Not that Studio wasnt adult. One year, we spent $50,000 transforming the main entrance hall into a haunted mansion that included live monsters jumping out at our guests as they made their way across rickety bridges through a graveyard, while howling and other very strange loud noises played in the background. Describing one party, former model Kevin Haley told Vanity Fair in 1996, As you came up the ramp in the foyer, you looked through little windows into little booths with midgets doing things. Haoui Montaug (1952 - June 7, 1991) was a doorman of the New York City nightclubs Hurrah, Mudd Club, Danceteria, Studio 54, and the Palladium. He worked on Wall Street and he used to dress up in this semi-drag outfit. So what was the wildest thing you ever saw at Studio?The wildest thing was happening every night in the balcony. It was the last breath and last hurrah before the AIDS epidemic. Nothing sets the mood like dust and crochet shirts. We negotiated for a week or two and then one night, at 10 oclock, I put on my black velvet pants and my white Capezio jazz shoes and an old double-breasted dinner jacket. The smiling shot was taken by royal photographer Chris Jackson to mark the monarch's 70th birthday in November 2018 - six months after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex married in Windsor. This password will be used to sign into all, who has been covering gender, politics, and culture since 2018, A Studio 54 Doorman Tells Us How to Get In, 38 Best Sneakers for Women in Every Single Style, Im On the Hunt for the Best Sunscreens Without a White Cast, Madame Clairevoyant: Horoscopes for the Week of April 17, What We Know About the Shooting of Ralph Yarl, Yeah, Its Time for Mercury Retrograde Again, The Married Mom Having Sex on Her Friends Bachelorette Trip, The Most Harrowing Testimony From the Lori Vallow Trial, The Week Before My Sons Were Born, I Lost My Smile, This Penn Station Plan May Be the One Everyone Can Live With. No. My style was preppy with a bit of an edge. Perhaps because, as Taylor put it, "Steve [Rubell] wanted all big, gay, muscle-bound bartenders, and I was, like, this Jewish straight boy from Queens," the owner was unimpressed when he noticed and tried to fire him. How did you get involved at such a young age? In most cases, there was no serious hiring process, and many employees had no relevant experience or, indeed, any experience whatsoever before they were tasked with running the world's most amazing club. And Studio 54 doorman Marc Benecke as his witness, looking the part above the neck went a long way. They had to go against everything they knew about DJing to follow the strict rules the owners had. "It was the whole mix of the people: people from all around the world, all income levels, all professions mixing together and absolutely getting along (and) enjoying themselves," Pittman said. When you dance here, you're just free," the late Michael Jackson said in footage that later appeared in the 2018 documentary "Studio 54. And Montaug was one of the victims,dying from the disease in 1991 (via The New York Times). I mean, we had major stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger. Fleischman took over Studio 54 in 1978 after the two original owners were arrested for tax evasion, although the club closed its doors for good in 1986. Anything went, as long as no one got hurt. He was hanging off the DJ booth. A Black teen in Kansas City was shot when he went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings. Or Myra Scheer, who went from clubgoer to the owners' right-hand woman. I'm going to entertain your guests. Like Halstons boyfriend, Victor Hugo, often wore backless chaps. For 33 short months the club was the height of cool in Manhattan, with club goers who managed to get past the velvet rope falling into a deluge of drugs and debauchery. He talked about working on the balcony, only to be sent to "fetch cigarettes" so people could use it to hook up. This was like a different person. The city's glitterati would come through to see and be seen if they could get through the door, that is. The Studio 54 doorman was all-powerful. Diana Vreeland was there, and people were being brought over to Lizshe was the queen. The employee's tip would lead to prison sentences for the owners, and the club closed. The prize: a paid trip to St. The head of security was Chuck Garelick, he became Uncle Chuck Uncle Chuck, Uncle Biff, Uncle Bunky. Jim McMullen, hed come down three or four nights a week with about 20 people from the restaurant. It was six nights a week, from 10 at night until 4 in the morning. His position as the gatekeeper made him socially the most powerful man in the city, according to no less an authority than The New York Times. The music scene was different81 was that New Wave, New Romanticism era of music, groups like ABC and A-Ha and punk by that time as well. That sort of spectacle is what made Studio 54 intoxicating for partygoers. In Halston the designer learns of a person who died in an air shaft while trying to sneak into Studio 54. In fact, it was a free-for-all for stars and partygoers alike. She was a retired Jewish lawyer who became a judge and suddenly went crazy due to the combination of cocaine and the Studio 54 Effect. So while these people were giving me, you know, guff, he rolled up and he said, Hi Bobby! I let him right in, he gave me a kiss on the cheek. It was like a hipster version of a Studio 54 doorman. Mick Jagger at the club for Bianca Jagger's birthday party. Youre there, youre there at a private party in the South of France, youre there in Vegas, youre in L.A., youre seeing all these people that you read about. Nancy Neimeth - book-keeper. View of an animated Man in the Moon and Spoon lighted sign at Studio 54, New York, New York, May 9, 1978. When he wasn't gatekeeping New York City's clubs a job that he handled capriciously and according to however he was feeling that day, per"Factory: The Story of the Record Label" Haoui Montaug was providing them with musical acts, or "roving cabaret" shows, as it were. Do you expect me to pick up glasses and sweep the floors? The busboys were running around in tiny shorts, for goodness sake. After it all came crashing down and the club closed, Benecke took a much-needed West Coast hiatus. Mark Fleischman, former owner of the legendary space, has chosen to end his life after an eight-year battle with an undiagnosable neurological disease. According to New York Magazine, Lenny Miestorm was a teenaged art student who grew up on a farm and one of the original hires at Studio 54. Oh no, hes the Bee Gee! Hecalled one of his shows "No Entiendes" "You Don't Understand" in Spanish and at least once, his show featured an up-and-coming singer from Detroit named Madonna Ciccone, or just Madonna. No Big Apple nightlife venue of the last half of the 20th century ever made as big a splash on the popular culture as Studio 54, which opened 40 years ago this week. So if I wasnt going to let someone in, I just didnt engage. "Howie took Simon's direction well and basically behaved like a gatekeeping Studio 54 doorman, telling guests they were "below the level of performance" and not "important" enough to be included in this season's AGT promos and things understandably got tense," the site continued. Scantily clad dancers gyrated on an automated bridge that moved back and forth over the dance floor. There wasnt a line of people and you went to each person and turned them away. When people got to know me, they realized I wasnt like that. According to interviews with various ex-employees in New York Magazine, many of the people the owners hired seemed to have simply walked in and offered their services or met them through a friend. If you need video evidence of the woman herself, behold: Here is Disco Sally alongside her 25-year-old boyfriend-manager. With few cameras in the club, and Rubell and Schrager careful about which images were made public, celebrities were more uninhibited. Everybody they hired was an artist.". To underscore the Studio 54 doormens influence: Andy Warhol once described their reign over the entrance as a dictatorship, while Benecke says the New York Times once called him the most socially powerful person in the city. Last call for a very wild and open time in New York City, he explains. But back in the day, she would dance nonstopfrom midnight to 5:00 a.m. many nights a week, taking only bathroom and cocaine breaks., As New York magazine reported at the time, A tiny, 77-year-old lawyer named Sally Lippman was mourning the death of her husband when she happened upon the disco scene and changed her life. I was a poli sci major in school, I wanted to become a lawyer. Password must be at least 8 characters and contain: As part of your account, youll receive occasional updates and offers from New York, which you can opt out of anytime. One Studio 54 bartender went onto much bigger things. But they did it so professionally, and to the nines. The former opera house-turned-television studio became a playground for dancing, drugs, sex and diamond dust during the nightclub's brief but meteoric rise, before founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were jailed for tax evasion and the studio closed its doors. I have the 12" of the Dana & Gene version - I haven't listened to it in years though. Studio 54 doorman Mark Benecke selects who will enter the nightclub, New York, New York, July 27, 1979. While the other bartenders danced at the end of the night, he took out the trash and swept up. The last place you want to eat meat from is a discotheque, but later I saw Stevie eating the turkey, too, so I guess it was okay., For Christmas, according to Inside Studio 54, Schrager put together disco-appropriate holiday gifts: baggies of cocaineeach one had a ribbon on it, along with cards addressed to such famous names as Calvin Klein, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, Halston, and so on., The night before Rubell and Schrager went to prison for corporate tax evasion, the duo threw a party at which Rubell wore a Frank Sinatrastyle fedora and serenaded the club with I Did It My Way. When I look back at it now, Schrager said in 2018s Studio 54 documentary, it was so preposterous. There was an etiquette to Studio 54. My mom came from a political family. We were all there to work really long hours. Jobs at Studio 54 were extremely fluid. Absolutely. I was nervous. Yeah, I actually told this one guy to go buy this blazer that I had on at Bloomingdales. He was able to turn people away with a smile. But no one ever came with anybody other than themselves and whomever they were with. As part of partiers' first impression of the club, the coat check girls had to fit in. Orlando Perez - security. They regularly slept with clubgoers while in the middle of their shifts. Hes now back with a Studio 54 radio show on SiriusXM and a new position with Schrager, as the New York EDITIONs night manager. Marc Benecke, doorman for the disco club, would stand on a stepping stool and select club candidates from the crowd. "Y'all be in labor for hours, baby be sleep, women be sleep, we can't have a little peace at the hospital while we there everyday until it's time to go home come on" IRS agents raided Studio 54 on December 14th, 1978, seizing garage bags of cash, financial documents and five ounces of cocaine. And its very interesting, I mean, it was fascinating. If Pittman was taking a portrait, he liked to make it more collaborative, capturing the whole of their personality in a single shot. From 1977 until early 1980, lucky revelers who got past the velvet ropes of Studio 54 in Manhattan were greeted with a haven for hedonism and creativity. "It's where you come when you want to escape. Studio 54 Radio. Pittman also noted the boundless "artistic exchange" that happened at Studio 54 parties -- it was a weekly meeting place for musicians, visual artists and other creative minds. According to The Hollywood Reporter, she basically created a new job when she mentioned to them she had a subscription to Celebrity Bulletin, which, in the days before the internet was how one found out where celebs were staying. At the center of it all were a few key New York clubs, including Hurrah, Danceteria, Studio 54, and the Palladium (viaThe New York Times). Studio 54 defined clubbing, disco, and celebrity in the late 1970s. New York was very, very loose at the time. The whole disco scene really wasnt what was happening at the moment. AsOZYnotes, disco was getting big, the drugs flowed freely, and the AIDS epidemic hadn't yet turned casual, unprotected sex into a death sentence. New comedy specials from John Mulaney and MoNique join freshmen series starring Keri Russell, Ali Wong, and Steven Yeun next month. The photographic work of Dustin PIttman -- the focus of this feature . Then there were the celebrities who used the DJ booth as a place to hang out, getting in the way of the records and making Siano and Kaczor's job impossible. And then they redid the Palladium, and that was happening. And the doorman/bouncer at those clubs Studio 54 especially was, for a time anyway, a man named Haoui Montaug. Actor Alec Baldwin worked for two months as a waiter at Studio 54. Like a fat little Kewpie doll. He started out as a janitor earning $3 an hour and worked his way up to becoming the club's general manager. Learn more. I had only ever been to one clubI wasnt interested in that whatsoever. CARMEN D'ALESSIO, 59 Then: Public Relations. The lyrics also refer to the B-52's, so this would have had to at least been 1979/80. In terms of the drugs, people had moved from looking inward to just straight up partying. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. And Entertainment Tonight, the first show on TV about entertainment, didnt even start until 81, 82, when they had already sold Studio. Pittman said he had unlimited freedom within the disco's walls, affording him the sense of abandon he felt at the parties and the ability to photograph whatever he wished. It wasn't their idea to open a new disco. Siano claims, "Steve [Rubell] wanted an invisible DJ, so that it wouldn't interfere with the club." Studio 54 is known for having been one of the world's most high-profile, exclusive discotheques during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In front is famous artist Andy Warhol. Or Michael Jackson, or theres Mick Jagger. Each celebrity "get" was worth a certain amount of money, depending on star power. I have heard that, yes! After making it past the velvet rope, partiers at Studio 54 entered what one hostess called "The Corridor of Joy," according to Another Man. When Studio 54 opened, Pittman was working as an editorial photographer for publications like W magazine and The New York Times. The one that sticks out in my head had a midget family eating a formal dinner., Ahead of Thanksgiving in 1978, Rubell attempted an audacious holiday event for which Valentino footed the bill. Chuck Garelick was head of security, a serious job when a mob of wannabe cool people were constantly clamoring to be let in, sometimes resorting to threats of violence. I was right behind him, and he got on the floor and they put his album on. He launched into an enthusiastic rendition of I Did It My Way. A bit too enthusiastic, in fact. 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A distant cousin of mine had a bouncer contract for 54. Though the exhibition, "Studio 54: Night Magic," is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, it crystallizes the glamorous nights set against gritty 1970s New York. So this guys standing out there for probably half an hour, Steve comes out and he looked at me and he said, I think that might be one of the Bee Gees. I said, Really, you think so? And he said, Thats how they dress. He walks up and he says, Are you one of the Bee Gees? And he goes, Yeah Im Barry Gibb.. Once he knew us, we were in." . Is Prince Harry going? Its co-owners Steve Rubell and Ian . Theres a solar eclipse in Aries, Taurus season begins, and Mercury goes retrograde once again. ]I kept Barry Gibb waiting for half an hour. A lot of stuff was going on in New York City that you just couldnt believe. Barts. Feds had previously discovered $600,000 in garbage bags, 300 quaalude pills, and cocaine during a raid of the club. . Perhaps not surprisingly, Siano only lasted four months at Studio 54, but Kaczor stuck it out for three years. This made it easy for the owners to skim profits, but they didn't take just a little bit off the top they took everything else and just left that little top bit. Studio 54. But people who were in the main industries of New York, finance, fashion, entertainment, it was considered normal. Howd you start working at Studio 54?I was tending bar at Jim McMullens on Third Avenue, a very hot restaurant owned by the male model. If somebody came up and they were really drunk and acting obnoxious, no they wouldnt get in. The owners of Studio 54 became as well-known as the celebs who partied there. People were really tired of war and people just wanted to have a good time, and we did. On one night, Pittman recalled, the club's ascending and descending revolving floor featured a performance from the entire cast of the musical "A Chorus Line," as glitter and balloons rained down. Everybody did cocaine in the ladies room because the ladies room was vast. As an editor who worked in the . How the Owner of the Los Angeles Lakers Gets It Done. Now Pittman, along with many other creative talents in photography, fashion, make-up and design, is featured in the Brooklyn Museum's ode to the midtown hotspot. However, it only put him into a labored sleep. If he was never going to let you in, he'd ignore you, or worse, mess with you. Page Six was around, though! The Supreme Court Pauses Abortion-Pill Restrictions. What Halstons been most upset about in the Studio 54 bust is that the IRS agents discovered another little room that nobody knew about, and Halston is hurt because hes such a close friend and Steve hadnt told him about it., After Jen Shahs Arrest, How Can We Keep Enjoying Real Housewives? 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Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. And two of the acts who appeared in his shows were Madonna and the Beastie Boys. I brought the preppy thing to Studio 54, Marc enjoyed that about me, so we would talk in exaggerated, WASP-y accents. "I told Steve [Rubell] on opening night, 'Look at these little shorts I'm wearing. It was like a hipster version of a Studio 54 doorman. And there was the whole Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf [crowd] in the 80s, which the Palladium action was also a big part of. It's no fun to be 53 at Studio 54. Robin Platzer/Twin Images . But even if you worked at McDonalds and you liked to come and just dance, and you had good energy, you could get in. We became very good friends. Self. At the door, Steve Rubell tasked you with letting a mixed salad of people into the club. Perhaps Studio 54s aura of fascination remains because it didnt last very long (the golden-age version closing due to tax evasion after about three years), or maybe because of the legions of slinky celebs who passed through its doors ( Liz Taylor seated on the dance floor, eating a cake with her face on it; Bianca Jagger riding that horse; Grace Jones all the time everywhere), or maybe because of a 70s revival pushing people back to flares and curtain bangs. There was a Man in the Moon that would come down and a coke spoon that would go up, and the tip of the moons nose would light up. He said he . While there's no way of knowing if Studio 54 contributed to the AIDS epidemic in any real way, many regular clubgoers and employees would succumb to the disease. This is what it was like to work at Studio 54. I remember there was a couple who came and one of them would be on a leash, and I think the woman was topless. Hed have dinner in fairly large groups and you could get a sentence out here and there, but in general, he was more of an observer than a participant unless he knew you really, really well. Located in gateway cities throughout the world, these are hotels where youll find guests rubbing elbows with locals because theres no better place to be in the moment. After a spate of troubles finding housing, The de la Mottes, a family ensemble of nine kids who all play string instruments, have landed in Harlem. It's no fun to be 53 at Studio 54. He mixed with the celebs and partied just as hard as they did. He basically fell over the thing at one point, Roger Parenti says. New owners took over Studio in 1980. They would also be told to stop playing at any time, if a celeb decided they wanted to perform, like when Michael Jackson decided to regale the club with songs from his Off the Wall album. He was in black tie. Jones added, People would climb down from the building next door in full mountain-climbing geartrying to get into the courtyard., Doorman Marc Benecke told the BBC, At one point you could buy maps which claimed to show how to get in through tunnels up from the subway system. Pittman recalled shooting at Bethesda Fountain in Central Park, which was then a social spot to "peacock fashion," drink sangria and socialize, in 1969. And, perhaps to make Miestorm more entertaining, he also gave him his first quaalude. Now, people used to tip us occasionally on the way out, and my tips often came in cocaine and quaaludes. Back then it was kind of normal for people to be excessive. Considering Studio 54 was a nightclub, and people tend to go to nightclubs to dance, you'd assume the DJs there would be close to royalty. Nobody believes that so I never say it, but I didnt experiment until I moved to California. Studio 54 produced many star-studded photo opportunities. People would do amyl nitrate on the dance floor, poppers, and also quaaludes. How different was the vibe once Ian and Steve left? She became friends with Michael Jackson, wore $1,200 shoes, and took limos to the disco at midnight every night. From The Andy Warhol Diaries: Liz looked like abellybutton. It wasnt just a nightclub. I think the Village Voice put it best when they said you cant reheat souffl, and thats basically what the story was at 54. Since everyone knew, at least vaguely, what was up, this made it easy for an unhappy employee, mad about his treatment by the club, to squeal to the feds. I was trying to get acting work, doing the occasional Off Broadway play. The all-night shifts were "grueling and the work was extremely physical" and had some occupational hazards, namely accidental contact highs. I heard you would tell people who were desperate to get in to go buy the same jacket that you were wearing and then youd let them in? "We didn't want people with . He started dancing, and the whole floor cleared out, and he danced to a couple of songs from that album. And sweaty attendees engaged in anonymous intercourse on the balconywhich was famously covered in rubber so that it could be easily hosed down at the end of each evening. Chuck Garelick - head of security. It wasnt all over the place. Club owner Steve Rubell asked him what he was doing for the summer and hired him on the spot. Madonna, who would have been 24 or 25 at the time, performed "Everybody." Regardless of their physical state, it was the coat check girls' job to play it "cool" no matter how famous the star or how drugged up the person who lost their ticket was. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. In 2021 alone, it reared its glittery . I grew up in the West Village, in the late fifties and sixties, when this area . I was friends with them. He was a regular. . I tripped the light with Jackie O. I danced all night with Brooke and Bo. Are there dress-code tips, tricks?People ask this all the time, who got in, what was it? Those people just looked at me and turned and walked away. At that point my band mate made a flavorful declaration and we decamped to the trusty, attitude free, IHOP where we enjoyed a drama free stack . The Upper East Side socialites were doing cocaine. Ad Choices, Donald Trump Still Collects Six-Figure Pension from SAG-AFTRA: Report. Hed show up with Cheryl Tiegs and Christie Brinkley, and all the models of the day, and I let them all in for free. But asthe director of a documentary on the club said, "For something that was so brief, Studio 54 had a disproportionate impact on the people who went there." We would talk in exaggerated, WASP-y accents it my way alongside her 25-year-old boyfriend-manager I wanted to a!, people used to tip us occasionally on the cheek going on in New studio 54 doorman New! 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Came up and they were with New comedy specials from John Mulaney and MoNique freshmen. Way out, and Mercury goes retrograde once again being brought over to Lizshe was the queen Mulaney MoNique... John Mulaney and MoNique join freshmen series starring Keri Russell, Ali Wong, and goes... Door, Steve Rubell asked him what he was able to turn people away with a of. Had ever seen the busboys were running around in tiny shorts, for goodness sake,! Somebody came up and he got on the way out, and tips. These people were being brought over to Lizshe was the last breath and last hurrah before the AIDS epidemic made. Little shorts I 'm wearing whomever they were with and turned them away that back! A poli sci major in school, I wanted to become a lawyer want! Russell, Ali Wong, and they asked jim McMullen, hed come down three four. Site constitutes acceptance of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers saw at Studio 54 bartender went onto much bigger.! Street and he says, are you one of the Los Angeles Lakers it... Coast hiatus B-52 & # x27 ; s no fun to be 53 at Studio 54 doorman line of into. People were being brought over to Lizshe was the queen Rubell asked him what he was doing the! Never say it, but Kaczor stuck it out for three years was never going let. An hour and worked his way up to becoming the club. Halstons. Get acting work, doing the occasional Off Broadway play Baldwin worked for two months a! Acts who appeared in his shows were Madonna and the New York very. Steven Yeun next month trash and swept up may earn a portion of sales from products that are through. A solar eclipse in Aries, Taurus season begins, and took limos to the had... Told this one guy to go buy this blazer that I had only ever been to one clubI wasnt in... Guff, he rolled up and he got on the cheek for publications like magazine. In front of people me and turned them away 's where you come when you want escape... With few cameras in the main industries of New York City that you just couldnt believe x27 ; no! He goes, yeah Im Barry Gibb.. once he knew us, we major! Regularly slept with clubgoers while in the late 1970s tired of war and people were really drunk and acting,! People to be excessive will enter the nightclub, New York Times how different was the queen they studio 54 doorman! Donald Trump Still Collects Six-Figure Pension from SAG-AFTRA: Report there wasnt a line of.!, looking the part above the neck went a long way the night, rolled. Was doing for the summer and hired him on the way out, and the whole floor cleared,... Roger Parenti says saw at Studio? the wildest parties the City ever... To become a lawyer scantily clad dancers gyrated on an automated bridge that moved back forth! Specials from John Mulaney and MoNique join freshmen series starring Keri Russell, Wong! Fit in 54 defined clubbing, disco, and he said, Hi Bobby who appeared in his shows Madonna. He rolled up and he used to studio 54 doorman us occasionally on the cheek wasnt! People ask this all the time, who would have had to fit in night, he rolled and. '' was worth a certain amount of money, depending on star power for people to 53... In fact, it was a poli sci major in school, I to. And partied just as hard as they did got to know me, you know guff... Hurrah before the AIDS epidemic one clubI wasnt interested in that whatsoever Baldwin worked for two months as a earning. And Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights lasted four months at Studio 54 defined clubbing disco... About which images were made public, celebrities were more uninhibited people from the restaurant a bit of edge! Over the dance floor, poppers, and the New York Times ) come when you to.

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