Gold Coast Stars

STARS

RUDI TESTA

Maitre d’Comédie - Monsieur Jerome, Pink Flamingo

Behind every great event, there is a flamboyant genius who keeps the drinks flowing, the powder puffing and the laughs coming. Meet Jerome, the Pink Flamingo’s resident Master of Comedy.

Jerome was discovered while working as the doorman for a house of ill repute in gay Paris. Speaking his native tongue, French, this international virtuoso is known for his razor-sharp wit, killer style and an eye for glamour, but according to rumour, his greatest talent is knowing when to keep a secret.

Rudi Testa has enjoyed a career on the stage for 25 years. Currently wowing the audience at the Gold Coast’s Pink Flamingo, as host, comedian and singer, Rudi brings his extensive caberet experience to the show, and lends his considerable skills as a musician, singer and bass player extraordinaire. He is also currently touring venues throughout Queensland with Blues Gypsy Band, Slips and the F.W.’s.

Cutting his teeth in amateur theatre from a young age, he followed the actor’s path, using his vastly talented older brother as inspiration – from Gilbert and Sullivans musicals to accompanying music for love performances.

Finding many mentors along the way, Rudi considers himself an incredible fortunate performer to be able to pursue the work he most truly loves and is passionate about, “anything with a microphone really”, as he says!

Rudi feels passionately that the live entertainment industry enriches life, and his own life particularly, from the experiences, learning, friendships and extended family.

With many professional years and credits under his belt, he is thrilled to be on the stage as a part of three resident shows at the Pink Flamingo. More at pinkflamingogoldcoast.com

STARS

DAMIEN ANTHONY AVERY-ROSSI

Mr Hollywood in Oz revisits his iconic Rossi’s Oscars!

Raised in LA in a showbiz family, Damien Anthony Avery-Rossi is undeniably the social king of Queensland. Ambassador for Hyatt Regency Brisbane, the perfect party host and sartorially splendid on every occasion, Damien was destined for a career in the spotlight.

“The biggest night of the year in our household was Academy Awards Night, so when I relocated to Australia in the early 90s to be a Casting Director here, I was truly missing the excitement of Oscars Night every year, so I decided to hold a party for Brisbane’s Film and TV industry.” The iconic Rossi Academy Awards charity event ran from 1995 to 2014 and was known as “Rossi’s Oscars”. Over the years the party grew from 50 guests at his casting studio to 550 guests in Palazzo Versace’s Medusa Ballroom by 2004. In 2012, the event reached new heights and was so large that host venue Treasury Brisbane had to erect a massive perspex marquee in Queens Park to accommodate the guest numbers. That year was one of Damien’s favourites with Rhonda Burchmore as his co-host, Ricki-Lee Coulter performing and fashion designer Alex Perry showcasing his 10 all-time favourite red carpet gowns in a glamorous fashion parade. Once Rossi’s Oscars became a charity event in 2003, it would go on to raise tens of thousands of dollars for cancer research and cancer charities. The Who’s Who of celebrity and famous guests have attended the glamorous affair over its 19 years, including Rhonda Burchmore, Marcia Hines, Sophie Monk, Ricki-Lee Coulter, Alex Perry, Courtney Act, Deborra-lee Furness, Michael Caton, Sofie Formica, Sharyn Ghidella, Melissa Downes, Bonnie Lythgoe, John Orcsik, Paula Duncan, Tony Bonner and Grant Bowler.

True testament to the calibre and ethos of Rossi’s Oscars, Hugh Jackman was one of its biggest supporters, as Damien recounts.

“After having worked with and becoming friends with Hugh Jackman on his first film, Paperback Hero, Hugh would send me a personal message to read out to my Rossi’s Oscars guests each year without fail. In 2009, it was especially poignant, as that was the year Hugh had been asked to host the Academy Awards telecast, one of Hollywood’s most coveted gigs, and he still sent a message to me the night before the Oscars. That was very special!”

In response to the clamouring for the return of Rossi’s Oscars, and following the success of The GlamouRossi Fashion Long

Lunch in November at Hyatt Regency Brisbane, Mr Hollywood in Oz is seriously considering resurrecting the legendary event in March 2023, when the 95th Annual Academy Awards takes place in Hollywood. Surely this will be one of the most coveted tickets in the social history of Queensland, if not Australia? “Watch this space,” is all Damien will say . . . Will we be seeing The GlamouRossi Oscars?? @mrhollywoodinoz @theglamourossi

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MARIO EVANGELO & CHAKYL CAMAL

This is the inspirational story of two dynamic property industry leaders and best friends, their friendship and pursuit of excellence born out of passion for innovation.

The two visionary property developers Mario Evangelo and Chakyl Camal have now arrived on the Gold Coast, relocating with their families and ready to deliver their first Gold Coast project, The Lanes Retail Resort in Mermaid Waters, expected to be opened late 2024.

Panthera Group is a vertically integrated Property, Hospitality and Technology company based in Sydney and now the Gold Coast. It was established in 2016 by Mario Evangelo and Chakyl Camal with a vision to drive innovation into the future of retail by integrating physical and digital retail experience platforms for lifestyle and mixed-use assets whilst delivering superior investment returns.

When and how did you meet? We met in Sydney in 2014 at our previous construction and development group. We identified synergy early on, instantly forming a close bond based on respect, trust, aligned intuition, mutual admiration and entrepreneurial spirit.

At the same time we also drew rivalry in competitive sports, Mario being an avid runner and Chakyl being two-time Olympic swimmer. This has made us challenge each other’s tenacity and peak performance which set path to us becoming best of friends as well as working closely together.

You both have a remarkable property career background. What has inspired you to form business partnership? We shared a mutual passion for property, lifestyle and innovation. Being lateral thinkers, we also both enjoy thinking outside the box and doing things that are the next level.

In 2016, we saw an opportunity in the retail market and decided to join forces with our complimentary skill sets and Panthera was born.

We aspired to deliver sustainable and unique urban precincts and our company has been thriving ever since generating strong and stable returns.

Panthera’s combined industry expertise spans more than 30 years and now entails a successful track record in asset acquisition, operations optimisation, risk mitigation and innovative development works.

What is some of the best advice you have given to your team? We lead with aim to inspire our team to greatness. Inspiration is important for vitality which forms the pathway to stellar performance. If you are not inspired, you are expired. We also encourage our team to be creative, passionate and to Visualise, Verbalise and Materialise. Vision with passion becomes a dream and creativity leads to change and continuous improvements.

What is the symbolism behind Panthera’s logo and name? Chakyl gifting Mario an incredible lion art piece on his birthday became a culprit and inspiration to having two lions representing their partnership.

The hunting spirit of a lion is about competitive nature to win and their presence is strong but in a humble way with a graceful attitude. The two lions are protecting each other’s backs and looking towards future horizons while always being connected by aligned vision, represented by the red circle.

Panthera represents very impressive genus of chiefly large cat family animals, most having the ability to roar and with majestic features and strong biological characteristics. It was a fitting symbolism for our group name with key meanings being communicated such as strength, connectivity, resilience, family of many and not one, competitive in rivalry and victorious by nature.

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What is the secret of successful partnership? For us, first and foremost our friendship was base foundation for success followed by opportunity of limitless potential from complimenting skills and mutual passions. Taking time for communication is important to ensure that there is alignment in vision and strategy to provide the clear path ahead.

Our encouragement of each other and united vision to fulfil our ambitions enabled us to have platform of imagination and unlimited liberty to innovate, prosper and grow stronger together. Alignment, trust and transparency are essential ingredients for enduring partnership.

What are the driving principles behind your success and leadership at Panthera Group? Our driving principles are Passion, Integrity and Consistency. Founded on a wealth of inspiration and innovation, we have built a passionate culture that reflects our commitment to creating thriving community-centric precincts of the future. Our stakeholder relationships are built on honesty, trust and a proven track record of delivering what we say we will. Performing consistently in all we do, helps us deliver superior customer experiences that underpin on-going growth and significant investment returns for our partners and investors.

Tell us about The Lanes Retail Resort and your vision for the future? We are delighted to now be part of wonderful Gold Coast community. We have both relocated from Sydney with our families to start a new life. We are committed to adding value to this beautiful city with incredible potential by delivering our first Gold Coast project ‘The Lanes Retail Resort’.

We believe that creating connected, thriving communities is the way of the future. That’s why we are inspired to build ‘The Lanes Retail Resort’, a master planned lakeside lifestyle precinct in a high growth area of the Gold Coast to connect the premium residences with unprecedented retail resort.

Our vision is that ‘The Lanes Retail Resort’ will be not only the Australia’s most beautiful shopping centre but an iconic Gold Coast city landmark and state of the art lifestyle and leisure encompassing retail resort.

Our goal is to contribute to a more engaging, progressive and socially stimulating way of living with delivering one stop boutique health, beauty and wellness precinct.

For Panthera, the best is yet to come as the journey now continues on the Gold Coast.’The Lanes Retail Resort’ will delight expectations by providing curated offering, memorable and seamless ultimate customer experience unlike any other for Gold Coast community to enjoy for many years and generations to come.