Inside Studio 54

by Mark Fleischman

  On a Sunday evening in September 1994, Mimi and I staged a dazzling Hollywood wedding at Tatou. It was a gala black-tie affair and a fitting finale to my foray in Beverly Hills. Many stars who had become a part of our lives in Beverly Hills attended. I really wanted my buddy, Rick James, to be with us on that day but it just didn’t work out.

  Despite the heavy celebrity and wealthy, bejeweled Beverly Hills matrons and their husbands present at our wedding, it was, at its heart, a family affair. My mother flew out with Hilary and they stayed with Mimi and me in our home. Mimi’s father, George Leonard, attended with his wife Annie. Mimi’s half-sisters, Emily and Lillie, and her sister Burr (who founded The Bar Method exercise studios in San Francisco in 2001) were there, along with some old friends, which delighted us to no end. Kevin Doyle, the DJ of Tatou New York, joined us and, as his gift, played the dance music for the party, which was a blast. The children from our previous marriages—my daughter Hilary, and Mimi’s children Juliet and Adam—all walked down the aisle in the wedding procession.

  In 1995, deciding that it was time to move on, the perfect location in Century City became available. I was ecstatic. It was a thirty-thousand-square-foot, two-level property with a beautiful restaurant showroom that could accommodate one thousand guests, two indoor dance floors, a third dance floor outdoors, and another very large room decorated in an exotic Jungle motif. It was a gorgeous and very elegant property—one of the largest nightclubs in LA. Now I could host some really grand parties and special events and make some real money. My partner was Dan Fitzgerald, a contractor who had made millions renovating and flipping mansions, loved nightclubs and girls, and had a reputation for hosting lingerie parties a la Hugh Hefner in his houses to attract buyers. I named it The Century Club.

  Once again I imposed a dress code: no sneakers and no jeans, which only worked for a short time. Opening night was packed to capacity with Hollywood and music industry celebrities and friends. I booked the very talented August Darnell, aka Kid Creole, and The Coconuts for the evening’s entertainment. The crowd went crazy. Within a week I was slammed with future bookings: Bruce Willis; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Stevie Wonder; Ludacris; Harry Dean Stanton; The Marshall Tucker Band; Dionne Warwick; Snoop Dogg; Wu Tang Clan; Pitbull; and Jay Z, who especially disturbed the LAPD because they didn’t like the crowd he attracted.

  As always I embraced urban music and I was surprised the first time I heard Dr. Dre rap about The Century Club in his classic “The Next Episode,” and I quote: “It’s California love, this California bud got a nigga gang of pub, I’m on one, I might bail up in the Century Club.” Being the owner/proprietor of a club mentioned in a hit song blew me away.

  Rick James came back into my life and joined me for Urban Sunday nights and at many of our “After Film Premieres” and other special events. Since we were located in Century City across the street from the Cineplex Odeon, The Century Club was the perfect venue for film premiere events. We hosted a star-studded event for The Wedding Planner. Jennifer Lopez had her team transform the entire club into a beautiful fantasy of white for her guests, costar Matthew McConaughey and hundreds of invited friends including Mark Wahlberg, Marlee Matlin, and Jon Voight to name a few. There were so many beautiful people there that night but I just don’t remember them all. Jim Carrey stole the show at the afterparty for his film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Cameron Diaz did the same at the afterparty for The Mask. The post-premiere party for the film Dark City was a great night at The Century Club attended by the very funny Jon Cryer, Kiefer Sutherland, Minnie Driver, Andrew McCarthy, Mimi Rogers, Queen Latifah, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lara Flynn Boyle, and others.

  Me and my Century Club partner Dan Fitzgerald discussed a performance

  by Bruce Wills and his band at our Monday Night Jam.

  We welcomed Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart to the post-premiere party for Panic Room and their guests Brad Pitt, Matthew Perry, and others. The film The Players Club, directed by Ice Cube, was one of my favorite post-premiere parties attended by my buddy Bernie Mac and guests Jamie Foxx, Babyface, Ice Cube, Jada Pinkett, Boyz II Men, Terrence Howard, Martin Lawrence, Sean “Puffy” Combs, Charlie Murphy, Michael Clarke Duncan, Rick James, and John Singleton. It was a memorable night for me because Rick James and Charlie Murphy spent the entire night trading barbs that were so funny, it should have been recorded as Live on stage at The Century Club.

  The party for the film Scary Movie 2 was a wild and funny night with Carmen Electra, Damon Wayans, James Woods, Bill Paxton, and Wes Craven. Many others attended but those were my standout guests that night. There were hundreds of wonderful parties over the years. Dustin Hoffman hosted a very extravagant and over-the-top party, creating a jungle on the patio with live monkeys and birds in the trees to celebrate his daughter’s bat mitzvah.

  Within a year of opening it was established that Sunday’s Urban Music Night at The Century Club featured a crowd that was considered to be black royalty with a smattering of beautiful white girls. The most famous stars and athletes of the day attended, including Michael Jordan, Jamie Foxx, Tyra Banks, Wesley Snipes, Denzel Washington, all of the Lakers including Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neil, a very young Kobe Bryant, Venus and Serena Williams, Prince, and Michael Clarke Duncan, who also doubled as a security guard.

  On Sunday nights we went through case after case of Cristal as it was a regular happening for Shaq and Michael Jordan to be holding court on opposite sides of the upper balcony surrounded by beautiful girls of all sizes, shapes, and colors, determined to outdo each other in creating a spectacle. One night I thought I might have some real trouble on my hands. I spotted Shaq and Kobe, looking sharp and cool in their custom-tailored suits, standing toe-to-toe in a Mac stare down. Everyone was watching. This was early on in their time together with The Lakers and it was reported that they were always feuding. Then, all of a sudden, they were both laughing. Everyone around them broke out in smiles and more Cristal was poured. I breathed a sigh of relief.

  Friday night was dedicated to salsa and R&B and always featured a group of hot well-dressed local Latinos including Mario Lopez, Oscar De La Hoya, Andy Garcia, Paul Rodriguez, and Antonio Villaraigosa, who later became Mayor of Los Angeles. Prince was another frequent guest at our salsa nights. He would sit in the back of the club alone and watch the bands and dancers do their thing to the Latin beat, just like he did at Studio 54. If he and Rick James showed up on the same night, I had to worry because of their rivalry. Ryan Seacrest broadcast Live from The Century Club on Fridays, which went over big with his radio audience. This was before he hit gold on TV with Keeping Up with The Kardashians and Live From The Red Carpet.

  The Century Club became the longest-running large supper club in West LA, featuring hundreds of special events and movie premiers. We had a great run for fourteen years, and then it was demolished by the owner of the land to make way for high-rise condos.

  In 2003, Mimi and I went into the business of opening exercise studios—The Bar Method of Los Angeles—which became a celebrity favorite, enabling us to franchise twelve more studios in Southern California, from San Diego to Santa Barbara. The hours are much better for someone who is now in his seventies but I am still surrounded by beautiful women—in this case the vibrant staff of teachers and desk managers at our barre-style studios. Our children are grown and living their own lives. Mimi and I live in a duplex penthouse overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which is more spectacular than the one I was so upset about losing thirty years earlier, and this time I have a wonderful partner to share it with. Now, in the twilight of my years, as president of our Homeowners Association, I find myself deeply involved in the running of our club amenities—pools and tennis courts, restaurant and bar. Like I said in the beginning of this book…“I’ve always had a thing for clubs.”

  Mount Kuchumaa, where I got my mojo back, became the first sacred mountain to be listed on the National Register of Historical Places by the US Department of In
terior, on October 22, 1992. “It represents a natural earthly temple and source of religious wonderment to the Kumeyaay of Southern California.”

  Generations of Kumeyaay Native Americans and guests at Rancho La Puerta have felt both the physical and spiritual power of Mount Kuchumaa. It holds as much religious importance for the Kumeyaay people today as it did for those in the past. The “indigenous people believed since recorded time, that the peak was imbued with power from one of the Kumeyaay Creator Gods.” From day one I believed that the magical feeling I experienced, whenever close to or on the mountain, was healing me. I found strength in that faith. I held onto it and it was enough to get me through the darkest period of my life until I could find the light and faith within myself.

  So what better way for me to share this gift with others than to bring the Bar Method to “my place in the sun,” Rancho La Puerta, for eight glorious weeks each year? I am so blessed. It has come full circle…as they say.

  Chapter Thirty-Five:

  The Studio 54 Effect

  Some People Were Empowered By It.

  Others Were Destroyed By It.

  And Some Died From It.

  Here Are Their Stories.

  Back in the day, forty years ago, before cell phone cameras, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter, the press ruled. Newspapers, magazines, and television were the only means available to get the attention of the American public. The press could make you or break you, and the press loved Studio 54. Publicists jammed our phone lines requesting their celebrity clients be put on our guest list. Their clients had only to show up and make nice for the cameras and their pictures would be in newspapers and magazines everywhere in America and around the world the next morning. It was the beginning of celebrity culture. Studio 54 was glamorous, decadent, and safe because photographers respected boundaries; it was a symbiotic relationship. And most importantly, the press never released an unflattering photo and never told the public everything that went on the night before. They said it was wild or great fun. Celebrities loved Studio 54—it was their playground.

  Some celebrities wanted to dance and have fun but remain under the radar. The press respected their wishes, providing a cloak of cover in the dark of night. To others, Studio was like a moth to a flame. They returned night after night wanting to see their faces in the papers again and again. It was their drug of choice—they lived for it.

  Discretion was the key to success at Studio 54.

  If you were the very popular mayor from another city who came into Studio 54 one night and happened to drink too much and pass out in the balcony in the arms of a beautiful young man—your constituents never found you out. If you were the world famous designer often seen in the pages of WWD who swallowed way too many Quaaludes and passed out on a banquette in the Rubber Room, lipstick and mascara mixing with the drool oozing from the corners of your mouth—that image of you never went viral. If you were the well-known national news anchor spotted dancing and snorting coke with a beautiful young girl all night—we had your back. That photo never made the papers and your wife never found out. If you were the young actress adored by millions of young boys and girls who got caught shooting up in a stall in the men’s bathroom—the tabloids were never told. And if you were the high society dame who got caught by surprise in the “secret” basement under the “playground” basement, with your wrists tied to an overhead pipe, writhing with pleasure in your sky high heels, getting fucked against the wall by a Park Avenue plastic surgeon—your kinky little secret has remained a secret.

  There was much more to it than just sex and drugs. The heart of Studio 54 was the dance floor and the tribal feeling that made you one with others. You were on the beat with the girl over there and the couple dancing nearby—strangers a few hours ago—and now you were one. A guy dances by then around you and kisses you on the neck, a woman twirls, another guy moves in and grinds on you from behind—you are loved and life is beautiful. You are in the moment at Studio 54. You never want this feeling to end. You return night after night to the music, dance floor, drugs, and alcohol. You crave the attention and all the bizarre stuff that goes down when you’re hanging with Sister Cocaine at 5:00 a.m. Anyone who has ever hung out with her will tell you—this bitch has the power to make you do some freaky shit. Some of the people in our crowd got so caught up in the collective energy of Studio 54 and blown away by the absence of rules and boundaries that it destroyed them. They returned night after night to live it again and again. It was about pleasure—accountability was tossed aside and some paid for it dearly.

  Others were more fortunate—they were able to roll with it and walk away unscathed.

  We all believed ourselves to be free to satisfy our lust or passion and follow the object of our desire to whatever end that might be and survive it. The mindset of the 1960s and ’70s paved the way for the nonstop party of indulgence and excessive behavior of the 1980s. We eschewed monogamy for the wild side. Don’t worry, we have penicillin and the pill, and if you need a little something to break down inhibitions—well go ahead and take a Quaalude—and if you want to go all night long, put some of that powerful white powder up your nose and on your dick. We had pregnancy, disease, and inhibitions under control. So come on down to 54—where anything goes!

  Studio 54 didn’t force people to make choices and set priorities. The voice within us did. Do I stay, or do I go? It was as simple as that. Do I leave now? It’s 2:00 a.m. and I have an important meeting in the office at 9:00 a.m. or do I stay and do another hit and dance another dance? It wasn’t easy. People were reluctant to say goodnight. They didn’t want to leave, miss out on something, and then, God forbid, hear or read about in the newspaper the next morning. Studio 54 was at the center of the universe—and like I said before—it had the power to suck you in, chew you up, and spit you out.

  No one could possibly take credit for the success of Diane von Fürstenberg and her creation, the iconic wrap dress, but Diane. Appearing on the cover of Newsweek magazine in 1976, she was referred to as “the most marketable woman since Coco Chanel.” Diane partied hard at Studio 54 almost from day one in 1977 but she managed to maintain a balance in her life that protected her from falling. She was a regular on Page Six of the New York Post and her picture appeared often on the pages of People and the New York Daily News. This provided her with a unique vehicle to become an even more relevant and vital force in fashion to generations of younger women. Diane worked the Studio 54 effect—it was a positive in her life.

  Today, there are Carolina Herrera boutiques all over the world, yet she wasn’t raised for business. In 1968 she married Reinaldo Herrera, a friend she had known since childhood, and entered a social circle of jet-setters that included Princess Margaret—sister to the Queen of England—Andy Warhol, and Mick Jagger. She dressed and carried herself with a blend of classic formality and Latin theatricality, appearing on the International Best Dressed List for the first time in 1972. Then, in 1977, Carolina had another venue in which to shine–Studio 54. She and Reinaldo were often photographed with Halston, Calvin, Bianca, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.

  Carolina had been toying with the idea of designing a fabric line, but then in 1980, her friend, Diana Vreeland, editor of Vogue, suggested Carolina create a line of dresses instead. She went for it and since then has gone on to design for Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Renée Zellweger, Caroline Kennedy, Shakira, Salma Hayek, and many others. Carolina and Reinaldo partied often at Studio 54 over the years and I believe they would both agree that Studio provided an adventure for them and was a positive effect in their lives.

  Halston’s designs for women were a huge success in the world of fashion long before Studio 54 ever opened. His designs for high-profile women like Jacqueline Kennedy, who wore his pillbox hat to JFK’s inauguration, were famous. He was recognized for having dressed Babe Paley, Anjelica Huston, Gene Tierney, Lauren Bacall, Margaux Hemingway, and Elizabeth Taylor out of his Madison Avenue b
outique. In February of 1977, Halston unveiled his uniform design for Braniff International Airways stewardesses to critical acclaim. He then designed the uniforms for the New York Police Department, Girl Scouts of America, Avis Rent a Car, and the 1976 US Olympic Team for the Summer Olympics in Montreal. But when Studio 54 opened in April of 1977, photos of Halston with his slicked-back hair and movie star looks hanging out with Studio 54 regulars Liza, Bianca, Calvin, and Warhol and partying with stars like Jack Nicholson, Cher, and Rod Stewart were seen everywhere. Halston was well-known before 1977, but Studio 54 launched him into the upper stratosphere of “supermarket chic” and “trailer-park cool.”

  Halston died in 1990 from an AIDS-defined illness. He worked the Studio 54 Effect whenever he chose to.

  In the early 1970s Bianca Jagger was well known as Mick Jagger’s wife. But it wasn’t until her well-documented nights of partying at Studio 54 in the late 1970s that Bianca Jagger was referred to as Bianca. It was reported that “nothing got started officially at Studio 54” until the Queen Bee arrived. She was referred to as such long before Beyoncé. That’s when her star really began to rise. From then on Bianca was perceived to be her own woman, an international jet-setter hanging out with her close friends Andy Warhol and Halston. Bianca’s image was everywhere. She was exotic and photogenic. She was a true fashionista: every designer wanted to dress her. The now iconic photo of Bianca riding into Studio 54 on a white horse in celebration of her thirtieth birthday was seen in publications around the world. She was not only desirable, but intelligent, having earned a scholarship to study political science at The Paris Institute of Political Studies.