Threat of Arrests Cancels Chippendale’s Shows : Censorship: Vice detectives say the lack of proper licensing is behind the warning, but the all-male dance troupe claims discrimination.

Chippendale’s, a Los Angeles-based dance troupe featuring a scantily dressed male cast, has canceled a series of San Diego performances after vice detectives threatened to arrest all 13 dancers for lacking the proper licenses.

Marc Pakin, the general manager of Chippendale’s, said Wednesday that shows scheduled for this week at the Radisson Hotel in Mission Valley were abruptly canceled after San Diego police officers said they would “have no choice” but to arrest and fine each member of the cast if the shows went on.

Even with the license, the troupe would not have been allowed to do its bump-and-grind or its playful interaction with the audience, which is limited to females. Pakin said the company, which was founded in 1978 and has performed “in every state of the union and several foreign countries,” had, until this week, never had a performance canceled and never been told that the dancers could not touch the audience.

“San Diego is in a class all its own,” Pakin said angrily from his office in Santa Monica. “We’ve performed in Salt Lake City and throughout the Bible Belt, but it’s no go in ‘America’s Finest City.’ ”

Pakin said he was “mystified” by the police action, since Chippendale’s has performed in San Diego in the past, including shows last August at the Radisson.

“We were aware of that, and this time we were ready for ‘em,” said Capt. Ken Moller, head of investigations for the vice and licensing units of the San Diego Police Department.

Moller said he alerted detectives to Chippendale’s appearance three weeks ago when advertisements for the Radisson shows began appearing in newspapers and on local television.

Moller said Chippendale’s has neither a cabaret license nor a “nude” license to operate in San Diego. He said both are required to “do the type of show they want to do.”

Pakin said that, with the exception of Salt Lake City and Seattle, such local licenses have not been needed “in any city in the country,” and those cities imposed no restrictions on the act. Pakin said police told him that the company itself would have to be licensed, as well as each member of the 13-man cast.

“And, if we did the show without getting the licenses, or doing what we normally do in shows, they told us that each member of the cast could be fined as much as $1,000 and spend six months in jail,” Pakin said. “That’s an outrage, and there’s no question about it--it is discrimination.

“Why Chippendale’s would have to do that in 1990 is beyond me. On Monday night, we were featured on the Geraldo Rivera show. It was seen on television stations throughout the country--including San Diego. I pointed that out to your Police Department, and the guy said, ‘Right, and that’s exactly what we’re not going to have in our city.’ ”

Pakin said Chippendale’s attorneys spent Wednesday reviewing the case in preparation for filing a lawsuit against the city of San Diego and the San Diego Police Department.

Pakin said Chippendale’s lost $20,000 through the cancellation.

Moller said that Chippendale’s performances constitute lewd conduct under San Diego statutes. He said topless bars featuring semi-nude female dancers are “able to do what they do because they’re properly licensed.” He said a special “nude” license is required for any nudity on stage.

He said a cabaret license enables a performer to perform partially clothed, wearing, say, volleyball or bicycle shorts. He said a nude license permits almost total nudity with the use of a “G-string,” which covers the genitalia.

But neither license would permit “the type of contact with the audience that Chippendale’s is famous for,” Moller said. “In fact, they could get no closer than 6 feet.”

Moller took pains to point out that the action against Chippendale’s is not a case of a “male-dominated” vice squad feeling threatened by semi-nude males.

“That’s absolutely what it is,” Pakin said. “What else is it? You’re going to tell me that nowhere in San Diego are there women on stage doing what men do on our stage? I’d like for Captain Moller to take me to just one club featuring female dancers where they don’t bump and grind or do any type of suggestive sexual dance. Geez, maybe you all should go and lock your doors in San Diego. It’s just not safe down there.”