Studio 54
is a New York City Broadway theater and former discothèque located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan. The disco opened on April 26, 1977 and closed in March 1986 and briefly reopened in 1994 after a multi-million dollar renovation. Since 1998 it has been a venue for the Roundabout Theatre Company, with a 900 seat theatre equipped with two full service bars.
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STUDIO 54 TICKETS
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History
Early years
The theatre originated as the Gallo Opera House by
Fortune Gallo in 1927 for his
San Carlo Opera Company. It opened on February 7, 1927 with the opera
La bohème
. It was not successful as an opera house; over the course of the next decade, it changed its name several times. It became known as the New Yorker Theatre in 1930, booking
Ibsen's play
The Vikings
, but remained unsuccessful. From 1933 to 1936 it became a dinner theatre called the Casino de Paree, managed by
Billy Rose. It was then the Palladium Theatre in 1936. The
Federal Theatre Project leased it for its productions and changed its name to the Federal Music Theatre in 1937. The Chicago Federal Theatre achieved success here with its production of
Swing Mikado
, a jazzy version of the
Gilbert and Sullivan operetta starring
Bill Robinson. Later in 1937, the name was changed back to the New Yorker Theatre.
CBS Studio 52
This name would remain until
CBS purchased the facility in 1942, renaming it Studio 52 (CBS named its studios in order of purchase and the number had nothing to do with the street). During these pre-television years, CBS would use the theater for radio broadcasts.
From the 1950s to the mid-1970s, CBS used the location as a
radio and
TV stage that housed such shows as
What's My Line?
,
The $64,000 Question
,
Password
,
To Tell the Truth
,
Beat the Clock
,
The Jack Benny Show
,
I've Got a Secret
,
Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour
,
Captain Kangaroo,
and the ill-fated CBS version of the
Johnny Carson Show
.
[1] The soap opera
Love of Life
was produced there until 1975.
In 1976, CBS concentrated most of its New York broadcast functions around the corner to its storied
Ed Sullivan Theater (CBS-TV Studio 50) or west to the
CBS Broadcast Center, and sold Studio 52. The Ed Sullivan Theater once had access to Studio 52 through an access door which was cinder-blocked during the Theater's
Late Show with David Letterman
renovation. However, it is possible that the door that was covered was, in fact, leading to an
MTA utility building, instead of the Sullivan Theater.
[2]
Nightclub era
Founding
When CBS began marketing the building in 1976, various interests in the art and fashion world pushed for turning it into a trendy disco, including male model
Uva Harden, who tried to get gallery owner Frank Lloyd to finance the club, until Lloyd lost a $9 million lawsuit to the estate of the artist
Mark Rothko, the
Rothko Case.
[3]
Carmen D'Alessio, a
Valentino public relations agent who had been throwing fashionable parties, encouraged
Steve Rubell and
Ian Schrager, who were operating the Enchanted Garden at 63-20 Marathon Parkway in
Queens, to make the leap into Manhattan.
[4] D'Alessio had "reluctantly" hosted parties outside of Manhattan at the Queens venue and had been profiled in
Newsweek
for doing so.
She was to introduce Rubell and Schrager to the
jet set crowd including a pre-opening dinner with
Andy Warhol,
Halston, and
Calvin Klein.
[5]
During 1977 the building was purchased and renamed for its street address, 254 West 54th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, a location already noted for another tenant in the building, famed disco
recording company West End Records, as well as being the former home of
Scepter Records.
The nightclub was founded by four equal partners: Steven Rubell, Ian Schrager, Tim Savage and Jack Dushey. They operated the company as Broadway Catering Corp. Another partner Richard DeCourcey was present until September 1977.
[6]
D'Alessio, after working in Rome and around Europe as a fashion PR, was well known by fashion, music, and film people, and generally with the kind of celebrities from across the United States, South America, Europe and other parts of the world who would be ideal patrons. Harden was pushed out of the project, and Rubell and Schrager gave D'Alessio much of the control for the design and promotion of the nightclub.
Before the April 26, 1977 opening, D'Alessio sent out 5,000 invitations to her exclusive mailing list together with an enticing surprise gift to each of her invitees.
Liz Smith,
Rex Reed,
Cindy Adams, and other New York gossip columnists announced a major event.
On May 21, 1977, the
New York State Liquor Authority raided Studio 54 for selling liquor without a license and closed it. The owners of the nightclub said the incident was a "misunderstanding". The next night the club reopened but gave free fruit juice and soda instead of liquor. Prior to the raid, the nightclub had been using one day use "caterers' permits", which enabled the nightclub to serve alcohol but were intended for weddings or political affairs.
[7] The State had denied the daily permit for the night and raided the nightclub. The nightclub had been using these permits while waiting for its
liquor license to be processed.
The scene
Among the many celebrities present during opening night:
Mick and
Bianca Jagger,
Liza Minnelli,
Jerry Hall,
Diana Vreeland,
Halston,
Pat Cleveland,
Kevin Arpino,
Margaux Hemingway,
Mikhail Baryshnikov,
Salvador Dali,
Brooke Shields,
Francesco Scavullo,
Janice Dickinson,
Martha Graham,
Debbie Harry,
Robin Leach, newlyweds
Donald and
Ivana Trump, newly engaged
Rick Hilton and
Kathy Richards, and many other well-known partygoers. Hordes scrambled to gain entry but only a few got past the door. Some celebrities, including
Warren Beatty,
Woody Allen,
Diane Keaton,
Henry Winkler,
Cher, and
Frank Sinatra were unable to get in, in part due to Studio 54's elusive doorman
Marc Benecke [8]. The nightclub held around 700 patrons who paid $8 cover to get in each night.
[7]
A week after the opening,
Halston asked Rubell to open the nightclub on a Monday night (May 2, 1977, when it would have been closed) for
Bianca Jagger's 27th birthday party. Bianca entered on a white horse and the resulting publicity firmly established Studio 54 as the preferred nightclub for celebrities, including
Michael Jackson,
Rudolf Nureyev,
Elton John,
Truman Capote,
Margaret Trudeau,
John Travolta,
Jackie Onassis,
Elizabeth Taylor,
Björn Borg,
Gloria Swanson,
Mae West,
Farrah Fawcett,
Lorna Luft,
John Lennon and
Yoko Ono,
Divine,
Rod Stewart,
Alice Cooper,
Suzanne Somers,
Bette Davis,
Al Pacino,
Ziad Abdelnour,
John Deacon,
Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor,
Bette Midler,
Ann-Margret,
Dolly Parton,
Pelé,
Hugh Hefner,
Sophia Loren,
Diane von Fürstenberg,
John F. Kennedy Jr.,
Eartha Kitt, and
Lillian Carter, then-president
Jimmy Carter's mother. Some of the world's most famous performers also performed their new songs:
Donna Summer,
Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band,
Grace Jones,
Gloria Gaynor,
Sylvester,
The Village People,
Cheryl Lynn,
Brooklyn Dreams,
James Brown,
Phylis Hyman,
Amii Stewart,
Chic,
The Ritchie Family,
Rick James,
Stephanie Mills,
Roberta Kelly, and
Arthur Russell all sang their most famous songs during the partying.
Studio 54 was operated by the flamboyant, publicly visible Rubell and his retiring
silent partner Schrager. At the nightclub's prime, Rubell became widely known for hand-selecting guests from the always huge crowds outside, mixing beautiful "nobodies" with glamorous
celebrities in the same venue. London author/journalist Keith Barker-Main recalls his first time at 54. Then still underage, he nervously stood outside at the back of the crowd feigning a lack of interest. His black cutaway tee shirt caught Rubell's eye. Bearing the logo "Fuck Studio 54!" it earned him a life time free membership from the owner, impressed by such
chutzpah.
"Studio", as it came to be called, was notorious for the
hedonism that occurred within it; the balconies were known for
sexual encounters, and
drug use was rampant. Its dance floor was decorated with a depiction of a
Man in the Moon that included an animated
cocaine spoon. John Blair and Jason presented "Sundays at Studio 54", which catered to a homosexual clientèle.
Event planner
Robert Isabell had four tons of glitter dumped in a four-inch layer on the floor of Studio 54 for a New Year's Eve party, which owner Ian Schrager described as like "standing on stardust" and left glitter that could be found months later in their clothing and homes.
[10]
End of the first era
During December 1978 Rubell was quoted in the New York newspapers as saying the Studio had made $7 million in its first year and that "only the Mafia made more money." Shortly thereafter the nightclub was raided and Rubell and Schrager were arrested for
skimming $2.5 million. After the arrests Rubell accused
Jimmy Carter's
White House Chief of Staff Hamilton Jordan of snorting cocaine in the basement.
[11]
A grand jury met 19 times and interviewed 33 witnesses before concluding that Rubell's testimony was not reliable enough to file charges.
The nightclub closed with one final party called "The End of Modern-day
Gomorrah", on February 4, 1980.
Diana Ross,
Ryan O'Neal,
Mariel Hemingway,
Jocelyne Wildenstein,
Richard Gere,
Gia Carangi,
Jack Nicholson,
Reggie Jackson, and
Sylvester Stallone (who, as rumor has it, bought the last drink) were among the guests that night. New York lawyer
Gary Naftalis represented Schrager successfully in the ensuing tax-evasion prosecution. After the nightclub's closing, cocaine and money were found in its walls. Schrager and Rubell were found guilty and would spend 13 months in prison.
1980s
During 1981, the building was sold by JISA Associates, of which Steven Rubell was a principal, to Philip Pilevsky for $2.2 million.
[12] Pilevsky in turn leased it to Mark Fleischman and Stanley Tate, and Studio 54 reopened on September 12, 1981. That night's guest list consisted of
Andy Warhol,
Calvin Klein,
Cary Grant,
Lauren Hutton,
Gloria Vanderbilt,
Mark Gastineau,
Gina Lollobrigida, and
Brooke Shields (who was currently on the cover of the September issue of
Vogue
as well as starring in Klein's infamous jeans commercials), brought back a sense of glamour to the nightclub. Celebrities continued to pack the nightclub (witnesses on various nights ca. 1983-84 reported
Janet Jackson,
Demi Moore,
Jennifer Grey,
Tom Cruise,
David Alan Grier,
Vanity,
Drew Barrymore,
Jermaine Jackson,
Whitney Houston, and
Leif Garrett in the club), though the level of sensationalism was toned down from the club's early years.
Madonna,
Wham!,
Duran Duran,
Culture Club, and
Run-DMC performed onstage before becoming famous. During 1985,
heavy metal groups
Slayer,
Venom and
Exodus filmed a video at Studio 54 called "Ultimate Revenge for Disco".
This second version closed during March 1986 due to an expired lease.
The Ritz and Cabaret Royale
From 1989 until early 1993, the nightclub's lease was owned by CAT Entertainment Corp (contrary to claims by a man named John Neilson, a sometime employee of Brian A Travis, the major shareholder in CAT Entertainment) and known as
The Ritz. During that period, the nightclub hosted occasional rock concerts and was otherwise used by CAT Entertainment as a public venue available for rent. In 1993, CAT Entertainment was acquired by Cabaret Royale Corporation, a nightclub operator based in Dallas. CAT Entertainment completed a renovation of the nightclub earlier abandoned because of a lack of funds, and resurrected both the nightclub and the Studio 54 trademark, which had never been properly registered by any of the prior owners or operators.
[13]. The newly remodeled nightclub was operated as "Cabaret Royale at Studio 54" by CAT Entertainment until early 1995. The Pilevsky interests which owned the theater itself and the adjacent office building had several years earlier granted a mortgage on the properties to the Bank of Tokyo and, in an effort to resolve a large unpaid indebtedness of Pilevsky to the bank and to forestall foreclosure, a trustee had been appointed by Pilevsky and the bank and granted the right to sell those and numerous other properties owned by Pilevsky. During late 1994, Allied Partners acquired the Studio 54 properties and, after protracted litigation, CAT Entertainment lost its lease on the nightclub and ceased operations.
Roundabout Theater at Studio 54
During 1994 Allied Partners bought the building for $5.5 million. They restored much of the architectural detail that had been painted black or covered with plywood by Schrager and Rubell. The nightclub reopened with a live concert by disco stars
Gloria Gaynor,
Vicki Sue Robinson, and
Sister Sledge. The building again went into bankruptcy in 1996 and Allied announced plans to demolish it and replace it with Cyberdrome, a
virtual reality gaming venue. However the project was not to happen.
During 1998, the collapse of a construction hoist blocked access to the
Henry Miller Theatre on 43rd Street, where the successful
revival of the
Broadway musical Cabaret
was playing. To keep the show accessible, the
Roundabout Theater Company agreed to move the performance to Studio 54.
Brooke Shields, who had been to Studio 54 many times, would eventually star as Sally in the Studio 54 production. Roundabout later bought the building in 2003 from Allied for $22.5 million
[14], and
Cabaret
played until 2004.
Notable productions
- 1998: Cabaret
- 2004: Assassins
- 2004: Pacific Overtures
- 2005: A Streetcar Named Desire
- 2005: A Touch of the Poet
- 2006: The Threepenny Opera
- 2006: The Apple Tree
- 2007: 110 in the Shade
- 2007: The Ritz
- 2008: Sunday in the Park with George
- 2008: Pal Joey
- 2009: Waiting for Godot
- 2009: Wishful Drinking
Upstairs at Studio 54
The second floor of the theater is still used as a nightclub on weeks when plays are not being staged; when it does so it operates under the name
Upstairs at Studio 54
. There have been huge, and very popular, "disco parties" held there. The most notable of these well attended nights were held in 2004 and 2005. The club is operated by
Josh Hadar who was one of the Allied partners.
It was briefly owned by
Noel Ashman.
Upstairs at Studio 54 Performances:
- Gloria Estefan
- Jody Watley
- Newsical
Other tenants
The building, which is still frequently referred to as the
Studio 54 building
, houses a variety of tenants, among them a theater venue, offices, and an educational facility called
Mandl School, the
College of Allied Health.
Franchises
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Studio 54, Antwerp, Belgium
In Antwerp Studio 54 is a successful event taking place in gay discothèque Red & Blue every first Sunday of the month. Keeping the spirit of the original Studio 54 in mind, the party is all about excess, disco and glamour. Every evening brings great disco music, drag queen entertainment and a performance by an international disco artist (
Gloria Gaynor,
Sister Sledge,
Luv',
Boney M.). Every Studio 54 has a different theme, guests are encouraged to dress up to the theme. The event also holds a strict dress code.
Every September Studio 54 moves to the Antwerp Sports Palace to host its yearly biggest disco party in the world.
Studio 54, Las Vegas
After the New York club closed down in 1995, Studio 54 moved to
Las Vegas, in the
MGM Grand.
Studio 54, Berlin
In January 2005,
MGM announced that they were scouting for the proper location in Berlin, Germany to open Studio 54 Berlin. The project was led by
Joseph Jackson, the father of
Michael Jackson and
Janet Jackson.
[15] Only three months after its opening in May 2006 the club had to be closed again because of insolvency.
The plans for a second continuously-operating Studio 54 has caused fans of the original to charge that MGM is only interested in the
commercialization and
franchising of the Studio 54 name, and that these clubs will be nothing more than regular discothèques with the Studio 54 name.
Studio 54, León & Oviedo
In Spain, two locals carry the same name as the NY's discothèque.
In Valencia, There is a discothèque called
Deseo 54
('54 Desire'), using the same logo.
Studio 54, Coventry
Coventry University Students' Union on Cox Street goes by the name of Studio 54, which is commonly abbreviated in advertising and branding, and also known locally in roman numerals as 'LIV'.
Studio 54, Prague
Located at Hybernská 38,
Prague 1 in the
Czech Republic, Studio 54 is considered the largest afterparty venue in city, opening its doors at around 4.00am and closing at around 3.00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. The crowd is often a mix of late-night party goers and bar staff from other venues. Studio 54 was originally located in the neighbouring Karlín, but moved to its current location in 2001.
Cultural impact
During its heyday it played a formative role in the growth of
disco music and
nightclub culture in general.
A compilation album of disco music,
A Night at Studio 54
, was released by
Casablanca Records in 1979. It peaked at #21.
The disco was depicted in the 1998 film
54
and was the model for the club featured in the movie,
The Last Days of Disco
. It was parodied in the 2002 movie
Austin Powers in Goldmember
as Studio
69.
On the season seven (1981-1982 season) of
Saturday Night Live
hosted by
George Kennedy (with musical guest
Miles Davis), there is a musical sketch called "53 at Studio 54", about an old man who goes to the famous discothèque.
In an episode of
Sex and the City
, Studio 54 is mentioned when
Carrie Bradshaw is discussing Aleksander Petrovsky's past loves. In an earlier episode,
Samantha Jones's 25-year-old personal assistant makes a dig about Samantha's age, when she remarks ''"I also stood in line for Studio 54 - the movie
|"''
In an episode of
Ugly Betty
, Studio 54 is mentioned when Amanda is asking Wilhemina for information about her father.
In
Don't Forget the Lyrics!
,
Wayne Brady told
Kevin Cronin to imagine he was at Studio 54 and sing "
Last Dance".
The beginning of the movie
Watchmen
shows
Ozymandias standing outside of Studio 54, with
David Bowie,
Mick Jagger, and the
Village People greeting him in the background.
The Welsh band
Stereophonics song Vegas Two Times mentions the Las Vegas Studio 54.
In
King of the Hill
the episode 'Strangeness on a Train', it mentions a Studio 54 as a train mystery theme.
An incident surrounding
Rick James and
Charlie Murphy (
Eddie Murphy's brother) in a
Chappelle's Show
sketch, which spawned the "
I'm Rick James, bitch" catchphrase, takes places in Studio 54.
A line in the
Chic song
Le Freak
mentions "just come on down to the 54", a reference to its days as an iconic disco dancing venue. Ironically members of the group were refused admission to Studio 54 on New Year's Eve 1978-9, despite their music being played there, returned to guitarist Nile Rodgers' apartment where they jammed and wrote
Le Freak
in a few hours. The original title featured the word
Fuck
instead of
Freak
!
Singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright references Studio 54 in 'Gay Messiah', a song from his album '
Want Two'.
In the cartoon The
Venture Brothers episode
ORB Pete White refers to Studio 54 as "The house that coke built.".
In the TV show
Warehouse 13 the disco ball from Studio 54 is located inside the warehouse, causing one of the main characters to become trapped inside Lewis Carroll's mirror.
DJs during the nightclub era
- Patrick Adams
- Jellybean Benitez
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- Robbie Leslie
- Richie Kaczor
- Johnny 'Hook' Adame
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See also
- Fiorucci, the "daytime Studio 54", [16] an Italian fashion store that hosted the Studio 54 opening party
References
- Studio 54 roundabouttheatre.org - Retrieved January 19, 2008
- Tony Mendez Tour of The Ed Sullivan Theater and Taping of TMS
- Studio 54 - andwedanced.com Retrieved January 19, 2008
- "As the Disco Ball Turns", ''New York'', April 30, 2007
- "As the Disco Ball Turns", ''New York'', April 30, 2007
- A WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter. "Operators of Studio 54 In New York Indicted On Skimming Receipts. " ''Wall Street Journal'' York, N.Y. 29 June 1979, 22.
- ''New York Times''. May 22, 1977 "Liquor Authority Head Stops Discotheque's Music."
- studio54.cc
- ''New York Times''. May 22, 1977 "Liquor Authority Head Stops Discotheque's Music."
- Weber, Bruce. "Robert Isabell, Who Turned Events Into Wondrous Occasions, Dies at 57", ''The New York Times'', July 10, 2009. Accessed July 14, 2009.
- Historical Encyclopedia of U.S. Independent Counsel Investigations by Gerald S. Greenberg - Greenwood Press - 2000 ISBN 0313307350
- Reality News; Studio 54 ''New York Times'' - August 31, 1981
- NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: MIDTOWN; A Stripped-Down Studio 54 For the Post-Disco Era December 19, 1993
- COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE: REGIONAL MARKET -- Manhattan; As 'Cabaret' Nears End, Cabaret Still Has a Place ''New York Times'' – October 1, 2003
- Studio 54 Nightclub Goes German
- Fiorucci: Once So Hot and Now, Can It Be Again?