Former clown brings inappropriate act to ‘Gazillionaire Show’

Friday, March 23, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.

He sports gold lam shoes, a gold tooth, gold lapels on his white tuxedo and carries wads of cash.

His jokes are raunchy. His humor is shocking, and the way to happiness, he tells you, is most definitely through money.

He's the Gazillionaire, the inappropriate star of "The Gazillionaire Show," a cabaret-style talk show making its Las Vegas debut this weekend.

His Las Vegas visit with Penny (Anais Thomassian) and the band Fish Circus was just a matter of time.

"I don't think the Gazillionaire could exist without coming to Las Vegas. It's too perfect," said Voki Kalfayan, aka the Gazillionaire, who will perform with his cast today and Saturday at the Aruba Hotel.

The former Cirque du Soleil performer and native New Yorker, who left the theater to study clowning at Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Clown College in Wisconsin, says developing the Gazillionaire was a long road that began in a Commedia dell'arte workshop.

The Gazillionaire was inspired by the miserly and lecherous Pantalone, an Italian archetype.

"Everything about him is extreme and ironic," Kalfayan said. "He's extremely rich, but he's not. He's sexual, but impotent."

"The Gazillionaire Show" premiered in December at the Luna Playhouse in Glendale, Calif., but Kalfayan is still experimenting. The show comes with song and dance, including the song "What Would You Do for a Dollar?"

It's a production of the New American Theatre Project, composed of "Le Reve" performers. Guests rotate, creating a different show each night.

And the band?

"It's not just any band," said Jim Slonina of the New American Theatre Project. "There's a trombone player, a French horn player, a violin player and an accordionist."

DETAILS: "The Gazillionaire Show," 3 and 8 p.m. today , 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 a.m. Sunday, the Aruba Hotel, 1215 Las Vegas Blvd. South. Tickets are $20; 360-9959. www.newamericantheatreproject.com.

Morelli update

Fortunately for the Junior League of Las Vegas, Vladimir Kagan is a romantic, in love with midcentury modernism.

When Junior Leaguers approached the furniture designer at World Market Center, where he was giving a talk on design, Kagan listened to their needs for the rescued 1959 home of Antonio Morelli, orchestra leader and musical director at the Sands hotel during the Rat Pack era.

Kagan agreed to design its interior. Pieces were donated by Kagan and two manufacturers of his design, Weiman Preview Furniture and American Leather.

"It was love at first sight ," Kagan said from his New York office. "You get romanced into something like that."

The house, moved from the former Desert Inn Golf Course to Ninth Street and Bridger Avenue, is adored by midcentury modern enthusiasts and was in need of furniture. The Junior League's offices are in the home.

Kagan, known for his '40s-, '50s- and '60s-inspired works, including his sleek serpentine sofa and barrel chair, is recognized and collected by various museums of modernity.

The furniture was moved in over the past two months and includes sofas, chairs, a dining table and chairs. "It makes the home look like a home now," Kagan said.