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A black curtain swung open.

"I'm Too Sexy" blared.

Go-go dancers in neon wigs gyrated in bamboo cages.

And Little Joe Kurkewich, all smiles and sporting a mohawk, bounced around behind the "midget bar."

A dozen people scrambled to claim a miniature stool at the pint-sized watering hole.

Before any drinks were poured, a burly security guard grabbed the 23-year-old dwarf bartender around the waist and hoisted him onto the bar.

Kurkewich -- now with the height advantage -- writhed and shimmied with lady after lady.

"This is the best job," said Kurkewich, an Alsip resident and Marist High School graduate. "I love this atmosphere. I get paid to party."

The bar is inside Magilla's Eats & Beats, a 10,000-square-foot club in Worth opened nearly four years ago by Alex Stramaglia and her husband, Bobby.

"Everyone comes here to see our little guys and have a good time," Alex Stramaglia said. "The (bar) is something different."

Magilla's is not affiliated with Chicago's original dwarf bar, which was near 63rd Street and Western Avenue. The original was owned, operated and for little people.

Magilla's can make none of the same claims, and therein lies the problem.

The owners of Magilla's never set out to create a friendly gathering place for little people. In fact, they've only ever had a handful of short-statured patrons.

Incorporating the bar had one purpose: to draw a crowd.

I'm not someone who insists on political-correctness, and I'd never discourage any attempt to improve nightlife in the Southland.

I'll admit I smiled and laughed while the predominately female crowd circled Kurkewich as he poured shots into the mouths of reclining women.

But watching the spectacle made me uncomfortable.

It felt wrong and exploitative, like getting a laugh at the expense of an geeky teenager or a fat dancer.

Brothers Tom and Pete Rizzo, who were part of a large birthday party, were equally put-off.

"It's a freak show," said Tom, a construction worker. "It's weird, man."

"It's all about the almighty buck," Pete added.

Tom Lash, Chicago chapter president of the Little People of America, a nonprofit support organization for people of short stature, said Magilla's reinforces stereotypes of dwarfs and exploits dwarfs for entertainment purposes.

"It's using little people as a gimmick," said Lash, 45, of Chicago's Southwest Side. "If that was done to any specific race, religion or even heavy-set women, people would be on their doorstep trying to close them down."

Lash, an Internal Revenue Service tax auditor, said the four dwarf employees at Magilla's have the right to make a living.

"I just don't have to condone how they do it," he said.

Kurkewich isn't looking for anyone's approval. He savors being the center of attention, as evidenced by his recent appearance in a staged little-people love triangle on "The Jerry Springer Show."

"I had no second thoughts about doing it," he said.

The fake fight turned into a typical Springer brawl. Kurkewich punched his stage girlfriend's new man, and they wrestled. Kurkewich also mooned the audience. (You can see the episode at www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4Wm4DXkcj0.)

Kurkewich was working as a ticket taker at an amusement park when he was hired to be a bar back at Magilla's. When he turned 21, he became a bartender. and he was promoted to manager -- of the whole club -- in October.

The job has motivated him to take college courses in business management. One day, he'd like to have a bar of his own.

"A lot of people come in and ask, 'How can you let them do this to you?' " he said. "No one is doing anything to me. I choose to be here."

I miss Bill, too

Tim Murphy was too young during President Bill Clinton's two terms to have much of an opinion about the nation's flawed but popular leader.

Now 17, Murphy is a bit of a Clinton groupie.

On June 2, the Tinley Park High School graduate left home at 4 a.m. and headed downstate to hear Clinton give the commencement address at Knox College.

Wearing an "I Miss Bill" T-shirt, Murphy caught the former president's attention.

"He called me over and said, 'Thank you for wearing that shirt, young man,' " recalled a still-giddy Murphy.

The history buff, headed to Marquette University, had his picture snapped with Clinton, who then autographed Murphy's copy of his autobiography.

As Clinton climbed into his car, an Associated Press writer asked Murphy about the meeting.

"It's a dream come true. -- I'd die a happy man if I die on the way home," Murphy said.

Hindsight hasn't altered Murphy's reaction. "I stand by that statement. This was huge for me."

Dive in!

The opening of Palos Pool, perhaps for its last season, helped boost memberships closer to officials' target number.

Halfway through the first week of the season, 173 family memberships had been sold, director of parks and recreation Mike Leonard said.

"It's a pretty encouraging number (because) school didn't let out until today and the warm weather hasn't really started yet," he said Friday.

The goal is to sell 234 season passes, which would generate $70,000, Leonard said.

The price of family passes was increased to $300 for residents and $335 for nonresidents, up from $125 and $235, respectively.

The Save Our Pool grass-roots organization helped to raise awareness about how residents could postpone and possibly prevent the pool's closure.

It organized a cleanup weekend, brought in new features, such as a pingpong table and sundries, and scheduled games on Wacky Wednesdays.

A big kudos goes out to them from this former lifeguard. I'll see you in the deep end.

Courtney Greve may be reached at
cgreve@dailysouthtown.com
or (708) 633-5983.