Tom Rolla, whose Gardenia club I've been going to since the early 80s, has passed away. I'm told the club will continue with hostess Nichole, who's great, assuming management duties. I venture to say that there would be no cabaret in LA without Tom. He was a great guy who could be very difficult, but never with me. I did my one and only club act there for six years straight, directed several acts that played there, and of course began the Kritzerland shows there - we did fifteen of them before moving to a larger venue. I know this made Tom unhappy, but we had to do it. He tried everything to get me to stay, but I knew we had to have more room. I saw him several times after that - sometimes he was cool to me, but other times it was just like old times. I'll miss him.
