‘Almost Angels’ heats up the Ocean

Atlantic City is the hottest it’s been since 2016, but global warming has nothing to do with it. Instead, the blame is placed squarely on the shoulders (and legs and larynxes) of the five dancer-singers who are the focus of the “Almost Angels” revue that is scheduled to run Friday and Saturday nights through May 18 at Ocean Resort Casino.

For the uninitiated, “Almost Angels” was conceived in 2008 by AyCee-based producer/booking agent Dan Mulhern and Steve Gietka, who, as vice-president of entertainment for Trump Entertainment Resorts, was responsible for buying talent for what was then Trump Taj Mahal Casino-Resort (now Hard Rock Hotel Casino Atlantic City). The pair put the original “Almost Angels” production into the Ego Lounge, where it remained a crowd-pleasing weekend attraction until the Taj’s closing in October 2016. An 18-month residency at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut followed, as did a series of other dates. But then the “Angels” were grounded.

“Then Ocean called and asked us to put the show back together. So, we just kind of rebuilt the whole thing and added a bunch of stuff to it just to give our fans something fresh and cool and different,” says guitarist Dan Jost, the program’s musical director since its inception.

The “Angels” format is uncomplicated: Five lithe and limber female dancers perform choreographed routines to 50-minutes of turbo-charged, beat-heavy pop songs arranged and performed live by a crackerjack, onstage three-piece band led by the fleet-fingered Jost. The set list is primarily comprised of medleys of hits by the likes of Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and Shawn Mendes and Charlie Puth.

The new version, which debuted earlier this month in Ocean’s impressive William Hill Sportsbook Bar, deviates little from the original playbook. It offers nearly an hour of non-stop, booty-shaking energy wrapped in a blanket of lip-smacking sex appeal that creates a party atmosphere that certainly enlivens the betting parlor and its nearby casino-floor spaces.

For his part, Jost is celebrating the revival of “Almost Angels” in the town where it all started.

“This is the most fulfilling gig that I've had in my career because this is the way I always envisioned ‘Almost Angels,” he offers.

“So, I'm just really grateful that Ocean gave us the opportunity, and I think it's going to lead to a lot of other things, too.”

Ocean Resort Casino, Boardwalk at Connecticut Avenue; 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday through May 18; free admission (must be 21).