Date: Fri 12-Sep-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: SHANNO

Quick Words:

Mannequins-nightclub

Full Text:

(feature on Mannequins nightclub, new in Danbury, 9/12/97)

New Nightclub In CityCenter-

These Guys Are No Dummies: Mannequins Owners Ready To Go

(with photos)

BY SHANNON HICKS

DANBURY - By the end of the month, Michael Ferreira and David Caetano hope to

have captured a corner of the entertainment market in the western Connecticut

area. They have already captured a corner of the downtown Danbury area known

as CityCenter, the heart of the city's restaurant and entertainment district.

Michael and David are the co-owners of Mannequins, a nightclub that is quietly

opening its doors this weekend. An official grand opening will be held in

about four weeks' time. Mannequins is going to be a place people can get

dressed up to go out to, a destination the partners feel has been long needed.

Mannequins is on the corner of White and Ives. Its main entrance is off Ives

Street, through an archway the owners created for the business. A "wall of

water" greets visitors to the club upon entering, which separates the entrance

area from the club's dance floor. Also found at the club's entrance will be a

few of the club's namesakes: state-of-the-art mannequins.

Unlike the overused stand-up figures employed over and over to display

clothing in department stores, state-of-the-art mannequins are built for one

specific job. They look real, from their glass eyes back to their updated

wigs.

"You can't tell it's a mannequin," said Teddy Janatka, the club's designer.

Mannequins will be set up above the club's entrance, and near the bar once

visitors are inside the club.

Three-inch strips of mirrors will surround visitors upon entering. More

mirrors will be set up behind each bar, at the back of the dance floor, and

under a small staging area being set up at the club.

A circular granite-topped bar with a suspended electric arc dominates one wall

of the club's main floor, a second bar is set up opposite the main bar, and

the dance floor is beyond the bars.

The club has two 4,000-square foot levels, although for the club's opening

months of operation, only the main floor is going to be utilized. The

co-owners plan to turn the upstairs area into a lounge in the future, with a

coffee bar and couches for patrons. Also coming in the future will be live

music, jazz or something similar, performed during the week.

The club promises an upscale, sophisticated feel. In order to achieve this, Mr

Ferreira and Mr Caetano hired Vladimir ("Teddy") Janatka to design the

interior of their business. Mr Janatka, who lives in Woodbury and is the owner

of Innovative Design Concepts, handled the job of bringing the former empty

space to pulsating life. The key: Lots of light.

"They wanted an upscale club, and having worked with him before, I had an idea

of his style," Mr Janatka said. "There is a lot of fiber optics - the steps

will be changing colors, all the flooring is a new ribbon that lights up.

Everything will be lit from within."

"We're going to have lots of lights, lots of neon," Mr Ferreira says. "We're

doing a lot of lighting Danbury hasn't seen yet."

The centerpiece of the nightclub is situated above the dance floor. It is a

huge hanging fixture of three Mayan masks in the Art Deco style. The masks

hang in a triangular configuration, each five feet high by five feet wide.

Core Systems, a Texas design firm world-famous for its club installations,

built the lighting system.

Each mask has a trackspot behind it, which will shoot out through the mouth,

with high power pin-spots and dichro filters for the eyes. Each mask also has

pin strobes on the face itself and headdress.

A fog machine is hidden inside the "body" of the machine, so fog will be

coming from above the masks, and a mega strobe points straight down from the

center of the body. The heads can move outwards and down, so that when fully

extended they will be 12-14 feet apart, 10-12 feet above the floor.

From the sand-blasted Art Deco windows to the fiber optics inside the steps

leading to the dance floor, not to mention the club's pride and joy dance

floor centerpiece, Mr Janatka has handled many of the aspects of what the club

is looking like.

"The hardest thing was that everything was rounded," Mr Janatka said a few

weeks ago. "Everyone loves roundness except the carpenters," he joked. But the

work that went into keeping everything rounded should pay off well for the new

club. The main bar - which is rounded, as is its overhang - is a very

attractive feature to the club, and fits into its surroundings much more

comfortably than a long, straight bar would have.

Visits during the past few weeks have been to a hub of activity, as

last-minute details and unplanned delays have been dealt with. But optimism

remains firmly planted in each partner, as the club has taken shape and

readies for its first visitors.

Mike Ferreira has grown up around the restaurant business. His family has

owned a number of restaurants, and he has already owned one of his own in

Brookfield. Partner David Caetano is a former soccer player with the New York

Cosmos team. Both have invested a lot of time and hands-on work into

Mannequins already, and the results are about to start coming in.

"We're a little nervous on the part of everyone's reaction," Mr Ferreira

admitted recently. "Really, we just want everyone else to be excited about

this, too, and to come in and have fun."