Studio 54: The Documentary

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01/11/2022 The documentary was everything that Studio 54 wasn't: predictable, dry and without surprise. Didn't find the telling of it's surge to fame, or its owner's fall to be all that intriguing. See more 08/18/2021 Studio 54: The Documentary is an amazing documentary bringing the history of the danceclub and its founders. See more 01/20/2020 Fascinating glimpse into this pop culture phenom. Despite the poor business and/or moral decisions they made, I came away loving Steve & especially Ian! See more david f 08/14/2019 A great documentary about the famous NYC nightclub. See more 07/30/2019 Solid documentary on what the rise and the fall of the historic Studio 54. See more 07/06/2019 Youth and Beauty were worth more than power, money, and celebrity to gain entry to Xanadu once passing the heavily guarded and out of control frustration of the angry street mob desperate and determined to dance in a disco that really had nothing else going for it then the consistent and persistent rejection of Studio54 wannabes who would never, not for one night of their pathetic lives, be given a wish to finally see what all the fuss was about. Being admitted to Studio54 was no different than dancing at one of the proliferating discos benefiting from the fact that there were more cash friendly discothèque clients wasting time and not able to spend their disposable income gathering like a herd of mindless sheep occupying otherwise closed for business 54th Street from 10pm – 4am. Xenon opened in another unoccupied Broadway theater with the exact same architectural model as Studio54, a clone of the universal destination to be admitted and experience, but Xenon's front door was not a mob scene, but a polite acknowledgement by the doormen, a short wait as if there was a fire code restriction, and a cold admittance once a gaggle of the Young and the Beautiful would cackling as they migrated out of Xenon on their way to another disco as club hopping was a unique and entitled privilege when you are Young and Beautiful. Xenon was more interested in bleeding the wallets of the wannabees than Studio54. And with clubs the size and technical sophistication as Bonds, Hurrah, New York New York, Infinity, Regine's, Paradise Garage, Ice Palace 57, Les Mouche, the Fun House, and the ultimate in space and design, the Saint, charging annual memberships on top of heavy door fees, there were options. There was no need to feel like a pauper begging to be wrangled from the insipid crowd of zombies mindless of their lack of worth to the doormen of Studio54. I saw the documentary artlessly named after the club, ‘Studio 54', in 2019, curious that a film crew would have gained access to the aloof crowd of celebrities not exactly exhibiting good public relations behavior, although the paparazzi was omnipresent to capture a film studio promotional still that would be sold, printed, and seen by the World to ensure the fanbase that their star looked chic and seemed to be in very good spirits. Never let the public know you are Missing in Action. Greta Garbo dissolved into the privacy that celebrities can't afford. But the film didn't exhibit anything more than what the paparazzi's camera still shot. I was disappointed, given that I was an 18 year old stripper/hustler at the Ziegfield of respectable homosexual theaters at that time: the Gaiety Burlesque, where I learned from street savvy colleagues how to dress, present, dance, and get complimentary entry to most clubs, Studio54 was no exception, as we were the perfect non-speaking extras who filled the background and just danced, not ogling or gossiping about a celebrity faux pas. I saw a lot of ill behavior. We just danced like it was the only reason to be there. I wrote about my introduction to New York society and charm school behavior in discotheques like Studio54 which when I realized the academic and professional opportunities I possessed, left the Gaiety, finished college, got a qualified boyfriend, and continued to go to the next new club on weekends to satisfy my addiction to disco and the culture that it thrived on: drugs, excessive hours dancing from Saturday to Sunday, obsessive about maintaining an unnecessarily overly developed physique, and to always feel like you were the object of someone's unrequited desire. A harsh world. Without stating the title, it is a cautionary tale of the possible extinction of the species ‘homosapiens', as the movie ‘Studio54' sadly ends with the party and its participants over and done with those halcyon nights. Those that survived, with the exception of successful entrepreneur Ian Schrager, are not, and probably chose not to be interviewed for their participation in a short-lived fairytale euphoria. Bianca Jagger was a spectacle of a beautiful mess looking at her sorry face in the public restroom in 1978. Today, she lives far away figuratively and physically from the tiny theater that was once ‘Studio54'. See more Read all reviews

Studio 54: The Documentary

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