Friday, January 14, 2005

Big stars such as Brad Pitt, Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock, Lara Flynn Boyle, George Clooney, Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mick Jagger and Colin Farrell have hit the club since it opened last summer. (Related item:Risque burlesque takes off everywhere)

Mulholland Drive co-star Laura Elena Harring is a fan.

		Retro without the raunch, Los Angeles' Forty Deuce aims to re-create the atmosphere of a classic burlesque show.
		By Thomas Raab

"Demi Moore has all of her girlfriends there," Harring says. " Nicole Kidman does little parties there. I've done a little party there. I highly recommend it. It's so much fun."

Twice a night, two dancers perform to a live three-piece combo that plays old-school stripper music. Using the bar as their stage, the women strut their stuff, admirably avoiding martini glasses in their fishnet stockings and silver high heels while removing gloves and fedoras and teasing the crowd with their boas. Eventually they strip down to flesh-colored bras with sequins and bikini underpants. It's a striptease that's mostly tease.

"Forty Deuce gets me so excited," Harring says. "There's so much energy. When I see those girls dancing, my cells are jumping so high that I can't sit down. It got to a point one night that I had to leave and go dance salsa. I had to dance or I was going to die."

Former NFL star Warren Moon is a regular and enjoys taking out-of-town guests. He also loves the energy and has seen how people react when the show ends and the music begins.

Forty Deuce Forty Deuce is located at 5574 Melrose Ave., Los Angeles. Telephone: 323-466-6263. Open Wednesday-Saturday, 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. $10 cover.

"I've seen girls get up on stage and go crazy," he says. "It's a different vibe from what you get at every other bar and club."

That was always nightclub owner Ivan Kane's goal.

"L.A. nightlife for a long time was kind of a yawn," says Kane, who also owns Deep, another Hollywood hot spot. "It was defined by posturing, posing, pretense, table-hopping and seeing and being seen. It needed something more."

Several years ago he opened Kane, which had a funky, soul vibe. Last summer he changed Kane to Forty Deuce, coming up with the name from his days as a kid in New York when he would skip school and head to Times Square to check out burlesque shows.

If you're trying to get into Forty Deuce, it helps to know Kane, a former jazz dancer on and off Broadway. Capacity is a scant 65. There's no VIP section. The dark room is filled with industry types. Women make up 65% of the crowd.

"I wanted it to be sexy and sensual but at the same time fun and accessible to women and men," Kane says. "Basically, I want everybody to leave the club, go home and just make love."

Posted by ME :: 5:15 PM :: (full post) 0 comments

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