D’VOX-THE 20 MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE IN SOUTH FLORIDA NIGHTLIFE: 2

AS SOUTH FLORIDS’S CLUB LIFE CONTINUES TO FLOURISH, IT’S LOCAL SCENE HAS TAKEN ITS INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL. FROM WEST PALM BEACH AND BOCA RATON TO MIAMI BEACH, THESE ARE THE FACES THAT MAKE IT ALL HAPPEN.

NAME: Michael Capponi
BORN: Knokke-Heiste, Belgium
AGE: 29
CAME TO SOUTH BEACH: 1977, at age 5.
CLAIM TO FAME: Proprietor of upstart club 320 and head promoter at the Wednesday night party at B.E.D.
HIGH POINT: Legendary “Avenue A” parties with Gary James.
LOW POINT: “Burned-out”
HISTORY: Literally born into the nightlife business – his father operated clubs in Europe and once dated actress Jayne Mansfield – Capponi rose rapidly, starting as a teenager with Ex-Armani model and Mickey Rourke cohort Gary James, to become the crown prince of South Beach promoters in the bohemian early 1990’s. After a two-year hiatus in Europe, he returned in triumph as VIP director at fabled, short-lived Bar Room. After creating the still red-hot Wednesday night party at B.E.D., he opened 320, where Bar Room used to be, in October 2000.
CURRENT INFLUENCE: As South Beach nightlife continues to evolve to a more mainstream, less exclusive sensibility, Capponi stubbornly stands his ground for a return to the Garden of Eden glory days.