The Honest Salesman
Interview with Peter Stranger
former CEO and President of J. Walter Thompson West
by Anna McWillie
When asked about selling, I thought about my grandfather who sold John Deere tractors for fifty-some years. A few months before he passed, we got into one of those conversations the generationally gapped are apt to get into. The 86-year-old reminisced about riding the rails, WWII, and having to sneak a snort of moonshine for courage before asking my grandmother out that first time. But when he began talking about selling tractors, something in his eyes changed. Suddenly, our casual afternoon talk felt more like I was having a valuable boon bestowed upon me; Grandpa LeRoy as Gilgamesh handing off the Watercrest of Life.
"I never brought up the fact I wanted to sell you a tractor. I just made a point of having coffee with every farmer in the tri-county area. Find out what his situation was. You don't have to sell anything if they've already bought the thing in their head. But I remember this one old guy, Sven Jacobson. He needed a new tractor real bad but he was stubborn as all hell. So you know what I did? I waited until it was a hundred degrees in the shade and he was out there plowing his field with this old tractor that had no cab. Then I had one of the boys in the shop load a brand new air conditioned 8850 on a flatbed, I hauled the thing out to Sven’s farm and dropped it off in his yard. I didn’t even talk to him. Just left the keys in the tractor and drove away. Of course he tried it out and the next day he called and said, 'LeRoy, how much you want for that damned thing?'"
The man loved to sell. One morning last winter he went to work as he did every day - even though he 'retired' twenty years earlier. And somehow, during the worst time of the year to sell a tractor, he sold one. He passed away that afternoon. I don't have the selling gene in my body. But I'd argue all day that selling is most definitely a form of art.
by Todd Eliassen
“Know yourself, know your audience, know your material, shine your shoes, and believe in yourself.”
- Peter Stranger
Advertsiing Executive, CEO and President
of top ad agencies in the country for almost 30 years.
Who would know more about selling than former Ceo and
President of J. Walter Thompson West, one of the largest and most powerful ad agencies in the world? On his own since last December, Peter tells us the pitfalls and triumphs of the art of selling, and his dream plans for selling in his future.
A What is selling all about?
P There are different types of types of selling, but the one people think of most is one to one selling. It is me selling you something; it's a car guy selling a car to a customer who is on his lot, or it's a real estate broker selling a house...It's based on a personal connection. It also goes to raising money for non-profit organizations. You can't get someone to give you $25,000 unless you foster a personal connection with them. So the first and foremost aspect of selling is the personal connection.
When you take the question into the realm of the business that I've been in, which for many years has been advertising, it truly relates to that one-to-one selling because it requires understanding motives and the character and the behavior of the person to whom you are selling. It is that understanding that allows you to sell something. A great example is a product like milk. Milk was a declining product with a questionable medical record all of a sudden. Despite the fact that it's full of calcium, people were saying, “Fat, fat, fat,” and milk was not doing very well. The agency that took over the account and developed the Got Milk campaign did the research, interviewed people, and understood what role milk played in their lives. They got people to tell them what milk was to them, how they needed it when they were eating certain foods, how they couldn't stand to be out of it, and with that understanding, they developed the campaign: Got Milk.
A So we've got selling as actually doing a service by bringing them something they need or want or is good for them.
p It can be.
A Okay. It can also not be. Why are people so afraid to admit they sell themselves? They're afraid - they don't want to be a salesman, they look down on salespeople.
p It can have an incredibly positive impact on your life. The reason that there is a negative connotation for salesman is because there are certain people - when selling is done badly - who sell and take advantage of other people. For example, There is a reprehensible cadre of people who sell to defenseless members of our society, who prey on older people, who search out retirement funds - retired people who are home alone - and will prey on them, getting them to buy stuff they don't need, with pressure-selling tactics. The classic caricature is the
A The Enron.
p Enron is an overused word right now. But the other caricature is the aggressive car salesman. The classic car salesman is someone who is trying to sell you something you don't need, sell you a car you can't afford, sell you a more expensive vehicle than you want, and that high pressure selling has become synonymous with selling, and that is why it has a bad reputation.
A So now that we've made that distinction, and we agree that there is good selling, let’s hear some good selling tactics of selling good merchandise, or selling, you know, useful goods. Let's say you have a good product.
p A worthwhile product.
A A worthwhile product. Then, what would you say is the creed of the salesman?
p Well, the creed of the salesman is to make the sale. And whether you're in a negative environment or a positive environment, everybody wants to make the sale. What I personally have to do is to try - and I'm much more effective when I believe in the product. I'm not very effective when I don't believe in the product, at all. And, so again, it comes down to a personal connection.
A Of honesty?
p Of honesty. Now in terms of the advertising business, there are two types of selling that I'm involved with. One is, when I'm meeting with a client who has a budget, I am selling that person to, first of all, give me his business, and then to trust me to produce the appropriate advertising. And yes, there's a lot research that's done to verify the [ethicacy] of a commercial, but ultimately it is a subjective thing, whether a commercial is right or wrong for a company. So it is my ability to sell the client on the fact that this is the right commercial to represent his company - that is my first role in selling. The second role in selling is to make sure that when those commercials air, that his product flies off the shelves ,or people call in to get it, or it raises his brand profile.
A What if it doesn't?
p Then those commercials have failed as a selling tool, or other market factors such as recession or competitive superiority way, and you lose the account.
There are many products, for example, that are very much the same. I mean, I can argue that vodka is vodka is vodka, and yes you can have it made in Russia and flavored with lemon, but well, scotch is scotch is scotch, but in those cases, as in many others, it is the brand that makes the difference. It is not based on the inherent qualities of the product, it is the way that the brand is created, the aura that surrounds the product
A How it's perceived?
P How it's perceived. That plays a major role in selling and advertising. And there are some wonderful success stories. You could argue that in the case of Nike, perhaps the product wasn't that much better than Reebok, but what happened? One company virtually went out of business, and one became a cultural icon because of the quality of the brand building.
A What has happened to the advertising business? In the ‘60s, you know, the art directors were gods, and now they're a dwindling species.
P No, I don't think they're a dwindling species. I think--you know, I don't think that that's true. I think in advertising, the essence of business is ultimately still in creativity, but it's become a broader business because it has morphed into the importance of understanding the consumer. Doing the strategic research to understand the motivations and the idiosyncrasies of the audience has become more and more important. That information has allowed the art director and the writer to be more and more affective.
A Well you wouldn't say that ad budgets are dwindling?
P Only in the last 12 months--they were soaring up until 12 months ago. It's a reflection of the recession that they've taken a downturn, but up until 12, 18 months ago, they were at an all time high. Absolutely, an all time high.
A How about now?
P Now it's very soft.
A Are they at an all time low?
P Not at an all time low. But they're off their high. They're by no means at an all time low, they're simply down from that stratospheric position.
A So back to, why are people afraid - I mean, not everybody, but the average Joe is afraid to sell. He doesn't want to sell. Would you say that's a confidence issue?
P I think it's a confidence issue. I would also say people don't like to be sold to; people don't admit that they can be sold to. People won't admit they bought a product because of a commercial.
A But they do that every day. All day long they're sold to by the people around, on an idea, or this or that, so they just are making a distinction between
P People don't like to be sold to. They don't like to admit they were influenced by a salesman because they have a negative connotation of associated with a salesman.
A Do you think that selling techniques, like the ones you read in books, could really help someone in his personal life, I mean, not to become a salesman or a real estate salesman, or something, but do you think that selling techniques, like taking acting class - selling coaches - could improve some one's life.
P Yes, because they're largely based on self-confidence.
A And how did you get in this business, how did you get all your self-confidence?
P I'm very shy. When I was in England, I couldn't wait to get out of England. When I was 22, I had a marketing degree and I was offered a variety of jobs in England. I traveled around the world for 6 months trying to decide where to live. And when I got to New York, I just couldn't believe the energy in the place. And I was calling every contact I had, going around saying, if I was here, could I work? I was offered a job in the in-house advertising of a conglomerate called Norton Simon communications. Got the job, went back to England, picked up a visa and a couple of shirts, and came and started working. One year later, I transferred to an agency called Della Femina, which was one the creative boutiques that had been founded in the ‘60s and had flourished. And for me, it was ideal, because I was interested in more than just business. I wanted to be involved in creativity, and this was one of the renown creative operations.
A So what was your entry-position there?
P Account executive.
A And what kind of creativity - so you were working with art directors?
P I was working on brands such as Meow Mix. Remember the old “meow, meow, meow-meow?” Products like that - which was bringing a product out of complete nowhere into prominence overnight.
A You were selling creative to your accounts.
P I was helping manage the process, of developing the creative, selling the creative to the client, getting it on the air, making sure it ran, and monitoring the results and adjusting the creative to optimize the results.
A So you were the one to sort of stand by the product you were selling? Guaranteeing that it was working, and doing what you promised-what the agency promised it would do.
P Correct.
A Which is what a good salesman does. You sell a good product, you stand behind it, and nothing will go wrong.
P Right.
A So do you think selling the creative is probably the hardest thing to do?
P Selling anything that is based on subjectivity is hard. And selling creative, especially - you know, one of the hardest jobs is selling creative to the founder of a company, because the founder of the company has - it's his vision, it's his thing, and the commercial or the advertising is an extension of him, or her, and so selling to that person is certainly a challenge.
A Why is it so hard for artists - musicians, writers, artists - to pitch their work? Do you think artists in general lack self-confidence? And the reason they're compelled to create is that they're trying to get someone out there to love them?
P I think that for an artist, the idea of selling, of commerce, is antithetical to the act of creation. There are people who create to sell, and they find it easy to sell. And there are people who create with the purity of heart and the purity of intent, and if somebody wants to buy it, they should buy it. But the idea of having to pitch it is just completely antithetical to the way they believe. Which is why they have agents who come in to sell it for them. The two should not be put together.
A The two, what do you mean, the selling and creativity?
P The selling and creativity.
A Some did it very well. Well, I guess, I'm thinking right off the top of my head of Andy Warhol. I always admired him because he was not only a brilliant artist but he was so well sold. But, come to think of it, he did have people selling for him.
P He did have people selling for him, and he, I would opine, that Andy Warhol got off on the creativity of making the sale. He found the business to be creative. Because, after all, wasn't it a wonderful thing that he could paint a picture of a Cambell's soup can and make a fortune out of it?
A It was. And to me, that was the most brilliant thing of the 20th century. That someone could do that.
P Exactly. But it wasn't the art, it was the art of selling. He made it creative. For me, that's part of my joy. I love the creative aspect of business. I enjoy the art of creating a business.
A The art of selling?
P The art of selling, absolutely. Selling is bringing it down to a minute focus. But the art of creating a sale, of understanding the background, of understanding the motivations of the person to whom one is going to sell - be it the ultimate consumer or be it the client - of articulating carefully the product benefits in such a way they appeal to the person to whom it is being sold - there is a creativity in that, because I don't paint or draw; that is my creativity.
A I'm getting the feeling from you right now that the reason you get so charged about that, because you look really excited, is that you are making someone incredibly happy and incredibly satisfied. And that's what’s the joy to you. If you give this huge package they'll be so happy with that and therefore they'll be so happy with you.
P That's true, in which case I'm making a living. And there's a joy in that too. You see, advertising as a profession is ranked by people - when they rank the sort of prestige of professions - way down low with lawyers and car salesmen. And it's because people feel resentful of commercials on television for example, because they are interrupting their shows. To bring it down to a small point, what people must understand is, and they forget happily, is that there is no television or newspapers or magazines without advertising. The presence of those commercial messages is what pays for ER and the West Wing and Friends on their television sets.
A That's what I keep trying to tell all the people who want free publicity in my paper.
P That's exactly right. Without those advertising messages, they don't get the exposure. The other aspect, which is sort of critical on a sort of macroeconomics scale, is that by creating economies of scale, advertising keeps the prices you pay on goods and services way down.
To take a ridiculous example: if Coca-Cola wasn't able to advertise, originally, and thereby build an international brand, Coca-Cola would be bottled in a very small plant because it would only be sold in a small region and each bottle would cost $4 or $5. When a GE can manufacture refrigerators by the millions, because they advertised internationally, the price of those refrigerators comes down. So people benefit in many, many ways, even though they resent advertising, from the economies of scale that are driven by advertising.
A You have been in some of the best shops, advertising boutiques close to thirty years. What now, what are you going to do now? Tell me what, looking back on that, where you want to go, what is exciting to you now, what do you want to sell now?
P Well, if I had my druthers, I would create a business whereby I am my own boss. I won't be working [for someone else]. Even though there was a point where I had an agency with my name on the door, it wasn't really mine because it was owned by a French conglomerate. So I am trying to create, well, if I had my ideal, I've got lots of different things I'm trying to do to make a living, to have fun, and to make a difference.
For example: if I can convince major corporations that if they behave well, in an environmentally sustainable way, and that they communicate that to their constituencies, it will benefit them at the bottom line. I am completely sure that it's true. I need to convince them of that. And they won't behave well unless they believe that. They won't behave well, altruistically, just because it's the right thing to do because their share holders won't let them.
A So you have to sell them on that idea?
P I have to convince them that if they do it right, and they communicate it, they will benefit. And I want to get involved and help them in the communications of it. I'm trying to go into corporations with major environment al organizations who will help them behave properly, and then I want to insinuate myself into the process and help them communicate it to their constituencies and watch their bottom lines increase.
A That's fascinating.
P Yes.
A And that's doing something good for mankind.
P And that will allow me to sell my little heart out and at the same time do something that is right for the world that I believe in very strongly.
A So what advice do you have for young salesmen trying to make a living?
P My advice is: know yourself, know your audience, know your material, shine your shoes, and believe in yourself. If you believe in the product and believe in yourself, you're unstoppable.
Tactics for Psychological Manipulation:
The Master Closer's Mind Game
From Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman
• "Because the man who makes an appearance in the business world, the man who creates personal interest, is the man who gets ahead. Be liked and you will never want."
• "Walk in with a big laugh. Don't look worried. Start off with a couple of your good stories to lighten things up. It's not what you say, it's how you say it - because personality always wins the day."
From The Art of Closing Any Deal by James W. Pickens; Warner Books, NY. 1989.
• A good closer is greedy; he has ambition and more motivation to obtain his goals than a customer has objections.
• All customers have been burned on products before and they expect to be burned again so their guard is always up at the first meeting.
• The closer should never have a canned sales pitch. It sounds phony and stupid. His basic sales presentation should have a good foundation, it must be spontaneous, and the closer has to be flexible.
• Don't ever use a red pen or pencil to sell a customer. This makes the customer subconsciously think, stop!
• You should allow the customer to think he is in control to some degree. If the customer sees you as having complete control, he will feel resentful and may resist buying, if for no other reason than to get back some of his self-esteem.
• You should never let the customer team (husband and wife) get mad at each other. You must make them feel the buying decision is a fifty-fifty agreement between both of them. If you lose control of one of the parties the sale will be lost, in most cases.
• The closer should never listen to or pay much attention to a customer's first "No," or any negative answer to his buying question, until the customer gives his 5th negative answer.
• You know the customer is ready . . . if after the closer makes a statement, everything is completely silent in the room, and the customer gives a slight sigh and looks down at the table, the closer should right then ask, "Why don't you give it a try?"
• When all is lost, ask for the order one more time . . . they just might say yes.
• The Customer's Obejction: "I've already
bought someplace else."
The Closer's Response: "Then go ahead and buy here too, you know the potential. Don't make the mistake of putting all your eggs into one basket. Diversify yourself and do business with us." - BC
Eddie Cantor
Remembering a Star and Humanitarian with a Film Screening in Hollywood
by Michelle E. Malik
Almost unheard of today, Eddie Cantor was a phenomenal star of stage, screen, radio, and television from the early 1900’
s to the 1960’s.
Known for his large, brown “banjo" eyes, his fit, youthful look, and his indomitable pep, this comedic singer, began his career as a pre-teen sensation in Gus Edward’s Kid Kabaret in the early nineteen-hundreds, and then went on to work the big time, hitting the Broadway stage with the Ziegfeld Follies. Cantor continued his Broadway run, appearing in shows like The Midnight Rounders and Kid Boots with other stars like W.C. Fields, Will Rogers, and Fanny Brice, for whom the Streisand film Funny Girl was about.
By 1929, Cantor was swimming with success and had made a tremendous amount of money; he lost almost all of his fortune when the stock market crashed. Instead of giving up hope, he made light of his situation and wrote the hilarious booklets called Caught Short and Yoo Hoo Prosperity, which did very well.
A year later, he made his splash in Hollywood starring in the Samuel Goldwyn-Florenz Ziegfeld musical Whoopee. He went on to appear in Roman Scandals, Palmy Days, Kid Millions, The Kid from Spain, and Strike Me Pink, costarring George Murphy, Ann Sothern, and Ethel Merman with Betty Grable and Lucille Ball as Goldwyn Girls.
Cantor coupled his film success with the start of an over 30-year run in radio, lending his voice to the Chase and Sanborn Show, the Pebeco Hour and the Pabst Blue Ribbon shows in the thirties, and the Texaco and The Eddie Cantor Show in the 1940s.
Meanwhile, he continued juggling his stage and screen careers, appearing in the Broadway shows like Banjo Eyes and movies like Thank Your Lucky Stars costarring with Humphrey Bogart, Ida Lupino, John Garfield, Bette Davis and many more.
In 1950, Cantor was the first non-classical performer to fill Carnegie Hall with his one-man show. Alone on stage, Cantor mesmerized the crowd with two hours of songs and stories drawn out of his hears in show business.
Throughout the 1950’s he hosted several seasons of TV’s Colgate Comed
y Hour. As a contemporary and friend of comedic greats like Jack Benny, the Marx Bros., the husband and wife team of George Burns and Gracie Allen, and Milton Berle, Eddie had just as much clout, if not more, than his pals in terms of ratings and audience adoration.
In 1953, a mediocre biopic was made about Eddie Cantor’s life, appropriately called The Eddie Cantor Story. The film starred Keefe Braselle, who had the heart but was too tall and gangly and far too animated to capture the essence of the man. The soundtrack of the film was the only highlight of the film and included some of Eddie’s signature songs like “Makin’ Whoopee!” “Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider,” “Ma! He’s Making Eyes at Me,” and the ever-popular Looney Tunes theme song, “Merrily We Roll Along,” which Eddie co-wrote.
Cantor had a hand in launching the careers of Dinah Shore, Deanna Durbin, and Sammy Davis Jr., among others, and wrote several memoirs on his experiences in show business including The Way I See It, Take My Life, and My Life is In Your Hands.
While raising his five daughters Margie, Natalie, Edna, Marilyn and Janet, with his loving wife, Ida, of nearly fifty years, he managed to make time to tour universities to talk about his fifty year career in show business. He worked vigorously in supported of the war effort, and helped develop The March of Dimes with Franklin D. Roosevelt, going so far as to coin the organization's name.
As Eddie would say, “Nice work for a grandfather, ain’t it?”
In the last decade of his life, Eddie endured several debilitating heart attacks and suffered the deaths of his oldest daughte
r, Margie, and his wife, Ida. But he continued to work in radio until his death on October 10, 1964. He was seventy-two years old.
Curiously, just a day before he died, he signed a contract to have a celebration of his life and career put onto an album, which was later called The Legend of Eddie Cantor, narrated by film producer and very close friend Georgie Jessel.
Today, Eddie Cantor is remembered with three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to film, records and radio. His footprints in the cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater appear with the clever monogram “Here’s Looking at You, Sid.”
UCLA has an extensive Eddie Cantor archive in the University Research Library’s Special Collections, featuring his numerous honorary plaques for his humanitarian efforts, film props, original radio scripts, and rare pictures. Interested parties must make a reservation a day or so before they have a look at a specific box or boxes of memorabilia.
The Eddie Cantor Appreciation Society was formed in 1993 by Sheila Riddle, the group's first president, to commemorate the many talents and contributions of the great musical comedian and humanitarian.
The first weekend of March, Silent Movie Theatre will be screening Eddie Cantor’s 1926 silent, Kid Boots beginning with a Friday evening showing at 8pm. Our Cantor crew will be attending the Saturday evening March 2nd performance at 8pm. Members of the Cantor family, including Brian Gari will be there to introduce the film. There are Sunday matinees at 1 and 4pm, so you have plenty of opportunities to enjoy this charming film co-starring the lovely Clara Bow. Check out the Silent Movie Theatre’s website at www.silentmovietheater.com or call their schedule line at 323-655-2520 to confirm.
For more information about Eddie Cantor, how to join the society for the low cost of $15 per year and to learn about future events, check out the website at www.eddiecantor.com or call 818-907-8895.
And remember, as Eddie Cantor said, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.”
The Supper Club is Back Platinum Live
by Ed Roane
If you grew up in Studio City or lived here for any time at all, you remember an anchor establishment on Ventura Boulevard called Larry Potter's Supper Club. Then i
t became Cinnamon Cinder, then The Point After, Sash, Moscow Nights, and most recently, After Shock - 60 years of the area's only real "club," but for the past 3 years, closed.
I was hired to do a remodel of this legendary landmark, almost 3 years ago. As I often would stand in front of the building, many people passing would tell me stories of the supper club or the dance club that they went to as a young adult, the swing club back in the '50s where they cut the carpet with their dates till 2 in the morning. One day a stooped elderly man shuffling past on his morning walk stopped me in front of the building and told me that 50 years had passed since he had danced in the supper club. I asked him what he remembered most after all these years and with a wink he said, "The girls."
Not every building has the history that this one does. A local Studio City resident Meg Brown Wilson, former USO entertainer and Ed Sullivan Show regular, was a dancer on staff at Larry Potters Supper Club back in the '50s. Her son, Stewart Wilson managed and tended bar at Sash in the '80s. Steve Page, now 50, another Studio City resident treasures a tablecloth he received from Cinnamon Cinder on his 15th birthday party back in the '60s.
Like other old landmark buildings, there is a resident haunt. The story is that back in the '40s the spirit of a deceased patron took up residence in the massive basement. For over 50 years now, many an employee has seen the old guy after hours, sitting at the bar or slipping into the kitchen for a late night snack. 
Sometimes at night, working late, I think I hear him. I go outside to look around, then realize it's just the neighbors up Tropicana Street burning the midnight oil.
A few years ago After Shock, the wild dance club operating at this venerable establishment, got out of hand. For the first time in 60 years, because of no regard for the neighboring businesses and residents, the management was cited by the city as a nuisance. The building owner, Mr. Chen closed After Shock, never to re-open. Chen, knowing a change was needed, signed a new lease with Universal Hospitality and Entertainment Inc. (UHEI), the management team that open this week the new Platnimum Live Supper Club.
UHEI has spared no expense in renovating the facility. With their understanding of the recent problems, and with city approval, UHEI has worked with Lynn Courtland Hastings, a world renowned designer from North Carolina, to redesign the interior and exterior of the building to be a monument showcase rather than the tired eye sore that it had become. A new Centria Sound wall clads the exterior and makes a serious statement to the Boulevard. The Centria, being a second exterior wall, blocks all the sound coming in and out of the building. The new façade sets a standard for clean, uncluttered design, a look that is sorely lacking on this stretch of the Boulevard, mostly lined with auto service garages on, ironically, some of the most expensive real estate in the city.
The valet parking portico has a 14-foot lighted ceiling offering off-street access. The 12-foot Mahogany entry doors open onto a sleek black polished granite floor and spacious vestibule. An elegant, posh lounge/club awaits within. The original 50 foot mahogany bar waves around a baby grand and looks onto the main stage. A 28 foot, bow-strung trussed ceiling house the enormous open dining area, multi leveled, and is dotted with low voltage lights. Plantation shutters separate a private champagne/dining room that can be reserved for special dining events.
The landmark building is offering one of the finest dining/entertainment venues in the city. Robert Caprio of Hospitality Consultants with openings in New York, Paris, Miami Raleigh, Cleveland, Columbus, Boston and Chicago is providing the hiring, training and food and beverage controls. With a new Espresso Bar and remodelled kitchen, famed chef Scott Floman has created a fine menu that will satisfy and delight a broad range of tastes. The finest grade of NY Prime and Filet Steaks, Grilled salmon, Auhi Tuna and assorted chicken and pasta dishes will be served at both lunch and dinner. A special dining area in this gourmet kitchen with a service bar is available for all patrons. Decorated with Rock and Roll memorabilia, guests can hang out here while watching the chefs cook up a storm.
The world famous Crazy Horse nightclub in Paris will be the format for one of the regular shows. Cocktail hour guests will watch the rehearsal of each and every new show before and during the run of the show. Las Vegas Producer Greg Thompson has been invited to unleash his staff of costume and set designers, choreographers and producers to explode on the stage, showcasing some of the best talent Los Angeles has to offer.
Dennis J. Morgan will direct the open audition night each week of talented newcomers hoping to be discovered. Mr. Morgan has owned and operated the largest supper club in Ohio, the Lime Light, prior to moving to L.A. He has been involved in some the most successful entertainment facilities in Hollywood: The Palace, Bar One, the Hollywood Tropicana, and the China Club. Agents, managers and talent scouts know this is the place to find some of the best new talent in the city.
Beautiful girls and entertainers will add an element of sensual beauty that no other restaurant in L.A. offers. Sound and lights by Martin International, designed for the theatrical presentation, will blow your mind and fill your soul with music unparallel to any other venue. Whether lunching with some piano music or watching a stage show at night, get ready. It's now time to enjoy Platinum Live. 11345 Ventrua Blvd, Studio City, 818-753-1771.
