Inspired by the hunt

Another Saturday night and you ain’t got nobody? At Muse in Pasadena, the main objective of the three-level nightclub is to help you find somebody to love.

“This place is fantastic,” says James Burton, a British aerospace engineer on loan to NASA. “There aren’t any other clubs like it in L.A.”

He has a point. For starters, Muse is an easy-access club. If you’ve got $10, you’re in. No snotty guest list, no private parties, just a good-time place to cure those lonely heart blues. In addition, Muse has a diverse clientele, a melting pot of L.A. cultures, with just as many guests in their 30s and 40s as in their 20s. And the DJs play to the crowd’s tastes. From chart-busting hip-hop to hardcore underground salsa music, they please a multitude of musical palates.

“We’re all about variety,” says Rico Ceguerra, Muse’s general manager. “We cater to different needs.”

It doesn’t hurt that Muse, with a capacity of 1,000, is pretty much the only joint in town. Sure there’s a Q’s Billiards, a Moose McGillicuddy’s and McMurphy’s pub, but that’s pretty much the extent of Old Pasadena competition.

Then there’s Muse’s folklore. Located in a 107-year-old building rumored to have once been owned by Al Capone, Muse is filled with ghosts of the past.

“We have our share of mythology here,” says Ceguerra, who worked his way up from a busboy seven years ago to become the club’s manager. “Old Town has ghosts, and we’re an example of living, breathing history.”

Opened nearly a dozen years ago by five women who pooled their resources and now remain behind the scenes, Muse is hopping six nights a week, with Thursday, Friday and Saturday as the main events. The club, which has three floors for dancing, gets busy with first-rate DJs. On Saturday nights, DJs Ism, Chuck and Downlow work their magic.

And the fun begins right when you enter the club. The first room is popping with hip-hop, and the club is packed with players -- both male and female -- working their angles. The men and women strut their stuff, putting it all out there as if it say, “Yo! I’m available.” This is the floor where people try to link up as they drink up.

Once there’s been a match, then it’s off to the player’s lounge, a club on the second floor, which is distinctly cozier. It’s here people sprawl out on couches or shoot a game of pool and get to know each other. Although still thumping with music, it’s quieter and you’re likely to hear the voices of Gwen Stefani, Madonna and even some Debbie Gibson.

But in the basement there’s so much sizzle in the air, you get the feeling it’s the place where married cads dirty-dance with their mistresses. It’s down here you’ll hear loads of thumpin’ salsa and fiery Mexican ranchera music. And despite the Latin flavor, the crowd is a cross-section of Asians, blacks and Latinos.

Adjacent to the basement level is a tiny patio jampacked with guests taking a smoky breather from the sweat-drenched dance floors.

But for one Valley girl, the entire Muse experience was too much.

“It’s kind of ghetto,” says Helana Morad, who made the trek from the Valley for a friend’s birthday party. “I like the dancing but I prefer Hollywood.”

But some in Hollywood seem to prefer Muse. Among the celebrities who’ve made their way to Muse to get out of the spotlight are Pink, Oscar de la Hoya and “Desperate Housewife” Teri Hatcher.

“All I know is I’m here every week,” Burton says. “I tell my friends in England, they’ve got to come visit because you gotta see this place to believe it.”

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Muse

Where: 54 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena

When: 5 p.m.-1:45 a.m. Monday-Saturday

Price: $10 Thursday-Saturday; free Monday-Wednesday. $7 valet parking.

Info: (626) 793-0608

Heidi Siegmund Cuda can be reached at weekend@latimes.com.