Results tagged “theroxy”

Could the Roxy rise from the ashes of a troubled night club scene? Last year the famed club shut down to the disappointment of many, all echoing the "end of an era" sentiment. They originally opened as a roller skating rink and roller disco in the 70s, later transforming into a popular gay dance club. To make matters worse, the word on the street was that a developer would be turning the space, at 515 West 18th Street, into dreaded condos. Now amNewYork has gotten word that rumors of Roxy's untimely end were exaggerated, and "the owners will be appearing before the business license and permits committee of CB4" in an effort to re-open.

On the night Lily Allen played her first post-bloghype show in New York, the ad wizards at Live Nation decided to officially rename the place The Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza and drop some fake pseudo-hippie nostalgia to an already otherwise storied venue. It's an embarrassing and senseless stunt thought up by past their prime marketers in an attempt to make a consistent nationwide brand under the Live Nation umbrella. Irving Plaza is, and has been for a while, often the first step for a band that has grown out of its grassroots support and has begun its assault on the mainstream. So while the name change is really just that, it's another clear-cut sign that the homogenization of the New York rock scene in full effect. Any band playing at this new Fillmore now holds an even greater disconnect from the local scene that likely helped get them where they are in the first place. We hope the larger VIP section is worth it.

THEATER: At the end of December 2003, with her daughter in an induced-coma brought on by septic shock from a fatal bout with pneumonia, Joan Didion’s husband John Gregory Dunne unexpectedly died during dinner. Her struggle to navigate the subsequent minefields of grief formed the basis for her best-selling memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking. She’s now adapted the book into a one-woman play of the same name, directed by David Hare and starring Vanessa Redgrave. (Photo of Didion and her late husband.) - John Del Signore

March 10th marked the last day The Roxy would open its doors. The club shut down after years of being a mainstay, especially in the gay nightlife scene. The Roxy was a rite of passage for many gay New Yorkers, and according to New York Blade writer Matt Kalkhoff, "an essential stop on any gay tourist’s agenda.”

READING: READINGS: Looks like literary talent might just be genetic - 26-year-old Owen King, son of best-selling spookmaster Stephen King, has a collection of a novella and short stories out and is reading tonight at the Astor Place Barnes & Noble. We're All in This Together has been called "compelling" and "imaginative", and having a famous father can't hurt, right? - Krissa Corbett Cavouras

Happy Fat Tuesday! To help you celebrate it up here LIFEbeat Presents the Manhattan Mardi Gras. The proceeds will go to NO/AIDS Task Force. The New Orleans based AIDS service organization was virtually wiped out by hurricane Katrina. So even if we're in the Big Apple, we can help out the Big Easy.