Tim Kashani built 54 Below in the former Studio 54 VIP room, transforming it into a cabaret venue for theater artists. Opening night was chaotic: the kitchen had no gas, but Patti LuPone's debut set the tone. Now it runs 18 shows a week and treats regulars like family.
Chapters
So we're here at 54 Below. It's located on 54th Street between 8th and Broadway. Below. Below. So it's in the— we call it the cellar of what used to be Studio 54. We've recreated this room into a place that we consider home for theatergoers and theater fans and, you know, the people who sort of run the industry of the theater. It's fantastic because we have 18 shows a week. They're all different. We've done— we've had artists from Patti LuPone to Annaleigh Ashford and probably everything in between. And this place was just past the idea. We were just at the point where, okay, we knew it was going to be called 54 Below. We knew that we, you know, that we wanted to create a home for actors and friends of the theater community to, you know, have their voice be heard in a different way. But we didn't really know much else at that point. We knew what it was going to look like, and then, yeah, just sort of, you know, so I was here during construction hat, you know, time. It must have been fun to see. It was, it was really fun.
Did you take pictures along the way?
No, no, because I mean, we wanted it to be— we wanted there to be a mystery behind this place. You know, the way, I mean, as you can see, the beauty of this place, it's, you know, I think walking down those stairs is a lot different than seeing the making of. And, you know, I know that's kind of a popular thing to do, but because of the brand we wanted to create, it just didn't work for this brand.
And for those that don't know, why don't you explain what this was in the day so that they know what it's turned into?
This used to be Studio. This used to be the VIP room of Studio 54 back in the heyday. I mean, you know, we've had numerous artists on the stage, Andrew McArdle being one of them, that, you know, sort of remember this room, but, you know, say that it was kind of difficult to remember because of all the craziness that was going on down here.
Sure.
Um, so yeah, that's— and, you know, it was a recording studio for a while, I've heard, in the '80s and '90s, but it really, you know, we sort of found this place. And the idea of 54 Below, the idea of this, you know, barn home for artists, was something that Richard Frankel, Tom Bertel, Steve Burschen, and Mark Roth were thinking about for a while. And it was just sort of kismet that it ended up in the basement of, you know, such an infamous landmark.
What was opening night like?
Terrifying, you know, because I— there was, you know, like in the theater world, you have an opening night date and that's what it's going to be. And, you know, we had already announced the artists and we said it was going to happen. And but this place is also a restaurant and none of us really, I think, fully grasped what that meant, you know. So when we opened our doors, you know, we had a soft opening with Jackie Hoffman, which was really fun to have her on the stage. And then you know, the official opening with Patti LuPone, which is, you know, such an amazing way to start something. But we didn't have gas, and we, you know, we had our liquor license, but we couldn't serve anything because if you don't have gas, then the kitchen doesn't work, you know. So we have this amazing chef that couldn't really cook anything, you know. So we were trying to figure out what that meant, you know, without half of what this place was. So yeah, I mean, it ended up being a kind of a magical night because, because of Patti LuPone. I have to say, she really, um, I think that was probably one of the best decisions we ever made, having such a superstar open our, our little home. And we don't, we don't call people customers or patrons. They're guests. And, you know, we want this to be their second home. So that was really important to us. And then the other part that was really important to us was that people discovered the the first time that they got here that this wasn't only a place to see your favorite artist, but this was a place that you could enjoy the full experience, that the food was gonna be excellent, that the drinks that you were being served were excellent, that the service was, you know, everybody that was involved knew you by name and understood your preferences. So all those things were, all those little details were extremely important and so different than doing a Broadway show because In a Broadway show, you want the audience to enjoy the experience, of course, but you're not worried about them coming back necessarily. Once you see a show, you usually see it once unless it's—
Or a second or third maybe, but it's not—
But it's not a continuous coming back. Almost 2 years later, we have created such a loyalty that we started Club 54, which is our new little loyalty program. We have people that have literally been here 200 times. Yeah, so it's, it's, it's a success so far, I think.
