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The
New Bars In Town Story by Michael Wanzie
EMPIRE Think back a few years and you'll remember the place on Lake Fairview as Splash. Or, if you're older, perhaps Park Avenue Club rings a bell. Or, if you're really old, how about Sebastian's Dinner Theater? Regardless of how you remember it, you won't recognize it now. An obviously substantial sum of money has transformed the old place into a slick, hip entertainment complex with multiple environs to suit every whim and fancy. The sheer size of this club (40 thousand square feet of useable indoor and outdoor entertainment space) makes one wonder if Orlando has a sufficient gay population to support it.
General manager Jason Zdanowicz asserts, "Central Florida has never seen anything like it." Promising to dazzle his patrons with world class DJ's, live entertainers, and sensational special effects on a weekly basis, Zdanowicz has a plan to give gay clientele an extraordinary, and very costly [to the management not the patrons] entertainment experience every time they walk through the club's doors. According to Zdanowicz, "We want them to expect it, and get it. But we couldn't possibly deliver a product of that caliber seven days a week in a [gay] market the size of Orlando. So, we will promote several nights to the straight crowd." But at least 3 nights a week, the club willl pull out all the stops, and pour huge sums of money into entertaining its primary audience: gays. Considering that the owners Paul Hugo and Brett Tannenbaum, along with the entire management team, are all gay themselves, and that the most important nights to any club (Friday and Saturday) are irrevocably earmarked as gay nights, it should be indisputable to any would-be nay-sayers that, if we must deal in labels, the Empire is clearly more a gay club with straight nights than the other way around. Jason offered that if the gay community will allow his team to do what they need to in order to be fiscally sound, then Empire and he pledge "We will never disappoint our gay clientele when they walk through our doors. No matter your interest, you will find something to entertain you in one of our many areas, and you will see from the caliber of entertainment, that we are investing money in you, the gay patron."
The complex boasts a full color laser illumination system, liquid nitrogen effects, circuit party-quality sound and light shows, and above-the-crowd pyrotechnics displays. In addition to the main dance area with adjoining performance stage, Phase One includes a colorful video lounge, conducive to chatting, where famed video editor Joe K will showcase his entertaining mix of contemporary dance music sequences and comedy clips. There's also an outdoor pool and hula bar area, and an expansive white sand beach complete with Volley Ball net. Jason stated that Phase Two, set to open in less than 3 months, will be similar in size to Southern Nights. Of the competition Jason says, "We are not blowing into town with an attitude or an eye to harming anyone else's business. People go to various places for various reasons. We hope to offer something different. Just as we are in South Florida, we plan to be good neighbors to the other clubs, and to become cooperative members of the community" The grand opening of Empire is this Friday, October 27, 2000. If this opening weekend's entertainment line up (popular with the Circuit crowd) is any indication of what the future holds, Orlando has just scored a bright new addition to its short list of world class dance clubs. Complete Empire opening weekend details and scheduled entertainers. PHOENIX The New Phoenix 3 Doors appeals to a laid-back crowd. According to the owner, "It's a neighborhood bar for gay people. Check your attitudes at the door." New owner Marvin says, "In here, everyone gets along." This is a beer and wine joint with billiards and darts where people actually sit and talk to one another. They offer up drag shows on Fridays, and the whole gang has a helluva lot of fun with Karaoke, gay and lesbian style every Saturday. The Friday, October 27, Halloween party features a costume contest and very special guest star Tiffany McCray, along with Virginia Parkway and Kaye Starr. Show times are 10 PM and midnight.
STUDZ Owner Dan Schwab says, "Leather, Levi's, and uniforms are the order of the night at Studz." Dan explains, "Some people may know me and my other half Andrew because we used to own Ragazzi, a clothing store formerly located next to Hank's. (They intend to re-open the store when the Parliament House constructs its planned shopping district.) "We've created a real friendly place for the macho-ey, butch-man types," says Dan.
You won't find the name of the establishment on their neon sign. It's a cool, solid black with the numbers 4453 in the lower left hand corner. This writer (not being butch, a bear, a redneck, or "macho-ey") isn't sure, but thinks that blank sign is intended to project the illusion that mystery, danger and all things innately masculine lie in wait within. Anyway, if that isn't what it means, it should. The front door isn't even in the front, it's in the back (more mystery). The back/front door sports several decals which I'm sure mean something to the people coming there. Schwab says above all else "It's a neighborhood place." Exactly what kind of neighborhood he grew up in I don't know, but he assured me the crowd is "friendly and sociable." The amiable owner of Studz concludes his bar pitch by saying, "Studz fills a very specific need. This is not a place for the stand-and-model crowd." Having said that, Schwab adds, "However we get all kinds of people - both men and women. Everyone is welcome!" Complete Studz opening weekend details and scheduled entertainers. Studz The New Phoenix
3 Doors Empire
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