Joe Iconis, onstage for a Christmas Extravaganza at Feinstein’s/54 Below, described the venue’s crowd as “a thrilling mixture of musical theater nerds, old-time cabaret fans, tourists, intelligent artists, rich people and poor college students.”Credit...Jeenah Moon for The New York Times
Broadway’s Beloved Basement Club, Feinstein’s/54 Below, Turns 10 | The New York Times | By Elysa Gardner
On June 5, 2012, shortly after noon, a bevy of cabaret and theater artists and insiders gathered in a space beneath what had been the storied West 54th Street nightclub Studio 54. The occasion was a dress rehearsal for a show that evening that would open a new venue called, reasonably enough, 54 Below. Patti LuPone was the featured act, with other Broadway and nightlife luminaries, including Ben Vereen and Justin Vivian Bond, slated to appear soon afterward.
Joe Iconis, a young composer, lyricist and performer who was part of that initial lineup, recalled the event as “a coming out for the room itself.” The bar was separated from the stage and dining tables by a curtain, which was later opened, “so there was this dramatic reveal of the room, to the people who would soon be playing it.”