By Damon Gambuto
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Despite the daylight outside, the nightlife mystique is in full effect at Café Wa s, the curtained homage to the French salons of Paris’ bohemian era that is nightlife impresario Ivan Kane’s newest venture. The soaring ceilings of the main room are relieved with small, lounge areas that create a surprisingly intimate feeling in this vast Hollywood space, and I half expect to see the legend himself lounging about surrounded by fetching dancers from his legendery burlesque club, Forty-Deuce.

Kane is, as expected, flanked by a beautiful woman. The twist here is that this king of the theatrical nightclub has long since halted auditions for his queen - the woman next to him is Suzy, his wife of over 20 years. She walks over in a graceful step that betrays her years of dance training and offers me a seat next to them.

This afternoon they are auditioning pianists for their restaurant’s rotating piano centerpiece. Kane auditioning performers is a man in his element. He wears a stylish, yet formal attire that indicates that his business is serious, but he is far too hip to be just a businessman. The spectacles are bold and designer and the sport jacket looks bespoke. A musician stammers through his résumé and Kane quickly interrupts; an act of generosity. He smiles with the enthusiasm encouragement of a hopeful audience. The musician closes his eyes and transforms from awkward job applicant to captivating performer. Kane nods in approval. He knows it takes a lot to put on any kind of show, let alone a great one.

Years earlier it was Kane who wanted to be the one on stage, captivating audiences. Growing up in New York City he developed a passion for theater and says, I’ve always been interested in the power of theatricality and the ability to move people.” That passion led him to pursue a drama degree and a turn doing repertory summer stock before heading to New York. He explains, “I came to New York to pursue an acting career and did what do when you are trying to be an actor and want some bread in your pocket. I went to work at a restaurant.”

During that time Ivan met Suzy in acting class and they teamed up to create a burlesque act that toured the East Coast. “As a couple we were following parallel lives; pursuing acting careers and bartending around New York. But opening a bar was the last thing I wanted to do. People would ask me to open a place with them and my answer always ‘no thank you.’
Kane stayed committed to his acting, getting his big break by angling his way into an audition. He remembers with a wry smile, “I crashed an audition for Platoon. I went to the casting office and asked where they were doing the auditions and for some reason they told me.” So Kane got his foot in the door and kicked it wide open by putting on a huge performance for Oliver Stone and getting cast. Off that success, Kane and Suzy packed up their ’72 Dodge van and headed to Los Angeles to pursue a film career. Kane would go on to land parts in Born On The Fourth of July, among other films. Still he wasn’t becoming the star he felt he was destined to be. After selling an original script to HBO Kane suffered his final frustration with Hollywood as the eventual film bore little resemblance to the one he had imagined.

With some money in his pocket from the movie, Kane finally made a move toward the industry that had sustained him through the lean years. Blending his creative drive and business sense, Kane bought a famous watering hole on Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. The safe play was to just keep running it as is, but Kane never did things the safe way. With lots of sweat equity, he and Suzy built Kane’s, a nightclub which he describes as “60’s Vegas Rat Pack meets ‘70’s superfly funk.” They immediately played up the performance element by hiring go-go dancers and a stylish DJ. Within months Kane went from struggling actor to the owner of LA’s hottest nightclub. He’s never looked back.

Kane’s business savvy made his nightclub more than just an ‘of-the-moment’ nightspot and his profits soared with his profile. Soon the celebrities and power players who lined up to get into his club were lining up to get into business with him. Off the success of his original venture, Kane opened a nightclub called Deep - an homage to choreographer Bob Fosse. He held intense auditions which gave the club the reputation as a premiere gig for dancers who had previously turned their noses up at the nightclub scene.

Kane’s next project, Forty-Deuce, would touch on a historical performance tradition that had all but disappeared. Now, by blending the sex appeal of the modern striptease with the burlesque tradition Kane created a unique nightlife experience that has become a contemporary cultural phenomenon. He says, “We were using dancers all along and – looking back – it was inevitable that we were going to come full circle to the world that Suzy knew so well. We thought, what if we reinvent burlesque? So we did what we’ve always done. We were proactive creatively rather than being reactive to what was out there.” Kane remembers the doubters. “Everybody – and we know everybody in this town who owns nightclubs and restaurants – everybody said, ‘that’s an insane idea. ‘LA nightlife is defined by seeing and being seen and I was saying "I want to entertain you."

Kane found himself entertaining access to the most successful show in town. When that town is Los Angeles, that means Hollywood comes knocking. Kane’s nightclub became a television series, and another outpost would open at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. Las Vegas’s Forty-Deuce continues to defy the recent economic downturn that has affected Sin City, due in no small part to Kane’s maintaining a firm hold on the day-to-day operations there.

In late 2008, Kane took another bold turn and opened Café Wa s. With a successful track record in the nightclub scene it might seem strange to move toward a restaurant, but for Kane it made perfect sense. “What we felt was happening was a palpable shift in the country. We thought it would be a great thing to do - and in synch with what’s going on in the country – to create a room for the people. I think people want to gather over food and sit down with good friends and talk about what’s going on right now.”

Café Wa s is a hybrid space that feels at once refined and welcoming. The heavily designed space is dark and dreamy and in defiance of the cookie-cutter, contemporary building that houses it. The main room, with its 1924 Mason & Hamlin piano centerpiece makes it clear you’ve arrived at more than restaurant. Suzy sums it up, “the room is the star here.”

That may be true, but the very present and very attentive owners often steal the show. Kane takes his role to heart and is aware that his obsessive nature is part of his success. “If you don’t think the details matter, I think you are making a mistake. In this very competitive business, in a very competitive town, in a very difficult time every detail is going to make a difference. Absolutely every detail. Even though it’s a cliché: no detail is too small.”

Currently, nothing is as universal to owners of restaurants and nightclubs than the difficulty of the times. Kane’s solution is to remain focused on dealing with the realities of running his business. “The fact that the problem is universal – although it gives you comfort – it doesn’t take care of your problems. You have to be smart as a businessman… You can’t sit around and wait for it to get better. You have to make some very proactive changes. Cutting operational costs, running lean and mean. Getting rid of office space if that’s it. Laying off people if that’s what it takes. Going back to your vendors and telling them ‘you need to work with us.’ Going to your landlord and saying ‘you need to work with us.’ The time for being proud is gone. You can’t live in a dream world anymore – which this business can be. We are here to entertain people, but we have to be pragmatic about it. You have to make difficult choices without messing with the integrity of your room or show or your food. To make those types of tough decisions, but not make it apparent to the consumer, that’s the trick.”

As the piano auditions wound down, the distance between a passionate showman like Kane and someone like me who just wants to watch a good show, become apparent. The final pianist interrupts herself to voice a worry that her quiet playing isn’t what Kane wants. He addresses her doubts with a simple truism, “Quiet can be exciting.” Certainly that’s true, but as I listen to this woman murder a few standards and then some Johnny Cash, all I want to do is scream at her to stop. I look over at Kane and see that he sits serenely, enduring this second-rate piano bar singer with good humor. He knows that a special performer, one that will set a show apart, is a needle. Ivan is willing to sift through the hay to make Café Wa s a special experience for his customers.

We chat a bit more about the business as his eyes focus on something behind me. Suzy is trying to get his attention to let him know it’s time for his next meeting. Before he heads out, I ask a last question about the effect of all of his success. Does he think all of the attention and praise he’s received over the years has changed his expectation about this new venture? Kane smiles and dismisses my notion, “I never believe the hype, I’m too busy working.”