It's no fun to be 53 at Studio 54. This article originally appeared on Vogue US. Halston, Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Mick Jagger, Cher, David Geffen, Jack Nicholson, and Michael Jackson regularly packed the banquettes. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. And Studio 54 doorman Marc Benecke as his witness, looking the part above the . Of course you had a lot of people burning out and most unfortunately, a whole lot of people died. Jim McMullen, hed come down three or four nights a week with about 20 people from the restaurant. The all-night shifts were "grueling and the work was extremely physical" and had some occupational hazards, namely accidental contact highs. He said he didntbut that didnt mean people wouldnt shove their hands in his coat pocket and leave drugs and money in there., Writing for Vanity Fair, Studio 54 regular Bob Colacello declared Taylors 1978 birthday the clubs most amazing party of allThe Rockettes performed and then presented the movie star, who was standing on a float of gardenias between Halston and her then husband, Senator John Warner of Virginia, with a cake that was a full-size portrait of her. He asked what I was doing for the summer and was like, How would you like to work here? And Im like, Okay. Thats basically how it started! To get into Studio 54, first you had to get past the doorman, Marc Benecke. The city's glitterati would come through to see and be seen if they could get through the door, that is. 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. I had only ever been to one clubI wasnt interested in that whatsoever. (It would open again with new ownership, but it wasn't the same.) The city had moved on. 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. He mixed with the celebs and partied just as hard as they did. Hotels that dont act like hotels. The outside was really a show in itself. We'd watch from the windows on the eighth floor to see who was cute and ask them to come up, like a teenage Studio 54 doorman situation. It was my 15 minutes with Andy Warhol, I guess. Ad Choices, Donald Trump Still Collects Six-Figure Pension from SAG-AFTRA: Report. What was your approach to turning someone away? The next day, a picture of Cher leaving the club covered the New York Post. 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. I let him in, and I followed him into the club while Marc stayed at the door. Hes now back with a Studio 54 radio show on SiriusXM and a new position with Schrager, as the New York EDITIONs night manager. Get ready for a busy week, astrologically speaking. He frequented the other clubs of the era, such as Paradise Garage, Infinity, Max's Kansas City, and Mudd Club, but Studio 54, which he attended from opening night, was different. (The downside the drugs became a serious problem until he finally realized years later he needed to sober up.). Kyle Richards, 54, explains HOW she stays so skinny after denying she uses weight loss drug Ozempic: '1 hour of alternating between walking at 3.5mph and running at 6mph' Teen spirit! Rubell had the waiters dressed up like Pilgrims and he was serving turkey, recalled Warhol in his published diaries. The girls could also go hang around the club themselves for a bit, then come back with all the gossip. 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. Their uniform was apparently various stages of undress. It's almost like asking the cast of a major show like A Chorus Line, 'Well, did you guys really go out and party all the time?' Now, people used to tip us occasionally on the way out, and my tips often came in cocaine and quaaludes. To get into Studio 54, first you had to get past the doorman, Marc Benecke. Actor Al Corley was a doorman during the late 1970s. He basically fell over the thing at one point, Roger Parenti says. What good was owning the coolest club in the world if you didn't party in it yourself? I mean, we had major stars like Elizabeth Taylor, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Mick Jagger. According to Studio 54 documentary filmmaker Matt Tyrnauer, the club owners "cleverly paid doorman Marc Benecke more than anyone else to make sure he wasn't tempted to take bribes. You had to be very protective of who was inside. But he had a distant cousin who was hired to be bouncer at Studio 54, and after having lunch together one day, they wandered over. Confessions of a Studio 54 Doorman Illustration by Stefan Knecht In the three short years of Studio 54's heyday, Marc Benecke was who you had to get past to enjoy the hedonistic other side. Of course, we took him inside, gave him the royal treatment, made up for it a little bit. 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. 1/20. "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. A double dose of Rachel Weisz is just what the doctor ordered. There was an army of people working behind the velvet rope, behind the bar, and behind the scenes to make sure Studio 54's patrons had the times of their lives once they were inside. People would dance, get to know each other, do a little coke, and then go up to the balcony because it was an old theater, you could hardly see up there and hook up. Enter the coat check girls. If somebody came up and they were really drunk and acting obnoxious, no they wouldnt get in. It was decorated with "crystal chandeliers, carpet, and mirrors," filled with the delighted screams of people seeing it for the first time, and drew patrons to another set of doors to the club proper. There were so many poppers left in people's coats, the women often got high by accident when they exploded. For the first time since he and his business partner (Rubell) were forced to sell the discoteque in 1980, former co-owner Ian Schrager . Some of the social and political issues of the time must have played out at Studio 54? Orlando Perez - security. The owners of Studio 54 became as well-known as the celebs who partied there. On any given evening, youd have, you know, Rudolph Nureyev, youd have Chuck Berry, Keith Richards. So I was hired, and I was paid $625 a week. But they did it so professionally, and to the nines. 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. People were really tired of war and people just wanted to have a good time, and we did. In terms of the drugs, people had moved from looking inward to just straight up partying. But together, the employees made it work. Caravan to Oz says they were picked for "their beauty, youth, energy and style." Barts. Sometimes the stars would even come hide out in the coat check room to relax a bit outside of the craziness of the club. Or Myra Scheer, who went from clubgoer to the owners' right-hand woman. Somehow, the pairing worked, and when Rubell died in 1989, Schrager said, "I'll never have that kind of friend again. So people felt that that life could be happiness. It was a haven of illicit sex, illegal drug use, and the wildest parties the city had ever seen. 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. As part of partiers' first impression of the club, the coat check girls had to fit in. The doorman was paid so well that he wouldn't be tempted to be bribed. That sort of spectacle is what made Studio 54 intoxicating for partygoers. Studio 54 doorman Mark Benecke selects who will enter the nightclub, New York, New York, July 27, 1979. However, once HIV exploded, it did so with a vengeance. And I just got opened up. It was kind of a celebration of people from the arts, dance, fashion, music, theater, entertainment, the gay world; this incredible mix of Manhattanites in the late 70s, before the AIDS epidemic basically wiped out at least half of the creative people in New York. Feds had previously discovered $600,000 in garbage bags, 300 quaalude pills, and cocaine during a raid of the club. (532) 7.0 1 h 38 min 2018 16+. Jobs at Studio 54 were extremely fluid. It was like watching a movie. Nearly 35 years after her underappreciated romantic comedys release, the Oscar nominee returns to the Lower East Side. Surrounded by those he loved, he swallowed five barbiturate pills intending to overdose. Beyond being just the bouncer, he was also the gatekeeper for the "look" of the club, and anyone who didn't fit his definition of what that look was would find themselves at the end of the line. Not a subscriber? I wasnt good at that, because in some ways Im naturally shy. 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. At 19 you were one of the youngest on staff at Studio 54. "I created Studio 54!" says D'Alessio. He gave us nicknames: his was Biff, and my nickname was Bunky. Weve rounded up the best looks from celeb events this week, including Jenna Ortega, Troye Sivan, and Devin Halbal. He started out as a janitor earning $3 an hour and worked his way up to becoming the club's general manager. Being young, pretty, and in New York City, this of course meant a lot of them were wannabe actors and singers. Nile Rodgers on Writing 'Le Freak,' Grace Jones, and the Disco Backlash. Studio 54 The Documentary - Official Trailer. It wasn't their idea to open a new disco. After it all came crashing down and the club closed, Benecke took a much-needed West Coast hiatus. Studio was a reflection of all of that.. The 1970s were an exciting time in music, the New York City Club scene, and, more broadly still, the (largely) underground (at the time) LGBTQ+ community. For even more privacy, there were mattresses in the basement, but assumedly the employees weren't cleaning those every night. Not that Studio wasnt adult. It wasnt exclusive, really, it was inclusive of people who were of that moment in Manhattan, with an appreciation for diversity, with an eye for fashion. Nothing was said, it was just, Im Andy Warhol, Im holding your hand, youre here with me, enjoy. People got off on that. Sally Lippman, also known as "Disco Sally", was a 77-year-old widow and regular . Marc Benecke, center, a Studio 54 doorman. He started dancing, and the whole floor cleared out, and he danced to a couple of songs from that album. The photographer that captured the disco and diamond dust of legendary club Studio 54, The photographic work of Dustin PIttman -- the focus of this feature -- is part of the exhibition 'Studio 54: Night Magic' at the Brooklyn Museum, which is temporarily closed. I tripped the light with Jackie O. I danced all night with Brooke and Bo. The head of security was Chuck Garelick, he became Uncle Chuck Uncle Chuck, Uncle Biff, Uncle Bunky. The employee's tip would lead to prison sentences for the owners, and the club closed. Pro- and anti-Jordan protesters clashed with police trying to keep them out of the hearing room, while the chairman knocked Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's crime policies. It caught the eye of FX guy Ryan Murphy, who plans to spotlight its demise in the next season of American Crime Story. My style was preppy with a bit of an edge. Even R. Scott Bromley, the architect who designed the indoor space, did the hard work actually hammering it all together. It wasnt all over the place. Absolutely unacceptable. But the moment that really explains how the door worked, the moment that stands out in my mind is, I was out at the rope and there were three straight couples, very well-dressed and obviously monied, who wanted to get in. You met amazing people you knew that you were at the epicenter of something really remarkable. In the three short years of Studio 54s heyday, Marc Benecke was who you had to get past to enjoy the hedonistic other side. She sent out some invites, and opening night saw big names like Cher, Henry Winkler, JFK Jr., and Warren Beatty show up. This crowd is made up of well-known, successful individuals: Fashion designer Halston and actress Bianca Jagger are on the left, followed by film director Jack Haley Jr. and actress Liza Minnelli in the back right. It still is," Schrager told "CBS This Morning: Saturday" co-host Anthony Mason. 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. You couldnt buy your way in, you know? "Renny the florist decorated the entire studio with live gardenias for Liz, because that was her favorite flower," he wrote as a caption for one of the exhibition images . According to The Guardian, the balcony, with its slightly secluded nature, was covered in easy to wipe down materials for any body fluids that got spilled up there. Page Six was around, though! 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