José Luis Viñas Papers (MS-00468)

José Luis Viñas was born in Barcelona, Spain, in the mid-1920s. His father was born in Cuba, but went to Spain to study medicine and remained in the country after marrying a local woman. During the Spanish Civil War Viñas studied at a Jesuit school, where he learned to draw. After working in fashion design in Madrid, Viñas moved in 1957 to Paris, France where he found work as a costume designer for La Nouvelle Eve, a famous Parisian cabaret show. The show eventually was brought to Las Vegas, Nevada, and while he designed the costumes for the American production of the show, he stayed in Paris. He eventually came to Las Vegas in 1960, when the show La Parisienne was brought to the Dunes Hotel and Casino from Paris. During the show's run, Viñas met Frederic Apcar, who expressed an interest in having him design costumes for his shows.

After returning to Europe and finding work with a television production company in Rome, he was contacted by Apcar. This began a long professional relationship in which Viñas designed costumes for Apcar’s shows Vive les Girls (1962-1975) and Casino de Paris (1963-1982), both long running shows at the Dunes Hotel and Casino. At the same time, Viñas continued to work outside Las Vegas. In the early 1960s, Viñas designed costumes for a number of shows at the Casino de Lebanon in Beirut, Lebanon. In the late 1970s, he designed costumes for shows in Sun City, South Africa. During the mid-1980s, he designed costumes for Siegfried and Roy and was also involved in designing costumes for a non-Apcar show at Circus, Circus. This led to a rift between Apcar and Viñas.They did not speak to each other for many years, until one final meeting just before Apcar's death. In 1992, Viñas developed his own show Cabaret Circus at the Lady Luck Hotel and Casino, but after a three month run it closed. In 2007, Viñas moved back to Spain.

Source:

Viñas, José Luis, Interview, 2003 May 27, OH-01880. Boyer Early Las Vegas Oral History Project, Special Collections and Archives University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Las Vegas, Nevada.