Roanoke restaurant fights ABC allegations of male striptease
October 16, 2014 by admin
Filed under Lingerie Events
The owner of Stefano’s on the Market, formerly called 202 Market, is once again defending his downtown Roanoke establishment after hosting a show in March featuring male dancers.
The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control has charged 202 Market with having a striptease act on March 28, where men appeared nude or partially nude during a “Men from Las Vegas” show. Striptease acts “or the like” are prohibited at establishments licensed to sell alcohol by state law.
After hearing testimony Wednesday, administrative law judge Andrea Hurlocker said she has taken the matter under advisement and will issue a written opinion at a later date. Stefano’s faces a possible suspension of its license to serve alcohol.
At the hearing, Stefano’s owner Stephen Rosenoff never denied that the Men from Las Vegas show occurred at the nightclub. However, he and his attorney, John Edwards, argued that the show was not in violation of any ABC laws and was no different from other shows 202 Market and other Virginia establishments have hosted without legal problems.
The charges came after Virginia ABC agent Baker Goodman received an anonymous complaint in April, a few days after the show, that male strippers had performed at 202 Market. At the Wednesday hearing, Goodman said security video showed male dancers unbuttoning their shirts and dancing on female patrons at the club. One dancer also performed a simulated sex act on one of the women, he said. At one point he said a man in “thong-styled” underwear pulled his underwear down and exposed his backside to the crowd.
He and several witnesses said there was an opaque black curtain-like sheet on the stage that the male dancers would go behind to change clothes. Edwards argued that this was not a striptease, which he called a vague term, and that there was no nudity in violation of the state code.
“They were not nude,” he said of the male entertainers. “They had g-strings on the whole time, or more.”
Goodman pointed to laws that said no nudity, including the buttocks, could be shown in a licensed establishment, and Edwards asked him if he believed the thongs the men were wearing covered them.
“I would say that depends on what the definition of the buttocks is,” he replied. One witness also compared the men’s clothing to European-styled swim suits.
202 Market previously hosted the male erotic dance troupe Chippendales with no legal repercussions. A week before the Men from Las Vegas show, the club hosted a women’s lingerie show, which also had no legal issues. Goodman had a meeting with some of 202 Market’s staff prior to the lingerie show about guidelines as to what is allowed and what isn’t.
Rosenoff said he was under the impression from the Men from Las Vegas manager and 202 Market’s then-manager, who had suggested the performance, that everything was legally appropriate.
Rosenoff said the “Chippendales were better looking” but other than that there was no significant difference in the shows regarding nudity. Rosenoff has recently renamed 202 Market to Stefano’s on the Market and said he is trying to make if more family-friendly.
In 2011, an ABC board officer cited 202 Market after a then-city employee, River Laker, stripped on stage during a charitable fundraiser. 202 Market was given the option of losing its liquor license for 10 days or, with the payment of a $1,000 fine, for just three days.
