Page 12 - The South China Business Journal
P. 12
OVER STORY
Seriously, where else could you party
with Andy Warhol, Jackie Kennedy
Onassis, and Michael Jackson all on the
same night?
Studio 54 was a nightclub for the stars and those who wanted “People got the glitter
to party with them. Designed by famous architect Eugene De in their hair, in their
Rosa and located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, the socks. You would see
building was originally an opera house when it opened in 1927. it in people’s homes
The building was purchased by CBS television network in six months later, and
1943 where it operated a studio until 1976 when the network you knew they’d been
moved most of its operation into the Ed Sullivan Theater and at Studio 54 on New
the CBS Broadcast Center. Many popular television programs Year’s.”
were filmed there including Password, To Tell the Truth, and
Captain Kangaroo.
Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed the theater into a
nightclub called Studio 54 by installing hundreds of thousands
of dollars worth of professional lighting and keeping many of
the former TV and theatrical sets. Word got out among the
“in crowd”. Celebrities turned out in droves when the doors
opened on April 26, 1977.
Anyone who was anyone in the late 1970s had to be seen at
Studio 54 or risk being left out and permanently excluded. The
nightclub had its regulars—Truman Capote, Brooke Shields,
Calvin Klein, Rudolf Nureyev, Debbie Harry—but a list of every
celebrity who graced the dance floor would be impossibly large.
Where there are celebrities, the paparazzi will follow. The outside the building every night, hoping that
tabloids were quick to pick up any inside information they could they would be among the chosen few who were
get their hands on, and the stories seemed endless. Gatekeepers allowed to enter and party with the stars.
turned Henry Winkler (The Fonz) away at the door. Bianca Jagger
rode a white horse into the club on her birthday. A non-celebrity
tried to get into the exclusive club through an air vent and died. The dance floor was also consistently packed
Every story stoked the public’s fascination. with people dancing to disco beats. Women in
zoot suits and men in wide-legged, tight-cuffed,
Event planner Robert Isabell trucked in four tons of glitter for pegged trousers hustled on the dance floor.
guests to dance on for a New Year’s Eve party. “You felt like you Waiters with six-pack abs bussed tables wearing
were standing on stardust,” Schrager later said. “People got the only gym shorts and knee high socks. Fashion
glitter in their hair, in their socks. You would see it in people’s designers like Diane Von Furstenberg quickly
homes six months later, and you knew they’d been at Studio 54 became regulars. Furstenberg told Vanity Fair,
on New Year’s.” “I had more fun at Studio 54 than in any other
nightclub in the world.”
The nightclub would only be open in its original form for 33
months, but it soon became known as one of the hottest and Studio 54 peaked just about a decade after
most exclusive club in town thanks in part to Rubell's motto: the Summer of Love. The Baby Boomers’ anti-
“The key to a good party is filling a room with guests more materialist hedonism changed its tune 180
interesting than you.” Studio 54 quickly developed a notoriously degrees from Woodstock. The same generation
restrictive entry policy based on style and appearance. Crowds
wearing disco era skimpy clothing and big hair would form
10 AmCham South China
Seriously, where else could you party
with Andy Warhol, Jackie Kennedy
Onassis, and Michael Jackson all on the
same night?
Studio 54 was a nightclub for the stars and those who wanted “People got the glitter
to party with them. Designed by famous architect Eugene De in their hair, in their
Rosa and located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, the socks. You would see
building was originally an opera house when it opened in 1927. it in people’s homes
The building was purchased by CBS television network in six months later, and
1943 where it operated a studio until 1976 when the network you knew they’d been
moved most of its operation into the Ed Sullivan Theater and at Studio 54 on New
the CBS Broadcast Center. Many popular television programs Year’s.”
were filmed there including Password, To Tell the Truth, and
Captain Kangaroo.
Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed the theater into a
nightclub called Studio 54 by installing hundreds of thousands
of dollars worth of professional lighting and keeping many of
the former TV and theatrical sets. Word got out among the
“in crowd”. Celebrities turned out in droves when the doors
opened on April 26, 1977.
Anyone who was anyone in the late 1970s had to be seen at
Studio 54 or risk being left out and permanently excluded. The
nightclub had its regulars—Truman Capote, Brooke Shields,
Calvin Klein, Rudolf Nureyev, Debbie Harry—but a list of every
celebrity who graced the dance floor would be impossibly large.
Where there are celebrities, the paparazzi will follow. The outside the building every night, hoping that
tabloids were quick to pick up any inside information they could they would be among the chosen few who were
get their hands on, and the stories seemed endless. Gatekeepers allowed to enter and party with the stars.
turned Henry Winkler (The Fonz) away at the door. Bianca Jagger
rode a white horse into the club on her birthday. A non-celebrity
tried to get into the exclusive club through an air vent and died. The dance floor was also consistently packed
Every story stoked the public’s fascination. with people dancing to disco beats. Women in
zoot suits and men in wide-legged, tight-cuffed,
Event planner Robert Isabell trucked in four tons of glitter for pegged trousers hustled on the dance floor.
guests to dance on for a New Year’s Eve party. “You felt like you Waiters with six-pack abs bussed tables wearing
were standing on stardust,” Schrager later said. “People got the only gym shorts and knee high socks. Fashion
glitter in their hair, in their socks. You would see it in people’s designers like Diane Von Furstenberg quickly
homes six months later, and you knew they’d been at Studio 54 became regulars. Furstenberg told Vanity Fair,
on New Year’s.” “I had more fun at Studio 54 than in any other
nightclub in the world.”
The nightclub would only be open in its original form for 33
months, but it soon became known as one of the hottest and Studio 54 peaked just about a decade after
most exclusive club in town thanks in part to Rubell's motto: the Summer of Love. The Baby Boomers’ anti-
“The key to a good party is filling a room with guests more materialist hedonism changed its tune 180
interesting than you.” Studio 54 quickly developed a notoriously degrees from Woodstock. The same generation
restrictive entry policy based on style and appearance. Crowds
wearing disco era skimpy clothing and big hair would form
10 AmCham South China
