Studio 54 is one of the numerous transplants or homages that typify the Strip landscape, although after 14 years, the Las Vegas sequel to the New York original was around for so long that it was practically an institution in its own right, especially when it comes to the ever-changing merry-go-round of Sin City nightlife venues.
For those who don't know, from 1977 until 1986, Studio 54 was a cult disco located in what was originally the Gallo Opera House building at 254 West 54th Street in New York. It epitomized the disco era, with opening night attended by a list of celebrities that included Michael Jackson, Mick and Bianca Jagger, Liza Minnelli, Jerry Hall, Diana Vreeland, Halston, Margaux Hemingway, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Salvador Dalí, Francesco Scavullo, Janice Dickinson, Cher, Joan Collins, Martha Graham, Deborah Harry, Robin Leach, Donald and Ivana Trump, Rick Hilton, and Kathy Richards. The club's idiosyncratic door policy would become famous and on opening nights some huge names, including Frank Sinatra, Warren Beatty, Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, and Henry Winkler, were turned away.
At the zenith of the disco era, Studio 54 was arguably the most famous nightclub in the world; it grossed $7 million in its first year, which was a lot of money back in 1977. It also, not surprisingly, had a somewhat checkered history with repeated bankruptcies, a shut-down early on for liquor license violations, a notorious reputation for sex and drugs, and trouble later for money-skimming charges that saw owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager spend 13 months in jail for tax evasion.
The club finally closed February 4, 1980, with a star-studded party attended by the likes of Ryan O'Neal, Mariel Hemingway, Richard Gere, Gia Carangi, Jack Nicholson, Reggie Jackson, and Sylvester Stallone, at which Diana Ross personally serenaded Rubell and Schrager. It later reopened a couple of times, but closed for good in '95. It was the subject of a Miramax movie titled, simply, 54, which starred Ryan Phillippe, Mike Myers, and Neve Campbell.
Interestingly, as we were writing this answer, it was announced that the basement of the original New York venue is currently being transformed into a 160-seat speakeasy-style cabaret and restaurant called 54 Below, set to open this spring, with a roster of Broadway names already signed up to entertain.
The Studio 54 name was franchised to a number of other clubs, including the Las Vegas one at MGM Grand that opened 14 years ago and was designed to echo the original. In addition to the iconic Art Deco logo designed by Gilbert that followed the club to Las Vegas, Studio 54 was home to the world's most famous disco mirror ball. What happened to the original, we can't say (it's the kind of thing that would turn up at Lonnie Hammargren's house...), but we can confirm that the one in Las Vegas was not it. And as to the fate of the Vegas replica, all that's known so far is that it's going into storage, along with all the other Studio 54 memorabilia from the club.
Whether it will find a new home somewhere remains to be seen, but it's not unusual for iconic fixtures to survive the Vegas venues they were designed for. For example, check out the chandelier in Hooters casino, which was a hangover from the former San Remo deemed too cool to ditch, even though it's totally at odds with classic Hooters style. Or the giant armadillo "disco ball" that graced the former Armadillo Lounge at Texas Station and is now in Revolver country bar at Santa Fe Station. Only time will tell the fate of the ball...
