MARIA KENT’S ENTERTAINMENT COLLABORATION IS POISED TO SHAKE UP THE NEW YORK TRI-STATE AREA’S PARTY AND EVENT SCENES FOR YEARS TO COME

BY ZACHARY WEG•PORTRAITS BY NICK KOVA

According to Maria Kent, she is finally doing what she was put on earth to do. For anyone who’s seen or attended a mind-blowing event in recent years, there’s a good chance her company, Black Haus Creative, was the driving force behind it. With her extensive background as a world-wide performer and Las Vegas showgirl, this Orlando-born visionary is breathing new life into the entertainment industry in the New York tri-state area. “With our years of combined experience, Black Haus picked up speed very quickly after its launch. All of a sudden I was getting high-profile corporate clients asking me for bigger, better things!

The next thing I know, I’m doing full-scale productions, everything from A to Z on the entertainment side of their events. Very quickly, we began building art in stalls and working with singers, models, dancers, high-profile acrobatic artists….all on a scale not usually seen in our industry for a newer company.” While the company can put together superb personal events, such as weddings and bar mitzvahs, Kent noted it’s the big events that really kindle both her creative and meticulous sides. “The process begins with a client calling me, and I ask them what their event is about. They might tell me, ‘Hey, I’m having this corporate event with 20,000 people. It’s the afterparty to follow a seminar that’s happening in three days. We don’t really know what the theme is going to be but here’s some colors and here’s the venue. Can you come up with something?’ That right there, that’s the part I like.”

One of the keys to Black Haus Creative’s meteoric success is Kent’s personal touch. “Other companies in our industry may offer different, standard packages with some tweaks for specific event themes, but our events are largely built from the ground up. Some clients may have a lot of ideas, others just a vague concept, but knowing that they trusted me from the beginning to be a part of the moment and oversee their vision, to see the smiles on their faces and how happy they are at the end, that’s the definition of success for me.” Despite all her success, Kent is quick to point out that she doesn’t do it alone.

Choreographer Omar Garibay, Producer Britteny Schruefer, Prop Master Adam Straus, and Makeup Designer Emmanuel De Jesus constitute her core team and together they form a tribe of artists whose camaraderie is palpable. “They’re definitely my family,” said Kent. “We’ve all worked in the industry together for a very long time as performers and as we were reaching our peaks in the business, we found ourselves asking, ‘Where do we want to go next after performing?’ We’ve all grown together. We are a tight-knit family so working together on this scale was the logical next step for us.” When asked what’s next, Kent said she’s driven to continue to create the next big thing in her field, her own personal white whale. “Most of the time, you start creating these ideas on paper land ultimately you’re fortunate enough to see the end story come to life.

I’m very detailed oriented. Everything we put out is a particular piece of art, so I want to make sure I’m showing my best. I want to be sure the performers are feeling their best, and then I want our team to show the client that they’re getting not only our best, but the best they can get, period. I always like to create bigger and better things, something new that no one has ever seen. That challenge is what drives me every morning when I wake up.”

Black Haus Creative / blackhauscreative.com