Cicada club details

[donCarlos]

There was a thread about deco clubs around the world and I thought "it would be nice to have somethig like that in Prague".

All I need to do is to make a plan, how it shall look and what´s realistic here. My main inspiration is nothin less than the famous Cicada club. I´m thinking about contacting mister DeMilles himself, but not before the right time comes.

Now what I need from you - I´m sure plenty of you have been there, so I have a few questions. I´d do such a research myself, but tickets to Los Angeles are... well out of my price range.

1) How big are the premises of the club? How many rooms and for what purposes?
2) The website says that the club opens on Sunday. What about the other six days in the week? Is there something going on, or is it closed (therefore not making money)
3) The prices - how much are they above the average prices in generic restaurants and clubs? (the only measurment for me is an average major city area sallary of about 68 000 dollars per year, I´m not sure about how right this number is)

That´s all for now, I hope. If this survey comes out well, I will seriously start thinking about contacting the potential investors.

 

[Miss 1929]

You should PM Marc Chevalier about this, he is the expert on the building that the Cicada Club happens in. But here's what I know, about that one and about running this type of event in general...

The other 6 days of the week it is a restaurant. The club does not own the space. The club could happen anywhere, it just happens to be in that space (which is grand).

We have a similar club in the Bay Area called Mr. Rick's Martini Club, that happens in different locations at different times. http://www.martinimusic.com/clubhome.htm

I suggest you make it a floating club, and find a ballroom in a grand old Deco hotel to have it in.

Count on the crowds being small at first, hook up with a local vintage band to be your house band, pay them something (or they may cancel on you), do not try to do hosted bar or serving food for free until you have a lot of crowd, let the hotel make the money off bar and food service if they have any, and use your ticket income for the rental, publicity and the band.

Always overestimate your expenses by 30%. Always underestimate your income by 30%. That way you will have no nasty surprises.

Come up with a name for your club that you can use over and over, and research it on the internet to be sure it's available.

DO NOT USE any photos or names of movie stars of the past in your publicity, you will get slapped with a lawsuit (this is the voice of experience talking).

Good luck! Wish I could be there!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'll do my best to help!


1) The Cicada Club's premises are enormous: a very large open space that's 2 levels high, with an upper-level mezzanine and wide balcony encircling the entire space.


2) As you know, the space hosts Maxwell DeMille's Cicada Club on Sunday nights while also functioning as a restaurant and bar. On Mondays, the space is closed. From Tuesday through Saturday, the space is Cicada Restaurant only -- and solely in the evenings. (The restaurant is closed for the rest of the day.) The space is often rented out for filming (during the day) and for weddings and corporate parties. The restaurant's owner also rents out the building's Art Deco penthouse for filming and parties (and provides the catering for those events).


3) Nearly all Cicada Club evenings are free admission ... but if you choose to eat and drink there, the dinner menu and drinks menu aren't cheap. Expect to pay around $12 for an absinthe cocktail, for example. And here's one of the Sunday night menus: http://www.clubcicada.com/2009_CICADA_CLUB_MENU.pdf

My main inspiration is nothin less than the famous Cicada club.

1) How big are the premises of the club? How many rooms and for what purposes?
2) The website says that the club opens on Sunday. What about the other six days in the week? Is there something going on, or is it closed (therefore not making money)
3) The prices - how much are they above the average prices in generic restaurants and clubs? (the only measurment for me is an average major city area sallary of about 68 000 dollars per year, I´m not sure about how right this number is)

 

[donCarlos]

So you say that it would be better to start with organizing events once a week in a role of a middleman between owner of the premises and personell and the band. That´s quite a good idea!

Thank you very, very much for information and inspiration. This may actually end with some results.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

You're welcome, Don Carlos!


Be in charge of the publicity, the entertainment, the sound and the lighting. Let the people in charge of the space handle the space. Have those people pay you -- either a percentage of the evening's take, a flat fee, or a combination of both. Use part of that money to pay for the publicity, entertainment, extra equipment and assistants (if any).

.d

 

[BinkieBaumont]

The food would have to very Superior to be able to charge those type of prices, when I do the Conversion to Australian Dollar:rage: but I suppose it is the experience, next time I purchase a Qantas round the world ticket I will take in the Club and the Queen Mary

 

[donCarlos]

One more thing:
I found the menus, but I can´t compare those prices with average prices. All I can say is that it´s quite expensive. Very expensive, for my taste.

Can somebody make up some comparison of the prices, at least rough? I have no idea about prices in the US restaurants.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Here's the menu of an average-price Italian restaurant a few miles away from Cicada Restaurant: http://www.louises.com/menu_pastas.html

.

 

[BinkieBaumont]

This may help, it helped me

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

 

[donCarlos]

Thank you both!

Now I´ll start seriously thinking about this project...

 

[Absinthe_1900]

Expect to pay around $12 for an absinthe cocktail, for example.

That's actually not a bad price, some bars are charging $20.00 for an absinthe cocktail.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

The food does seem over priced though, unless it's truly superior. Any objective party wish to weigh in?

 

[Carlisle Blues]

The food does seem over priced though, unless it's truly superior. Any objective party wish to weigh in?

When I go to a place like that I do expect to pay a great deal of cash for food, I do not expect to have the finest cuisine. That's ok because the reasons I am there, generally, have nothing to do with the food. Could be entertainment, friends etc etc.[huh]

 

[Marc Chevalier]

The food does seem over priced though, unless it's truly superior. Any objective party wish to weigh in?

The food is good Northern Italian; the portions are small. To some extent, you're paying for the unique and spectacular architectural atmosphere.

.

 

[Miss 1929]

So you say that it would be better to start with organizing events once a week in a role of a middleman between owner of the premises and personell and the band. That´s quite a good idea!

Thank you very, very much for information and inspiration. This may actually end with some results.

I would say once a week is too often, it is hard to get a crowd every week (unless you know you have hundreds of vintage enthusiasts in your area! And a way to reach them all directly, like an email list or a mailing list). Start out as once a month. If you can get a commitment from a nice place to have it the first Friday or something like that, it makes it easier to promote and for people to remember.

Count on losing money or barely breaking even at first! I cannot stress this enough. If you make even a little bit, you are doing great compared to most new events.

Basically, it would be your event, you would be using the club (and hopefully not having to pay a rental),hiring the band, doing the publicity, selling the tickets, and all of the other million and one things that need doing.

Local historical societies are a wonderful resource for ticket purchasers. There is no Art Deco Society of Prague, and there really ought to be - start one!