Post #492473 by Sabu The Coconut Boy on Fri, Nov 6, 2009 6:21 PM

From a January 1989 issue of "New York" magazine:

They call it True Lava, but it could be called "Stacy Fine and Alison Mayer Play Broadway." Fine and Mayer, the pair who created the Monday-night Lite Lounge at Carmelita's, on East 14th Street, have brought their campy club ideas uptown: Last month, the duo started giving Wednesday-night True Lava parties at the Hawaii Kai restaurant, a Pacific playground next door to the Winter Garden Theater, on Broadway near 50th Street.

Pee Wee, the club's midget doorman with the Harvey Fierstein voice, only hints at the surreal Polynesian atmosphere that first attracted Fine and Mayer. Inside, tour groups who've just finished seeing Cats sip rum-and-umbrella drinks and pose for photos in front of fake waterfalls, while John Lydon, the ex-Sex Pistol, relaxes in a booth in the back.

"We wanted a summer-in-winter feeling," says Fine, "and this place is just strange enough."

After two grass-skirted dancers finish the participatory Hawaii Kai floor show, Fine and Mayer bring on their own entertainment. A terrific rhythm-and-punk band, the Soul Assassins, appears once a month, with stand-up comedy and more bands scheduled for other nights. The Hawaiian-beach-hut stage turns into a dance floor when D.J.'s Anton and Steve Blush play Rick James' "Super Freak," which is in keeping with the wacky, rec-room-party atmosphere Fine and Mayer have cultivated.

And when summer actually comes, what with the girls do? "A club on a rooftop," says Fine. "Or maybe a garbage barge."