Scores, the New York strip club where celebrities Colin Farrell, Dennis Rodman, Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock party, will open a branch in Broward county.
Ft. Lauderdale- While Oakland Park leaders are discussing whether nude dancing should be allowed in their town, Scores will be baring it all.
Scores, the lavish, upscale gentleman's club known for catering to a VIP list of celebrities and athletes in New York City, officially opens in Broward at 6 p.m. Wednesday, offering cheap thrills at high prices.
''It's purely coincidental that is happening on the same day,'' laughed Andrea Amenta, public relations director for Scores Fort Lauderdale.
The Oakland Park Commission will meet at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the commission chambers at City Hall.
''On Wednesday, a number of S.O.B. laws will be discussed at the city commission, and allowing nude dancing is one of them,'' said Oakland Park City Manager John Stunson, using the acronym for Sexually Oriented Businesses.Even if the law changes, Scores owners argue that they can remain a nude club under a grandfather clause, Stunson said.
''Well, that's what they say anyway,'' he said.
If Oakland Park does ban nude dancing and tries to enforce it, club owners throughout the area will likely sue the city, Amenta predicts.
Last July, porn mogul Larry Flynt threatened to sue Fort Lauderdale after officials tried to change zoning laws to restrict the opening of his Hustler Hollywood boutique.
Scores is beating Flynt to the punch in opening a high-end gentlemen's club. Flynt and Scores currently have clubs that compete within blocks of each other on Manhattan's West Side, offering high-end cuisine, exotic cocktails, and pricey female companionship.
Unlike other clubs, Scores substitutes regal for raunch. There are no contact lap dances. There are no porn star headliners. It's a champagne room operation and men pay top dollar for that privilege.
''Men spend $300 to have me spend time with them for an hour and another $250 to $275 for a bottle of champagne,'' said Ava, one of Scores' most sought-after private dancers. ``It is all about status. The men who do it are very generous and are out to have a fun, dignified evening.''
The highest-priced champagne among Scores 29 selections? The Perrier Jouet Millennium for $5,000.
Amenta predicts that Scores will do very well in Fort Lauderdale because a great deal of tourism comes from the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area.
''Scores is the biggest and best club in the Tri-State area and they will expect and get the same when they come here,'' she said.
Amenta said Scores is determined to make its Broward location a home away from home for every celebrity and athlete in South Florida -- just like its sister club in New York.
For opening day week, Amenta has comedian Artie Lange from the Howard Stern show coming in. And she also heard that two bad boy Scores New York regulars -- athlete Dennis Rodman and actor Colin Farrell -- will be stopping by.The upscale trend in gentleman's clubs is catching on because men, no matter their economic status, want to be fed and feted like rock stars when they go into a club, said Angelina Spencer, national executive director of Association of Club Executives.
''The same quality that made the geisha houses experience popular in Japan is the latest trend that is becoming big here,'' Spencer said. ``It's about the whole $1,000-plus experience of being pampered by a beautiful woman. Of smoking the finest cigars, of drinking the best champagnes and liqueurs.''
The upscale clubs also have high-end restaurants attached to them. Flynt said his Miami Beach Hustler Club will feature a steakhouse.
Scores already has one -- Tusks, which offers porterhouse steaks for $31.95 and rack of lamb for $24.95. Patrons can come into Tusks without ever seeing any of the adjacent nudity.
''People love our freshly baked cheesecake,'' boasts Tusks sous chef Marc Stang.
