Also this issue: Icepack -A.D. Amorosi

December 5-11, 2002

naked city

Petite Sophisticates

Sing us a song·: Avenue Bâs piano bar, among others, exemplifies a new club vibe thatâs more about tickling the ivories than spinning.

Supper clubs and cabarets are gaining popularity with Philly’s 20-something set.

by A.D. Amorosi

There’s a Sondheim tune, sung with unsubtle sarcasm and genuine yearning for a bygone era, that goes, “Here’s to the ladies who lunch/ Everybody laugh./ Lounging in their caftans and planning a brunch/ On their own behalf./ Off to the gym,/ Then to a fitting,/ Claiming they’re fat/ And looking grim/ ’Cause they’ve been sitting/ Choosing a hat./ Does anyone still wear a hat?”

"I'll drink to that," screeches Elaine Stritch in her famous rendition of the tune, bringing Sondheim's arch melody to a halt with a vodka stinger toast to this "invincible bunch."

Though the song is draped in sardonicism, it's hard to keep from thinking, of late, that there's a sincere desire among young men and women to make hip again the wonderfully pretentious, nouveau-riche vibe that inhabited Manhattan clubs from the '30s through the '50s. Places like 21, Copacabana, the Stork Club, the St. Regis' Iridium Room and Café Pierre created a Café Society, weaned on cabaret culture, floor shows, fashion lunches with models strolling catwalks as waiters pace with tea and finger sandwiches, and supper clubs with singers, zingers and big bands.

As writer/hanger-on Lucius Beebe wrote in 1946's tippler's guide The Stork Club Bar Book, that locale (and others like it) epitomized the "de luxe upholstery of quintessential urban existence; fame, wealth, an elegant way of life amongst celebrated folk." Or, at the very least, those that wanted to feel that way.

Are we suggesting you tune out The White Stripes and Deep Dish? No. But are there signals that under-30s want sophistication, suppers and floor shows, rather than rocking and raving? Absolutely. More people talked about the vibe they got from the Copa-feel of CBS's recent Martin and Lewis TV special than the one they got from seeing The Strokes on Letterman.

Our own fair city is bursting with new venues and events catering to the new sophisticate: Crêperie Beau Monde opened an upstairs live lounge, L'Etage; the fancy-schmancy new Bridge movie theater in West Philly added live performances throughout the building; Twenty21 focused its dinner-crowd weekends on live lounge music. Bachelor-pad-DJ-sounds and après-meal cabarets may not be the de rigeur horsemen of the Apocalypse, but Sofitel initiating "fashion lunches" and Gyro (creator of the not-so-sophisticated Bikini Bandits series) involving itself in supper club antics may be too Noel Coward indeed.

"It was fun and educational watching that Martin and Lewis show," says promoter Robin Parry, who moved her Club Nostradamus' live music, avant-cabaret act to tony Twenty21 with an emphasized but quiet shift in swankiness. "The supper club vibe has pretty much been my vision for Club Nostradamus all along, [like] the old Latin Casino but with an edge," says Parry, referring to the legendary Cherry Hill nightspot of the '50s and '60s.

As ever, any increased popularity for this city's now-brimming cabaret scene means bonus points toward sophistication. The biggest treat is seeing what sort of programming the Prince Music Theater's black-box-bar-room setting will bring. The newly-christened space currently features Cafe Carlyle regular Christine Andreas' "Here's to the Ladies!" show (through Dec. 15), and will follow up with big names like Faith Prince and Judy Kuhn in the spring. The Prince's Black Box rendering of the classic American Songbook has been, since its start in June, a resounding success, drawing not only "cabaret fans" but newcomers who are now repeat ticket buyers. "The purest form of singing theater is the cabaret -- no sets or costumes, no story to carry you along; at its best just one singer re-inventing the song and giving it deep personal meaning by performing for a small group," is how the Prince's Producing Artistic Director Marjorie Samoff described the space's appeal at its kick-off celebration, the Prince's "Cabaret Convention."

For Hotel Sofitel and its dining spot, Chez Collette, it's all about bringing haute couture to brunches and lunches. For the holidays, Chez Collette brings back what they call "fashion lunches," where French brasserie cuisine gets synergized with a show featuring work from designers Jacques Ferber Furrier, Adresse, Joan Shepp, Knit Wit, Lagos, Polo Ralph Lauren and Touches. While models stroll along Collette's winding catwalk, a semi-private sales session ensues.

On Dec. 13, Neil Stein and Gyro -- an unholy match if ever there was one -- make Avenue B a palette on which to return to the pre-'60s vibe of showgirls and supper clubs, complete with tuxedoed servers, cigarette girls and big bands fronted by distinguished vocalists. As a test for what Stein claims is his next move -- "I'm thinking about a new supper club restaurant on the horizon," he says -- he'll make Avenue B into a sparkling Vegas-of-the mind, filled with projections of gambling and old Sinatra films, piano lounges, champagne bars, deep red lighting and parachute drop ceilings. To top it off, live music includes Swing Doctors and Smooth as Silk, plus DJ Kurt Wonder spinning Rat Pack rarities.

"It was sexy -- merging food, design and clothing, men and women, gangsters and celebrities," says Stein of the elegant happening that was the supper club. As much a fan of Sinatra and Fitzgerald as he is of Capone, he sees the sex appeal of the supper club and feels it's due for the comeback he's helping herald in. "Rock has never gone away and never will," says Stein. "But the Œgood old days' in America are coming full circle to this style of entertainment. Simply put, it's about nightlife with more style. It's time to stop young people from being so jive and point them in a direction that is cool."

So forget your cell phones and BlackBerries, your Hives and your Vines, your Sevens and your Miss Sixtys. It's time to dress up and swing.

Fashion Lunches, Sat., Dec. 7 and Sat., Dec. 14, noon-2:30 p.m., $25 per person for a three-course prix fixe luncheon, Chez Colette, Sofitel, 120 S. 17th St., 215-569-8300, ext. 7258. The Supper Club, Fri., Dec. 13, 8 p.m.-10 p.m., $100 for four-course dinner, no cover after 10 p.m., Avenue B, 260 S. Broad St., 215-790-0705.