PROVO — The electric fireworks show outside Fat Cats begins every night at dusk and doesn't end until at least midnight.
The neon palm trees at the entrance to the bowling alley light up about the same time, just before the Thunder Alley DJ asks the bowlers if they are ready to party.
He usually gets a shrieking "Yes!" — whether it's " '80s Night" or "Country Night." Sometimes, Fat Cats patrons put down their pizza and soda and start dancing on the tables.
"When most people think of bowling alleys they just think of red shoes and bowling," says Sean Collins, co-owner of Fat Cats franchise. "This is an entirely different experience."
The Provo Fat Cats — there is another at 3739 S. 900 East in Salt Lake City — is quickly becoming the city's hippest night spot. With its fireworks lights outside — which climax in 18 different explosions — and the confetti colored carpet inside, Fat Cats seems more like a casino or a dance club than a bowling alley.
And it's as unexpected in buttoned-down Provo as a chapel would be on the Las Vegas Strip.
"We're revolutionizing the industry. It's not just a bowling alley, it's an entertainment center," Collins said.
Collins and partner Dave Rutter patterned the first Fat Cats, which opened in Salt Lake City more than a year ago, after entertainment centers they had seen in Japan that included karaoke, arcades and restaurants in addition to bowling.
The success of the first Fat Cats gave rise to the new alley in Provo, which has been open for three weeks. Remodeling the alley, formerly Regal Lanes at 1200 N. University, cost an estimated $1.5 million and lasted three weeks.
Since then, the bowling alley has already met its winter projections, "which is unheard of in the summer," Collins said.
The Provo Fat Cats has one of the largest arcades in the city, a playground area for children younger than 12 and a full-service restaurant. Patrons can buy pizza and breadsticks from the in-house Pizza Factory and eat at the lanes between frames. Collins says it's a place where you could take your grandmother or your toddler.
The signature look of Fat Cats is its fireworks lights,
Collins said, which he discovered on a business trip to Beijing.
The show begins with a ray of red light that shoots up a 20 foot pole before "exploding" in 8 to 12 different colors. Five such poles surround the Provo alley and go off until closing.
The atmosphere is as festive inside as it is outside. There are neon stars on the walls and television monitors everywhere, playing sports or music videos non-stop.
A room outfitted with slot machines and a stripper pole wouldn't seem out of place.
"I went to check out the competition and there isn't any," said Rick Barrera, night manager. "I went to other bowling alleys and they don't have the lights, the new furniture, none of it. I went to the night club here, and it's no competition; we're still better."
On Tuesday, Jan Barker, a former league bowler from Payson, took her family to Fat Cats for a birthday party. She said she enjoyed the festive atmosphere, but said she couldn't concentrate enough to get a good score. (Barrera says during the day and league play there are no flashing lights or other distractions.)
"It's not a place I would want to come every night. It's too much, it's chaotic. But for kids it's great," she said. "Kids need a place to hang out that's clean and upbeat and safe. My children have permission to come here every night."
Her 17-year-old daughter Julie said she wants to come every Friday night. "Why not party and bowl at the same time?" she said.
Soon after the Barkers left, the nightly laser light and music show began, called Thunder Alley, and the college crowd started streaming in. The DJ, 18-year-old Paul Cartwright, said people come up all night requesting the show, which runs from 9 p.m. to midnight on weekdays and until 2 a.m. on weekends.
"The manager gave me the mike the first day and said 'Go make them laugh.' My job is to have fun, and it's not hard," he said. "Anything and everything happens, especially on weekends."
Because it's '80s Night, Cartwright plays hits like "Whip It" by Devo. When he plays "Ice Ice Baby" by Vanilla Ice, a woman in Lane 2 begins rolling her shoulders to the beat and mouthing the lyrics while teenagers around her throw their hands in the air.
"A young guy like me, I like the sound and lights. It's like a night club. You can dance, eat at the lanes and be entertained by our entertainers," Barrera said. "I work Tuesday through Saturday, and I just can't get enough of it."
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