A&E

Find throwback charm at the Italian American Club’s Swanky Supper Club Soiree

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Speakeasy swingin’: Jeanne Brei keeps it cooking at the IAC.
Photo: Spencer Burton
Greg Thilmont

It’s Throwback Thursday in March on East Sahara. With a tasseled red dress, a sparkling purple hat and a feathered boa, Jeanne Brei is ruling the ballroom as she descends from the stage in the Italian American Club.

With a band playing Dixieland jazz behind her—the Full banjo/trumpet/trombone/saxophone/bass/drum Monty—Brei works the crowd. She dance-walks between banquet tables where the audience is seated, while black-and-white-clad waiters deliver wine and entrées, supper club-style. She meets and greets, encouraging folks to two-step on the dancefloor. It’s kind of a rager.

Oh, about the crowd …

It’s safe to say that on this night the house definitely trends toward the retiree set (and their grandparents). All the same, the monthly show billed as “The Swanky Supper Club Soiree!” is gettin’ jiggy at its own good-times pace. The band, The Speakeasy Swingers, delivers some Big Easy-themed greatest hits such as “Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans?” Then a guest vocalist, Paul Stubblefield, takes to the stage and brings a touch of Motown to the evening.

For an interlude between sets, Throwback Thursday heads into Lawrence Welk territory with The Backstage Revue Dancers, a trio of ladies whose patriotic routine includes tambourines and tap dancing. Is it Absinthe? No, but it has a lot of charm. Next, a violin soloist brings a Russian cabaret vibe to the cavalcade.

The Dixielandia resumes, and of course there’s a “When the Saints Go Marching In” lineup, Brei acting as parade marshal with a festive umbrella. The second set gets a lot funkier than the early show, with the band turning out rave-up versions of “C.C. Rider” and “Got My Mojo Working.”

This speakeasyin’ Throwback Thursday doesn’t end with the music, though. There’s a raffle! During the March edition, prizes ranged from tickets to Ja-Makin’-Me-Laugh at the D to a month of crossfit training. Sadly, I did not win a single thing.

For a $10 cover (including a few raffle tickets), the evening at the Italian American Club is a #TBTastic deal. The recurring evening next returns to the Italian American Club on April 2, when the theme will be more in the jump-jive-and-wail swing-dance vein.

The Swanky Supper Club Soiree First Thursdays, 7-10 p.m., $10. Italian American Club, 2333 E. Sahara Ave., 702-457-3866, iacvegas.com.

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