Going Retro

Mount Airy's Gypsies nightclub is jumping

Randy Shemanski

If there's one thing Chris Barnes knows how to do, it's create an atmosphere. Spend more than a few minutes with the Green Ridge native and you can easily feel the energy, the exuberance that comes with being one of the area's most renowned entertainers.

So, it's no surprise Barnes' latest endeavor as entertainment director at Mount Airy Casino Resort in Mount Pocono appears to be well on its way to becoming a raging success.

Barnes' biggest task since the casino opened in October has been the opening of Gypsies, the nightclub located just off the casino floor. The club opened just before New Year's and is already a hit, according to Barnes.

"The things are beyond my expectations," said Barnes, who played Marv, the cue card guy on the ABC sitcom Life With Bonnie. "It's on track and even better than I thought. I'm already at where I thought I'd be at in a month."

Barnes is no stranger to the nightclub scene. He worked at The Copacabana in New York City in the 1970s, as well as The Hotel Diplomat, where musicians such as Pat Benatar and Patty Smyth first hit the scene.

It's no surprise Barnes is trying to recapture those days with the creation of Gypsies. The club targets a crowd that grew up going to clubs in the '70s and gives them a chance to recapture the days of their youth.

But, Barnes is quick to point out, people of all ages can walk into Gypsies and have a great time.

"I've watched three generations of families come in already on a Saturday night," he said. "I've heard the younger couple saying. 'Oh, this place is for a little older crowd.' Those kids sat at the table while their parents were out on the dance floor. They had the biggest grins on their face than anybody in the nightclub. And then they did go down on the dance floor. So everybody enjoyed themselves. Nobody was alienated.

"Age does not determine fun. The energy of the nightclub determines what the fun is."

Barnes appears to have created the energy he was looking for. On a recent weekend, he said 288 people came through the door at Gypsies on Friday night, followed by 300 on Saturday. His target number was 250.

Once you set foot inside the tri-level club, it's easy to forget there's a casino just outside the door. The inviting setting includes a dance floor, a bar area with tables, and a lounge area for a more relaxing setting than you might expect to find in a nightclub. With the sound system Barnes had installed, it's possible to have a conversation in the lounge without needing to yell over the band, a key ingredient in Barnes' eyes.

"Once we got inside the space, Lisa DeNaples, my fiancee, really worked hand-in-hand with this," he said. "We realized we didn't have an events center. We didn't have a lounge and we didn't have a nightclub. We had to turn this into a trifecta of a lounge, a nightclub and a showroom. So, her vision was that of an ultra-lounge combined with a nightclub aspect, which actually is very '70s, very retro. That's what all the nightclubs in New York City were in the '70s. They were lounges where you could sit and have conversations with your friends. Then, either in another room or down some steps, was the dance floor, the DJ and/or the band."

Early on, Barnes has booked local bands for Thursdays while making Fridays a country night. On Saturdays, he targets party bands from New Jersey, Philly and New York City. The early success of the country night is something Barnes seems quite proud of.

"Everybody laughed at me. Everybody made fun of me," he said. "From the beginning, in all the meetings that we had, all of my superiors at the casino would roll their eyes. But I came from Santa Monica, Calif., Los Angeles, the last place you'd expect it. There was a club called "Denim and Diamonds" - whitewood floor, just like we have, just gorgeous inside. Friday night they had line dancing, DJ and band. There were more Rolls Royces, BMWs, Mercedes in the parking lot. You went inside, people were wearing belt buckles more expensive than my entire wardrobe. The women looked like Julia Roberts and the men all looked like Clint Black. It was packed. They were having a blast."

Barnes knew right away that a country night would be just as big, if not bigger, in the Poconos.

"Mount Airy sits in between three of the biggest country and western radio stations in the country - WHWK in Binghamton, the Hawk; Froggy WGGY in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre; and WCTO Cat Country out of Allentown. I initiated it and it's one of our strongest nights immediately. As we grow bigger, also, country/western fans are slot players and gamers, as well. So that goes hand in hand.

"No one's laughing anymore up there. The revenue is there and I'm really excited about it."

While Gypsies is at the heart of Mount Airy's entertainment right now, Barnes has big plans for the future. He expects to break ground in the spring on an events center that could host some major concerts in the coming years.

"I'm going to start bringing in Dave Matthews, Garth Brooks, Shania (Twain)," he said. "I think once the weather clears, we start digging. We're not clear if it's going to be a 5,000- or 10,000-seat venue. I'm hoping for the 10."

Barnes is also looking at potential events tailored toward the NASCAR crowd during the two race weekends at nearby Pocono International Raceway. Another nightclub is also in Mount Airy's future, although not immediately.

The recurring theme in everything Barnes has done so far and what he plans to do in the future is simple - give visitors an experience they can't get anywhere else and make sure it's one they won't soon forget.

"What the Poconos has is authenticity. You go to Disneyland and you have a mouse with ears on its head and construction, concrete facades. Once you're on I-80, you're into nature and nobody can duplicate that.

"The Poconos is still a resort destination."

When Barnes describes the ultimate Mount Airy experience once the resort is fully operational in a few years, he paints a picture that may seem like a fantasy, but one that's entirely believable.

"What I hope we have and what I thought we'd have is, groups of friends are getting together and coming up on a Saturday, checking into the hotel at 3 o'clock," he said. "When we're fully open, the ladies will go to the spa, the guys will go play golf. Then they'll come back, make reservations at the steakhouse or the Italian restaurant. They'll meet at the glass bar. Go have a great dinner, play the slots, go to the nightclub. Sit down in the lounge where they feel like this is somewhere else. Hear a great, fun party band. Embarrass themselves dancing poorly. Go back out, play the slots. Go up to their room and make love for the first time in four months. Wake up in the morning, have breakfast in bed. Get the New York Times on Sunday, relax and chill. Check out and go back to their families. Monday go back to work and tell everybody what a great time they had. A weekend in paradise."