Talk of the Town - Showgirl tastes in a Midtown condo March 18 2004
A hectic job made easy by a two-step into plush comfort
Is Kim Kalin’s condo provocative? The titillating elegance of her French statuettes and the deep carnal colors of her art nouveau tapestries say oui. Crossing the threshold, one instantaneously realizes its showgirl elegance: black feather boas slink into rouge- tinted shadows, while soft lighting waits for personality to glow. One might think the sexy, curvy living room borders on getting fresh, but the adjoining chill-silver, art deco office creates a professional-sexy amalgamation.
Kalin, not surprisingly, was a Las Vegas showgirl, and while she may have left the biz some time ago, she maintains her entertainer’s sense through Copy Cats Entertainment. Running a successful children’s entertainment group can get downright frantic, but according to Kim, working out of her plush Midtown condo makes it bearable.
Creative Loafing: Do you ever have groups of your employees in here while they’re in costume?
Kim Kalin: Sometimes we have meetings in here and the girls will come in wearing their clown makeup or the guys will come in as superheroes, so that makes it kind of fun. And it’s a great place to have everybody because it’s set up to where they can relax and enjoy themselves.
The beaded fringe on your lamps and some of the tapestries feels very ’20s.
Yeah, the living room and dining room areas are very French, art nouveau and ’20s. Then my office is very art deco. The front hall is very art deco also, but then you throw in the enormous statues.
The griffins.
And that throws it back into French again. I’m always attracted to anything from Paris or anything French. I’ll usually pick it out first, before I find out where it’s from.
Do you have a favorite, a centerpiece, from your French pieces?
Yeah, my favorite thing is the art nouveau woman under that lamp. (She indicates an elegant statue, a young woman holding a glass sphere above and behind her head. Besides the elegant feminine base, the sphere is suspended by scored metal supports. The statue is simultaneously sensual and classy.)
Is it steel?
Barbara Streisand has one just like that; I saw it in a book about six months ago. I was so surprised. It’s kind of a lightweight metal. Then, my second favorite piece is from the same period.
Where do you buy these pieces?
Always antique markets. I also have a collection of Erte statues. That’s what I named the office cat after, our little mascot, and these are very modern and very art deco. (Kim pushes some buttons beside the living room mantle before continuing.) Another thing about my condo is, I told them that I had to have a fireplace, and they told me, “A fireplace in Midtown, you’re crazy!” (The buttons control the fireplace flame. It withers then flourishes in brief display.) But I did find this little fireplace, and Erte thinks it’s the real thing. (Erte the office mascot glances over its shoulder, alerted to a temperature change, but the fireplace stabilizes and Erte returns to felicitous basking.)