Crazy Girls at the Riviera, despite heavy competition not only from other hotel-casinos, but from the town's strip joints.

One of the reasons are the girls themselves-all gorgeous and with a good sense of humor. The show is not only very sexy, but fun as well.

Cheryl, a 5-foot, 6-inch blue-eyed blonde joined the cast in 2005 after moving to Las Vegas from Denver.

Dance, she says, was always a good behavior reward from her parents. "I began dancing in my hometown of Denver at age 4. During my high school years I was an apprentice for a contemporary ballet company and before Crazy Girls I did some shows in Laughlin and Reno. I feel like I've been dancing my whole life."

Cheryl says her parents are conservative and "don't like me dancing in a topless revue, but I don't hide it from anyone."

For fun, Cheryl says she goes nightclubbing and to the gym. "I eat healthy and have oatmeal every morning, but I have to admit, if I had one last meal on Earth it would be surf and turf and many desserts, especially chocolate.

"My motto is: `Don't sweat the small stuff and live every day to the fullest.' And if for any reason my dancing days end, I can always fall back on my B.A. in Biology from the University of Colorado. Right now, I'm following my dream and enjoying life."

Another cast member, Brenda Salathe, a 5-foot, 8-inch blonde with beautiful green eyes and a body to die for, is one of the newer members of Crazy Girls.

Born in Portland, Oregon, her family moved to California when she was 5 and then on to Las Vegas at age 8. She said, "This is the first show that I've danced in on The Strip. I was working as a salon concierge when I found out about the opportunity. It was such a coincidence that the salon's owner is married to the manager of Crazy Girls, and this is what I trained for at Las Vegas High School for Performing Arts."

Brenda recently bought a condo, taking advantage of the buyer's market in Las Vegas. "I felt like I was throwing my money away on rent and I wasn't living in the best of areas.

"I have a black cat that keeps me company. I think all of the Crazy Girls have pets and we were featured in POP Magazine. The theme of the pictorial was `interesting Las Vegas people and their pets'." Brenda said, "My friends would tell you that I'm outgoing and brutally honest. That's my personality but I love working with Crazy Girls. I'm young and have a lot to accomplish still. My favorite musical artist is Lilly Allen."

Her hero, however, is Oprah Winfrey. "Oprah is my hero because she does so much for people and has such a good heart. So naturally I'm a big fan of her television show."

The idea of the show always has been to showcase the female form and let audiences enjoy watching beautiful, sexy women who are also great dancers. One of the things I like about it is that the show continues to change, keeping it fresh.

As one of the dancers told me, "We are very bare onstage, and in most cases, just wearing a G-string. The girls don't wear fishnet stockings and have to be in really good shape to look as good as they do onstage." And man, do they look good. I also like the intimate room (375 seats) ad the choice of theater-type seating or your own booth. And remember, you must be 21 years of age or older to get in.

Crazy Girls performs Wednesdays thru Mondays at 9:30 p.m. at the Riviera.

Len Butcher, a 25-year resident of Las Vegas, is an online columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and a former Managing Editor of the Las Vegas Sun and of Gaming Today. Reach him at lennylv@netzero.net