Iconic “Crazy Girls” Statue is Coming to Circa Las Vegas

By Scott Roeben, on June 12 2025
6 min read 6 comments
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It’s as recognizable as the Bellagio fountains, Carrot Top, the Strat tower, Vegas Vic or the Las Vegas sign. The bronze “Crazy Girls” statue, providing good luck for legions of Las Vegas visitors for decades, is being dusted off and will soon be on display at Circa Las Vegas downtown.

The bootylicious statue will make its way via motorcade to Circa on June 25, 2025, with an unveiling at the resort’s new Legacy Club entrance on June 27, 2025.

We love that this is happening and we tend to hate everything.

The “Crazy Girls” statue was interactive before that was a thing.

“Crazy Girls,” of course, was a topless revue that ran for 34 years on the Las Vegas Strip, first at the now-demolished Riviera (see photo below), then at Planet Hollywood.

The statue—embedded in Las Vegas lore like oxygen being pumped into casinos (not a thing), Charles Manson posing with $1 million at Binion’s (possibly a thing) and Bugsy’s eye popping out when he was whacked (definitely a thing)—was put into storage in 2021.

The ladies were pretty tarnished when Riv closed, making the areas of interest that much more noticeable.

The statue was associated with the phrase, “No If Ands Or…” You know, butts.

It’s not objectification, it’s idolatry, don’t get it twisted.

We’d been chatting with Derek Stevens, owner of Circa, for several weeks about breaking this story, and even teased it on Twitter.

When we’re asked to keep something in the vault, it stays in the vault.

Apparently, somebody forgot to tell whoever runs the “Crazy Girls” Instagram account about the vault. So much for the surprise announcement and our exclusive. We are so excited about being able to buff the “Crazy Girls” statue again for good luck, we’re hardly bitter at all.

In our enduring quest to inject ourself into Las Vegas stories, we will say we helped facilitate the “Crazy Girls” statue deal. Stevens asked if we knew Norbert Aleman, the producer of “Crazy Girls” and owner of the statue. We don’t, but we know people and reached out to Las Vegas magician Murray Sawchuck who helped connect Stevens and Aleman.

But enough about us and our invaluable contribution to the rebirth of a Las Vegas icon.

As mentioned, on June 25, 2025, Stevens and his team are planning some hoopla around transporting the statue to Circa.

The statue hasn’t been publicly viewable or rubbable since June 15, 2021.

On June 27, 2025, the statue will be unveiled in its new location inside Circa. The lower entrance to Circa’s rooftop Legacy Club recently got a facelift, with space carved out for the statue.

Exclusive! Hey, we’ll take what we can get at this point.

The statue has a long and storied history we don’t have time to research or mansplain.

The basics: The dancers portrayed (left to right) are Karen Raider, Debra Sill, Pat Lumpkin, Kim Baranco, Angela Sampras-Stabile, Michelle Sandoval and Chris Zytko.

The statue was made by sculptor Michael Conine. It was commissioned in 1997 to commemorate the show’s 10th anniversary at a cost of $325,000. In today dollars, that’s a metric shit-ton. That’s about $650,000 today. You know we weren’t going to leave you hanging. That value is questionable (as are a lot of the “facts” around this piece). The show’s publicist, Wayne Bernath, claims it actually cost $70,000.

Far be it from a Las Vegas producer to exaggerate and for our local media outlets to just regurgitate what they’re spoon fed without questioning anything. How times have changed!

Here’s the “Crazy Girls” statue in its natural habitat, at Riviera. Currently an empty lot. Sigh.

The statue is six feet tall, 11 feet wide and weighs 1,540 pounds. Probably.

Some sources on the Internet (looking at you, Las Vegas Review-Journal) have falsely reported the statue weighs 4,500 pounds. Um, no.

Here’s the breakdown from ChatGPT: “The ‘Crazy Girls’ statue is hollow and front-facing only. A solid bronze statue of these dimensions would weigh about 55 pounds per cubic foot, but this piece is not solid. A block of solid bronze six feet by 11 feet by, say, 0.5 feet (to match the depth of a sculpture) would weigh more than 18,000 pounds, unmovable without cranes. Hollow bronze statues typically use 0.125 to 0.25 inch thickness. The commonly cited weight of 1,540 pounds is accurate. The 4,500 number is almost certainly a myth, misunderstanding or inflated brag by someone who’s never moved bronze. It fits on a forklift and even a trailer pulled by a pickup, not exactly equipment for a two-ton load. The inflated 4,500 pound claim doesn’t hold up under basic physics or basic observation.”

ChatGPT just threw shade at Johnny Kats.

We were there when the statue was removed from the Riv. It was much heavier than the moving guys expected.

As mentioned, the “Crazy Girls” statue is steeped in legend, including a longstanding myth that one of the women depicted in the statue was transgender. While that’s untrue, a transgender performer, Jahna Steele, was in the “Crazy Girls” until she was outed by a tabloid TV show, “A Current Affair,” in 1992. The whole episode was sort of tragic.

Anyway, the statue has a lot of history and Vegas fans are sure to want to make the trip to Circa for the new photo op.

Why Circa and why now? For one, Derek Stevens and his team are always looking for publicity opportunities. Stevens could hold a news conference to announce the color of his socks on a particular day and every media outlet in Las Vegas would show up.

Stevens has a connection to the “Crazy Girls” statue as he once owned a 21% stake in Riviera.

Stevens and his team have always paid homage to Las Vegas history and culture, such as it is.

The Vegas Vickie neon sign was renovated and Circa was pretty much designed around this classic symbol of Las Vegas.

Here’s a closer look at the statue from, you know, behind.

No, the “Crazy Girls” statue isn’t politically correct. Anyone who follows the news has seen a drama playing out with another bronze statue in Dublin. The statue of Molly Malone features her ample breasts which people have rubbed raw. Critics describe the practice of rubbing the statues breasts as a “violation.”

Members of the National Organization for Women protested the statue when it was first shown at Riviera. No, really.

Well, to put it simply, that’s not Las Vegas.

Circa is a testosterone-inspired playground for people who like to drink and gamble. Like all of Derek Stevens’ casinos (the others are The D and Golden Gate), there are dancing dealers, women who are both table games dealers and go-go dancers.

Circa is a sports mecca. Men outnumber women at the resort’s incredible pool 10 to one. There are bikini contests. During the holidays, at Golden Gate, they have a “Santa’s Helper” promotion where models are paid to flirt with gamblers for prizes. Allegedly.

Las Vegas isn’t a place for teeth gnashing about all this. It’s not for delicate sensibilities. It’s a place for grown-ups doing pretty much whatever they want, as long as nobody gets hurt.

Just as Las Vegas isn’t for everyone, Circa isn’t for everyone.

Men gamble longer when an attractive woman is dealing the cards or dancing on a platform nearby. It’s reality.

We are a card-carrying feminist, but we can also compartmentalize. It’s a requirement in Las Vegas. Legacy Club has a bust honoring Steve Wynn. Not a fan of that decision, but we’ll survive.

The “Crazy Girls” statue is a part of Vegas history, and rubbing the butts for good luck is going to be a thing again.

Vegas loves its cheese. The “Crazy Girls” statue is a throwback to a different time in Las Vegas, but that’s sort of the point.

The name of the resort is “Circa.” The name itself is a nod to history, a way of reflecting upon various eras. The “Crazy Girls” statue is “circa 1987.”

Incredibly, some people are still fans of T&A, even all these years later.

Here’s a first look at some of the art Circa will be using to promote the arrival of the “Crazy Girls” statue. In the words of Dr. Seuss, an exclusive’s an exclusive, no matter how small. He could’ve said that.

More fun facts! It’s expected three of the dancers depicted in the bronze statue will attend the reveal at Circa. Do not do the math, it’s rude.

Making the statue involved casting 22 plaster pieces weighing a total of 400 pounds. The casts were then shipped to where the statue was fabricated, the Shidoni Foundry in Tesuque, New Mexico.

Another curiosity: Producer Norbert Aleman has a tattoo of the “Crazy Girls” statue on his back and shoulders.

From what we understand, the statue wasn’t purchased by Derek Stevens, but is on loan. It’s one of those dollar-a-year lease for 10 years type deals. Circa gets an attraction, Aleman gets Barry’s Downtown Prime dining credits. It’s a win-win.

Before we forget, if you’re a “Crazy Girls” statue fan, there’s a company that makes a sweet pin featuring the statue. We bought three when we heard the statue was coming to Circa and it felt like insider trading, as the pins are currently sold out. We’re providing a link in case they make more. No, this isn’t a sponsored or paid post, we don’t do that. We don’t get a piece of the action. We just think the pins kick ass.

According to our fellow youths, the modern version of the tagline would be “No ifs, ands or cakes.”

We hope to be at the procession when the “Crazy Girls” statue is delivered to Circa, and we’ll definitely be at the unveiling unless it’s early in the morning then we’ll wait until a reasonable hour to get some pics and good luck.

Props to Circa for finding another clever way to not only garner buzz, but also to tap into a longing for a time when Las Vegas was unapologetically sexy and wild and rubbing bronze butts was a rite of passage.

Because you can’t spell “passage” without, well, “assage,” a word we can’t believe isn’t already a word because it clearly means “the study, appreciation or ceremonial handling of the human posterior.”

Usage in a sentence: “The ‘Crazy Girls’ statue at Circa Las Vegas is a cheeky nod to Las Vegas history, a gluteal gateway to good fortune and a timeless monument to five-star assage.” You’re welcome, Merriam-Webster.