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World Famous City Means World Famous Bar:
Tommy Elias And Oz, A Cabaret out of Cabaret
by Patrick Shannon, III

Of course I arrived early at the corner of Bourbon St. and St. Ann and went into one of New Orleans' most successful and renowned of French Quarter cabaret clubs, OZ. I had scheduled an interview with Front Man and general manager, Tommy Elias. Now some of you may think, well, he's saying all this "world famous" shit because OZ is a big advertiser with this paper, but you're wrong. Even without a single ad I'd say "world famous" and "universally renowned" because of where THIS OZ is located and it's not in Kansas. If you mention Bourbon Street to anyone anywhere in the free world, they will immediately say, "Oh, you're from New Orleans! I know all about Bourbon Street." Everyone everywhere does and now they also know about OZ. Especially those millions of us in the Gayles community to which this beautifully renovated nightclub especially caters and holds a special interest.

Few cities can boast of such fame for a little street 12 blocks long from end to end, but it's just a fact. Everyone knows about Bourbon Street and everyone knows about New Orleans. Even as a native, I can appreciate how totally famous this little strip of land is and, even though Tommy Elias would probably never say it himself, as master of ceremonies, general manager and Front Man of this nightclub, he has become as famous as the corner of Bourbon and St. Ann and OZ itself. All for good reason as you will soon find out.

But before we reveal the secrets of OZ and Elias, a few words about the on-duty bartender that afternoon at 4pm. He was one of the most charming and handsome young 22 year old guys I'd met in ages. He's from Little Rock. His name is Tony Chalfant. And that adorable Little Rock accent, well it just made my heart flutter. Anyway, we chatted and he fixed me one of the best vodka and tonics I'd had all week, and honey, I'd had a few. Of course, in typical Jon Newlin fashion, I kept thinking of THAT SONG, but without Mr. Newlin around to add some luster and real history to its Broadway musical origin, I kept the tune locked up in my head. So here's to you Mr. Chalfant, just a little boy from Little Rock.

At 4:30pm, and right on cue, Mr. Tommy Elias, the man who made OZ what it is today, arrived. I had only seen him onstage and knew him to be an accomplished singer with a lot of show biz pizzaz, but I had no idea what a nice guy he was beyond the spotlight. We went to the upstairs bar area, one of my favorite places. It is a large room surrounded by a balcony that starts at St. Ann St. and winds around to Bourbon with a view made even more famous and desired during a few of our town's festivals, like Mardi Gras and the soon to arrive, Southern Decadence XXVI.

OZ, as a nightclub, has become one of the hottest cabaret showbars in town. Its female impersonators are strictly Designer Label Drags and it gets some of the best talent in town to flame and flutter on its stage-people like Becky Allen for one. But let's find out who this man Tommy Elias really is and let him tell us what makes OZ the best live entertainment house on Bourbon St.

Mr. Elias is a handsome man, looks to be in his late thirties, broad shoulders, a body kept in good shape, dark short cut hair, and dark mysterious eyes. He has a smile that should be on a toothpaste commercial, and may have, as you will find out.

"Tell me a little about this bar," I asked. He gave me that dazzling smile. "OZ has gone through many names. It used to be Pete Fountain's Bar of Music, then just Pete's and then Le Bistro," he told me.

"Where are you from, Tommy. Give me a little bio of yourself. You know, height, weight, ethnic background. . ."

"I'm from Laurel, Mississippi," he began.

"Laurel, Mississippi," I gasped, not meaning to show my surprise. I would never never have guessed this. He didn't sound like a southerner AT ALL. He was definitely not a Blanche Dubois type, and he was very sophisticated, very soigne, more like a leading man from the musical stage than a small town boy from Laurel, MS.

"As for my ethnic background," he went on, "I'm Lebanese. I have dark brown hair, I'm about 5' 9". As I get older I'm getting a little pudge in my stomach," he said with a modest smile. "I try to keep as healthy as I possibly can. I probably contribute the fact that I am healthy to being an entertainer for the last 17 years on the road, singing five hours a night and dancing and moving to music while performing for the people."

"Are your parents from the 'old country?'"

"No. My parents-my mother is from Laurel and my father is from Detroit. I'm third generation Lebanese."

"I've seen you sing and perform here on the stage at OZ and I was really impressed. When did you get into show business?"

"I really worked a lot during the last 17 years. I did Vegas for a while, Maxim's and the Sands. The most fun I've had I think was doing a room here at the top of the Marriott Hotel called the Bourbon Queen Showroom. We'd go off in the summer and work Cape Cod and New York. That was about 1976 to 1988. We did Detroit and Mid America. I'd say around 13 to 15 years. Way before I did that I'd left home and gone to California and worked four years. I have a double degree, one in Special Education and one in Theatre. A BS and a BA. I did everything to get my Master's but write my thesis."

"Well, that sort of explains why you do such a great job with this cabaret. I had no idea you had such a background. What famous people have you worked with?"

"Count Basie, Tony Randall, Mary Tyler Moore, and uh, well a lot more. I can't remember them all. It's been a long time."

"How would you describe your singing style?"

"I'm a cabaret singer."

"In the style of Tony Bennet?"

"No, you know Tony Bennet is more of a crooner-smooth-I'm more of a belter, more in the style of, you know I really don't know; I was a hard swing singer. Not like Frank Sinatra sings swing but a driving swing. I used a rock band rather than an orchestra. We had a really good sound, it's called 'fancy music', which was the name of the band. Five pieces, a keyboardist, pianist, bass player and drummer. We had the keyboard player who kept the rhythm going and who, by the way, is my doorman here and also is Barry Bareass who MCs the Monday night Gong Show here. I do a drag show here every Wednesday night. I'm the general manager of the club and there are other investors. The other managers here do at least 3/4 of the work and the other part I do. I run a disciplined bar and I was told when I came here that it wouldn't work. But in my mind it's wasteful to do otherwise. Why waste a lot of things. Why let the floor look dirty and messy. I keep the place clean with a wonderful clean up crew. There are 3 full time managers and 2 part time. I have a staff of about 30 people. It takes a good staff to run a good club."

"What are your plans for some of the other nights and what do you plan to do for the Southern Decadence Festival? I can see how you've made the cabaret work so well. I'm sure a lot of our readers will be surprised to know about your theatre background and formal training."

"I think what really works is, well a bar is a bar is a bar, but if you give the patrons something to enjoy, plus the atmosphere of the club, plus the atmosphere of the other people and the dance music and the light show. We put on a show for 30 or 40 minutes then we move out the tables and turn on the dance music.

"Everything I do I try to make into a show. Barry Bareass hosts the show and comes out and says, 'Come on over here. I want you to enjoy these four dancers all weekend and you tell us which one you like the best and we give him $100.00 and Jack Daniels sponsors it and we have Jack Daniel specials all over the bar.' Now the Jack Daniels specials last all night and the show lasts 30 minutes. Our bar is a late bar. From the start. I'm thinking about doing an earlier drag show so people my age and those who work early every day can come in to see it. We have a different show every night. I want New Orleans to have fun. I came here and used to go to the bars and since I came here in 1972 I would stand around the bars and maybe dance once in a while and then I realized that there should be more. So I give a short show, have specials, contests, entertainment and dancers and DJs, like Tim Pfleuger, Dewight Barkley, Joe Gauthreau, and Matt Shaw with illuminations by Scott Horner. Each DJ has a different style."

"Bring me up to date on your Southern Decadence Day plans."

"We did our first Decadence when I started to manage Oz in 1993 and 1994 was our second. In '95, '96, '97, and '98 we have a party on Saturday night we call TWIRL GIRL, GRAB YOUR PUSSY AND SCREAM," he says as we both laugh until nearly falling off the bar stools. "On Saturday night we have our One Night In Heaven - it's more of a melodic, underground type of music, light and easy but with a drive. Then on Sunday, we continue with a heavier sound. Matt Shaw comes in from Miami. He's a Billboard reporter. There are only 100 across the nation. He's one of those who always knows what's the latest sound to play. Starting Thursday we'll have dancers on the bar working till 4am. We usually have some of the most beautiful men in the world in our show."

"If you had something special to say to the community in general, what would you say?"

"That's a very serious matter. I'd say watch your health; don't let those people who would prey on your weakness use you for their betterment. Watch what you do, watch you health, and watch how you react to the citizens around you because we want to be accepted. And to do that we want to act with decency and respect for others."

"So you're saying that we should respect ourselves and love ourselves and in so doing we will present an image to the rest of the world that can be loved and respected. Is that in essence what you're trying to say?"

"Yes," he answered me flashing that great white smile. And that's how OZ met its real wizard, right here in our town on Bourbon Street. His name is Tommy Elias. And there is no relation, I might add, to the late great author L. Frank Baum. Believe me, OZ is not full of flying monkeys, singing valiumized 1950's drug dolls who do songs about rainbows, or any yellow brick roads. It's just a name. OZ. Find it and go there. You all know where the corner of St. Ann and Bourbon St. is. The whole world does. And you all know where the French Quarter of New Orleans exists. It's a place that's as much a dream as the dreamer who dreams it. It's a place like no other place, barring, of course, the nightclub and bar remembered from the movie "Starwars." Well, at least not yet. But perhaps during the Southern Decadence Day Weekend. . . Who Knows? Tommy Elias might? And I bet this show biz wiz does. Go see him and find out. Happy S.D. XXVI. I'll see you there. Look for the handsome hunk with the Ambush Mag purple T shirt-165 pounds of lean muscle, hung like a horse and all man. You can't miss me. Hey, wait a minute. Am I getting myself confused with Mr. Elias? Yeah, I think I am. Damn those Mexican cigarettes! I can't imagine why Miss Newlin or those Lagpot people gave them to me!

[Tommy says he's looking forward to a very busy and extremely exciting Decadence at Oz.

"We have CD and tape giveaways every night, sponsored by Tommy Boy, Arista and Innerhits record companies plus non-stop dancing hunks on the bars from Thurs. noon 'til Tues. morning at 4am. And, of course, I am looking very forward to the fabulous David Knapp of Miami/South Beach who'll be spinning the music for Sunday's big party, One Night In Heaven." P. S.]

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