Bonita Springs event venue to become cabaret lounge

Before the end of this year, you’ll be able to come hear the music play at the cabaret dinner show concept completing an extensive interior transformation at the site of the former Southwest Florida Event Center, 11515 Bonita Beach Road SE in Bonita Springs. 

Roy Dobrasinovic, CEO and president of Chicago-based Compass Holding, is developing locations of Voulez-Vous Cabaret Lounge coming to both Chicagoland and Bonita Springs, which will host Voulez-Vous Naples. Voulez-vous is a French phrase meaning “Do you want?” or “Would you like?” 

Dobrasinovic was traveling and not available to share opening details about his latest venture, but the website for his cabarets provides a luxurious glimpse of what is in store. 

“Voulez-Vous Naples carries the night across two distinct spaces,” the website notes. “The Glamour Room welcomes up to 350 guests for a three-hour cabaret performance where exceptional dining meets world-class entertainment. As the show ends, the energy carries over into the Lounge — an intimate room of 150 anchored by a celebrity booth, four LED screens and a dedicated stage for live DJ sets and curated performances.”   

Dinner shows will be scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, and the venue will be available for private events such as corporate dinners or weddings when available.  

Built 20 years ago as an Eckerd pharmacy that was sold before it opened, the more than 25,000-square-foot building became the Southwest Florida Performing Arts Center in 2016. The concert hall eventually became the Southwest Florida Event Center before the pandemic shutdown closed it in early 2020. A relaunch of the venue two years later was short-lived, and it has been shuttered for the last few years.