INSTALLATION VIEW , STUDIO 54 : NIGHT MAGIC , ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO / PHOTO : AGO INSTALLATION VIEW , STUDIO 54 : NIGHT MAGIC , ART GALLERY OF ONTARIO / PHOTO : AGO
SOFT PURPLE AND RED DELIVER A SIGNATURE STUDIO 54 LOOK
MORE THAN 500 STUDIO 54 ARTIFACTS ARE ON DISPLAY
everybody was supposed to see when that curtain opened , the show would start and it would be a 10- or 15-minute show , depending on the performance . Ian was often the director in terms of what time that was going to happen , kind of at the height of the party .”
In terms of the actual lighting and installations in the club , Mathiesen ’ s first revelation is a rather surprising one given that this was the greatest disco of all time : “ We were not allowed to use mirror balls .” He cites Schrager ’ s progressive ideas for what discos should be for this policy , explaining ; “ Ian ’ s thing was , ‘ That was discos then , this is a new thing we have ’” in reference to the club ’ s lighting , which was a little bit more involved than a mere disco ball or two .
There was , however , a single exception to this rule : Studio 54 ’ s first anniversary , punctuated by a fashion show by Japanese designer Issey Miyake , for which Mark Kruger handled lighting design and Mathiesen was the stage manager . “ Other than that , we weren ’ t allowed to have mirror balls .” What they did have on offer , though , was much more impressive .
“ There was a series of red and yellow , 16-foot-tall poles . There were three poles on
four pipes ; two of the pipes were operated upstage from the fly rail with a counterweight system , and the two pipes downstage of the proscenium , which were motorized . That was kind of the main lighting effect .” He also mentions a cyclorama at the back of the stage with colour washes thrown onto it , and the infamous Studio 54 moon and spoon . “ We had a scenic piece that was about an eight-foot diameter sliver of a moon with a face in it , and a big coke spoon that was about eight feet long . And the two of them would start on opposite ends of the site , flying in on a traveller track .” As they would converge in the middle , the two pieces would then interlock with one another .
“ It was fun . And the spoon was sparkling with ‘ cocaine .’ When the spoon landed under the moon ’ s nose at centre stage , a line of lights would shoot up the nose and the eyes would turn red . At that point , we ’ d dump snow on the audience from a snow bag or shoot it out of air cannons , we ’ d dump dry ice and make fog , we dumped glitter some nights , we ’ d shoot off air cannons loaded with nerf balls with the 54 logo on them ,” he recounts .“ And you know , we ’ d do that three , or four , or five times a night ,” Mathiesen recounts .
With dastardly and imaginative theatrics such as these , the etymology of the club ’ s reputation is made rather plain ; if the moon itself showed up to party , you ’ d better have as well .
While Mathiesen and the fly crew would be occupied with launching all manners of faux-precipitation from the rafters , or sending scenery around the joint , the lighting jockey would handle the accompanying looks . “ He ’ d be cycling through all the different lighting effects that the red and yellow chase poles did . Hundreds of light bulbs .” The feature chase poles were augmented by a variety of other light sources as well , including the venue ’ s theatre lighting and overhead strip lights that would alter the colour of the dancefloor itself , as well as the various scenery being flown in and out . To keep the show rolling , Mathiesen , the lighting jockey , and the electrician would keep a constant line of communication on intercom headsets .
As far as the chase poles themselves , they were one of the few automated pieces of lighting tech that were in the venue ’ s employ . “ We didn ’ t have any Vari-Lites , we didn ’ t have any MAC 250s , the only automated fixture we had was a Mars 888 , which was a light that used to be on the front of a fire engine . In terms of the disco lighting , we did have an electronic kind of black box the size of a bank safe with a bunch of old IC chips and diodes and breadboards ; that was kind of the brains of the chase pole lighting system .
“ Entire 16-foot poles that would light up just in red , then in yellow ; the lights could chase up and down , they could fill from the bottom going up , erase from the top going down , and you could circle the lights around the room , whatever .”
Mathiesen , of course , recalls the occasions when he would need to perform some doctoring on the black box , and the conversations with the system ’ s designer that would result . “ I would end up having to talk to him and say , ‘ Well , on the third pipe of the chase poles , the fourth yellow lamp on the stage left side is locked on and it looks bad .’” Lights staying on that aren ’ t meant to , especially during blackout sequences is obviously less than ideal , so Mathiesen would be tasked with cracking open the box with a screwdriver and performing electronic surgery to a symphony of pounding disco tunes and 700 people partying away .
“ He ’ d say , ‘ Get your meter out and go to the third breadboard , then go to the fourth IC chip from the left , and go to the third pin .’ I do that , and tell him ‘ Okay , it says 24 volts ’ or whatever , and he ’ d say ‘ That ’ s bad , you have to replace that chip .’” And so , he would ; rather often , he notes .
24 | Spring 2021