English Version | Name a more iconic disco (we’ll wait)

Myths are rarely born by chance. When Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager decided to turn an old Broadway theater - which was eventually converted into a television studio - into a nightclub, many were wary of the success of their bet. On April 27, 1977, the day after Studio 54 opened, The New York Times published an article entitled "Discotheque Opens Despite Its Leaking Waterfall". The text detailed the various last-minute delays that occurred on the opening night - where the margin for error was slim, given the number of celebrities expected to attend - from the late delivery of décor pieces to the lack of places to switch on lights. Small dramas, the journalist concluded, which in no way undermined the success of the party: “The music had been blaring for most of an hour before an appreciable number of patrons, many, bearing special invitations, managed to make their way past the gate checks. A surprisingly large number of patrons milling around the entrance chose to wait, apparently on the theory that any place that hard to get into must be worth waiting for. The result was that from West 54th Street, where several dozen patrons were blocking off half the street, the theater appeared to be packed to its 2,500 capacity.” Not even the lack of a license to sell alcoholic beverages - despite having applied to the regulatory authority, which required the nightclub to apply for a "catering license" every day - prevented Studio 54 from being a meteorite in the middle of the New York nightlife scene, which exploded to the sound of disco music.

Taking advantage of the wave of personal liberation (and freedom) and the sexual revolution of the 1970s, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager - who met in college and eventually became friends, and then partners - achieved something unprecedented: they created the right nightclub, in the right city, at the right time. For three years, Studio 54 was the hottest place in New York, bringing together under one roof the most eccentric characters in the Big Apple - rich, poor, famous, anonymous, straight, gay, beautiful, ugly... What really mattered was whether or not they possessed that "something" that attracted Rubell, who had a habit of standing at the door to "choose" who could enter. “Last Saturday, I turned away 1,400 people," he told New York Magazine in November 1977. By then, Studio 54 was already the most coveted destination in Manhattan, a feat to which Carmen D'Alessio, public relations and self-proclaimed "queen of the nightlife", also contributed. In this interview, the businessman let his lust slip and gushed about the abusive profits he was making less than a year after opening: "The profits are astronomical. Only the Mafia does better." The sentence was not forgotten and, in January 1980, the IRS ended up "hunting down" Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion. The final Studio 54 party, which they attended before beginning their prison sentences, took place on February 2, 1980, and was a kind of "last dance" in honor of all the previous nights: Diana Ross and Liza Minnelli sang for numerous guests, closing a cycle of hedonism, magic and freedom.

From Bianca Jagger's unforgettable arrival on horseback to her birthday party in May 1977, to New Year's Eve that same year, which featured an epic performance by Grace Jones, the unforgettable moments lived inside Studio 54 were more than many - and they live on not only in the memories of those who experienced them first-hand, but also in the dozens of photographs that still populate the imagination of those who never made it past Rubell's filter. Truman Capote, Paloma Picasso, Debbie Harry, Mick Jagger, Halston, Diane Von Furstenberg, Michael Jackson, Carolina Herrera, Marisa Berenson, Calvin Klein, Andy Warhol, Jackeline Onassis... The list of well-known figures who made Studio 54 their second home is endless. Within those walls, everything was allowed, nothing was questioned: not company (wife, daughter, mistress or niece, you'd never know) not clothes (nothing was too short, extravagant or transparent) not tastes (sexual choices were never questioned) not vices (drugs, alcohol, you name it). No one was completely perfect and no one was completely imperfect. They all blended together in an endless dance. In that interview with New York Magazine, Steve Rubell, who would eventually die of HIV complications in 1985, confessed his intentions when creating what would become the most famous nightclub of all time: "A place big enough for a circus... for total environment... where all classes, the gays and the chic people, could mix in an exciting atmosphere... and that's what Studio 54 is all about."

*Originally translated from The Fame Issue, published October 2023. Full credits and stories in the print issue.