Director’s new passion is “Le Dinner Cabaret”

Friday, March 8, 2002 | 10:16 a.m.

When: 7 p.m. Thursday through Tuesday (dark Wednesdays).

Where: Greek Isles Star Theater.

Tickets: $49 for general admission (includes meal); $55 VIP seating.

Information: 952-8000.

The first show 32-year-old Fernando Quevedo produced was "Beats of Passion," last year at The Venetian.

It was an international revue with a Latin flavor that was supposed to last six weeks; it ran for six months.

"It was a very good experience," Quevedo said, "but it was an uphill battle. As an independent producer we had to take care of everything, from publicity to lighting. We were four-walling (renting the theater), which allowed me to get my feet wet.

"Ultimately my dream is to be doing Broadway shows, and on Broadway you do not have the luxury of a hotel or casino banking your show, whether its making or losing money."

Quevedo's second production, "Le Dinner Cabaret," begins tonight at the 500-seat Greek Isles' Star Theater.

"Le Dinner Cabaret" is completely different from "Beats of Passion," Quevedo said.

For one thing, the audience eats.

For another, "Passion" was structured so that the audience would sit and watch what was happening onstage, but "Le Dinner Cabaret" is more loose, with singing, dancing, juggling and other action taking place all over the theater.

"Growing up, I caught the tail end of the older generation," Quevedo said. "I was influenced by Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire. Bob Fosse is God to me.

"But my other foot was in the MTV generation. I grew up watching MTV, Madonna, Marilyn Manson. As far as a show goes, the attention spans between the generations is different. I like to keep a show going as if you are watching TV, so there is no down time," Quevedo said.

"I've noticed myself and my friends watching TV -- there's no room for commercials, no room for boredom. You get the payoff (of the show), or the killing and you switch channels to a football game and watch a touchdown and then you switch to something else. People have been trained for many years that way.

"That's the idea behind the show," Quevedo said. "The action follows on the stage to get a payoff, then it switches to the back of the room or the corner of the room where one of the entertainers is improvising a situation with one of the persons in the audience. Then you go back to the other side of the room."

Quevedo understands something about audiences: He has been performing since age 7. His father is Tuco Quevedo, one of a group of Gaucho performers from Argentina who immigrated to Europe and the United States in the 1960s.

Fernando Quevedo performed for eight years with his father in the group Los Huincas Gauchos as part of "Enter the Night" at the Stardust. Tuco Quevedo is now appearing in his son's show.

Juggler Romano Frediani, son of internationally acclaimed juggler Nino Frediani, also is one of the 20 performers in "Le Dinner Cabaret."

"Ultimately," Fernando Quevedo said, "the idea of the show is when somebody comes in here, they are going to say, 'Wow. We've experienced something. You've got to eat at that place.' "