Voyeur
Night-life entrepreneurs routinely fixate on the details of their new clubs — the lighting, the furniture, the vibe. But for the team behind new West Hollywood nightspot Voyeur, the details became something of an obsession. Take, for example, the uniforms worn by the club’s cocktail waitresses.
“We thought it would be cool to have them all dressed like Natalie Portman from the movie ‘Closer,’ ” said David Koral, a partner behind Voyeur. Dressed, meaning mostly undressed…
“David and I had just seen the movie ‘Eyes Wide Shut,’ and it all just kind of started clicking together,” added partner Matt Bendik, formerly at the Las Vegas hospitality company the Light Group.
On the club’s opening night, Oct. 8, that vision swam into view. The dark, leather-heavy interior is reminiscent of the masked orgy scene from the movie. The reference is taken a step further with impromptu bondage and S&M “scenes” being played out on an elevated platform by scantily clad performers throughout the night — not presented as “shows,” like they are in clubs such as Playhouse Hollywood. There is also a heavy net suspended above the club’s lounge area where performers writhe above the heads of clubgoers. Even more provocative scenes are played out in an enclosed glass booth area adjacent to the club’s dance floor area.
“It’s pretty . . . intense,” clubgoer Lee Stone admitted on opening night as one female performer with a horse’s bit in her mouth was being strapped to the wall by another just behind the booth he was sharing with friends. His friend was more intrigued by the action. “I wonder if I would get in trouble for joining them?” she joked…
The concept has definitely caught Hollywood’s attention. An unusual cavalcade of celebrities bypassed the rope on opening night, including music impresario Rick Rubin with actor Vincent Gallo in tow. Reality “star” Jack Osbourne, Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell and actor Gerard Butler also made the scene.
But that was then. Just this week, the publicity generated by the RNC spending scandal has transformed Voyeur from an under-the-radar celebrity hotspot to one of the most famous nightclubs in the world. And, despite the fact it the club was clearly created to generate notoriety, its management seems to be unprepared for the sudden fame.
In Washington, the question is, will the scandal cost RNC Chairman Michael Steele his job. In Los Angeles, the question might be will notoriety kill Voyeur.
Your knowledge of Hollywood history is really fun to read. Are you doing a book on the Strip? I hope so.
truly the rest of the story…well done. sounds kinda like what cheney did with gitmo…
Thanks, Cuzb!
Wasn’t he involved in a crazy shooting incident?
I worked at Peanuts from 1981 until 1997. I performed in and was host for drag shows, lesbian strip shows you name it. It was a fun place. Alice Schiller was a sweetheart who used to bring in sodas into the dressing room for performers. Josh soon took over and ran the place until he died from Leukemia at age 36 in 1994 or so.
In the early 80’s when it was the lesbian bar “Peanuts” some of those hardcore dykes could get pretty rowdy and pull a knife when drunk. Despite all of this those times were quite innocent.
That Voyuer nonsense sounds like sugarcoated sleaze to me. High gloss but still pandering to these pseudo celebs that run around today. At least back in the day we had a sense of humor about ourselves that is sorely lacking these days.
Ain’t those the “Dancing WTS’ guys?