Friday, June 27, 2003 | 8:59 a.m.
Jerry Fink's lounge column appears on Fridays. Reach him at [email protected] at (702) 259-4058.
Heather Kefalas was one of many Las Vegas entertainers who lost work after 9-11, when tourism took a brief nosedive.
She sang and played piano in lounges at The Mirage for 12 years, 11 of them at the Baccarat Bar and the last one at Onada Lounge.
After almost 18 months away, Kefalas is back at the Baccarat, where the opera-trained diva sings rock 'n' roll, R&B, pop, jazz and blues.
"I've had the greatest response from employees and from fans who have been trying to find me," Kefalas said during a recent interview. "People from all over the world used to come here to listen to me."
Is the fact that she has returned to the comfortable setting where she is so well known a sign that things are getting back to normal after almost two years?
Maybe, but the show is still a work in progress.
"As far as the environment here, it feels a lot different than it did before," Kefalas said. "I don't see as much affluence, but that may be because of the impact of the opening of the Bellagio and Mandalay Bay, attracting the high rollers."
She said crowds are more subdued these days.
"They aren't in as much of a party mood," Kefalas said.
And there seems to be fewer international visitors.
"There are usually a lot of Europeans traveling," she said. "But there doesn't seem to be as many -- or Japanese either. I hardly see any French, and I sing a lot of French music. The number of Oriental travelers seems very low. I don't know if it's SARS or what. Things are just a lot slower here than I remember."
But Kefalas says she couldn't be happier to be back.
"It's very nice, very pleasant," she said as she prepared to settle in at the familiar grand piano in the elegant little lounge in the middle of the casino.
When Kefalas left The Mirage she struggled to find work, just as most displaced performers did during that period of uncertainty.
She performed for three months in the exclusive Sterling Club at Turnberry Place.
She also became involved in an unusual creative project with the Wine Art Gallery, a small boutique gallery on Industrial Road, south of Flamingo Road, where Roger Palas makes miniature reproductions of paintings and puts them as labels on bottles of wine. Kefalas wrote music to accompany the decorated bottles.
Then she had a gig at Treasure Island for a couple of months, performing in a small lounge that opened and closed before it had a chance to catch on.
Although work was scarce, Kefalas never became discouraged and has continued to pursue a plethora of projects.
"I'm a creative person, a writer, an entertainer," she said. "I like to develop shows and projects. That's how I stay busy."
In addition to performing at the Baccarat four days a week (8:30 p.m. to 1:15 a.m. on Mondays, 3:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays), Kefalas is trying to place her CD, "Portrait," with a film company for a soundtrack.
"It's a difficult process," she said. "You have to know someone."
Kefalas says she has a connection at Steven Spielberg's production company, DreamWorks. Meanwhile she is writing music for a children's TV show, "Discover Headquarters," which a friend has developed and is pitching to the networks.
She has begun her own production company, BrushNote Productions, which is in the process of creating DVDs for painters to use as marketing tools in selling their work.
"We videotape artists as they are painting," Kefalas said. "We shoot them from the beginning to the end and then we time lapse it down, add original songs and put it all on DVD."
She said the DVDs will be played in galleries, where potential buyers can watch the artists create the art that is being sold.
"Sometimes people are loyal to an artist, but they don't know who the artist is," she said. "With the DVD, people can get to know the artist."
Kefalas' most exciting project is a production she is working on that will combine music performed by herself and three others with a backdrop of brilliant colors.
"We will take the listener through a journey of musical medleys complemented and matched with a visual aura of color," Kefalas noted.
As a song is performed, a splash of color that corresponds to the mood of the song will appear on a large, canvas-like screen at the back of the stage. Each song will have a different color, and by the end of the performance, a colorful mosaic will have been created.
"I want to do something nouveau for Vegas," Kefalas said. "There are so many lounges to go to. A lot of them are boring and loud. I want to do something more innovative."
Eventually, Kefalas hopes to leave the lounge scene on her own terms, not because she has been pushed out by an economic downturn.
"Being here is great," she said. "I love to play at The Mirage. It's fun. But I also know I have a lot more potential than as just a lounge performer."
Lounging around
Ned Mills, a multitalented musician from Watha, N.C., (population 195), just started a gig at the Coachman's Inn, 3240 S. Eastern Ave. Catch him Fridays, 9 p.m. until midnight. In addition to playing piano and trumpet (sometimes simultaneously) and singing, Mills hosts an open-mike session.
David "Sax Man" Brown will make his Las Vegas debut in the Imperial Palace's Kabuki Lounge July 12 through July 19. He will perform from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. His father is Earl "Good Rockin' " Brown, who performed with such musical icons as Ray Charles, Jackie Wilson and Muddy Waters. David Brown, a Las Vegas resident, has opened for B.B. King, The Temptations, K.C. and the Sunshine Band and The Commodores.
The Cat Daddy Band performs at Bally's Indigo Lounge from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Catch EJ the DJ at Caesars Palace's Shadow Bar from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Dance to Joy Ride at the Las Vegas Hilton's Crystal Lounge from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays and from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
Saxophonist Tommy Thompson and his Tommy Thompson Project band is at Paris Las Vegas' Napoleon's Lounge from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 10 p.m. to midnight Sundays.
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