ALL THAT GLITTERS
Ladies ... the Manpower boys are planning a pilgrimage to where it all started.
IT is a pilgrimage of sorts — the annual return to the Gold Coast where the now international juggenaut that is Manpower first started.
One of the three troupes of buff male entertainers has unveiled a tour of Australia starting from the end of January next year.
It hits the Gold Coast on March 8 at Southport Sharks and founder Billy Cross says for homegrown Manpower stars such as Edward Brandli it is no surprise for family to turn up.
“A lot of the boys from here will have their mums and sisters come to the show. Edward has his mum living on the Coast,” he says with a laugh.
“It is always a successful tour, especially on the Gold Coast because it is where it all started.”
Dubbed Manpower when on home turf, the overseas troupes perform under the title Thunder from Down Under.
It now traverses 15 countries every year including the Netherlands, US, Germany, Canada, Macau, Hong Kong, Thailand and a residency in Las Vegas at the MGM’s Excalibur hotel where it has been a fixture for 18 years. The Las Vegas gig sells out 13 shows a week.
Cross, who was working bar jobs when he started Manpower in the late 1980s with some tradie mates, once said in the early days he had envisaged the concept might last “five years tops”.
Almost 30 years later it endures and he says the Australian tours sell out every year.
Manpower and Thunder shows have entertained millions of women including Hollywood A-listers Jessica Chastain, Demi Moore, Malika Haqq, Kendra Wilkinson and Holly Hagan while also appearing on top talk shows in the US.
A lot of the boys from here will have their mums and sisters there