Video: Scott Coulter Is Bringing Disco Home to 54 Below

Welcome to Backstage with Richard

Ridge, one of 54 Below's most popular evenings has now been made a monthly event

Turn the beat around, 54 Below celebrates Studio 54. Dance the night away on the first Wednesday of every month as you relive the glory and

the decadence that was the legendary Studio 54, featuring a full band and some of New

York's most acclaimed singers. They roll out the dance floor for this occasion and have partnered with Emmanuel Pierre Antoine

Dance Studio. All 7 p.m. shows feature a dance lesson prior to the show, so put on your best disco outfits

and arrive early. This fabulous evening is produced and directed by my guest

Please welcome Scott Coulter. Hi there. How are you, my friend? I'm doing very well

How about you? Did I pronounce the dance studio properly? You did

Emmanuel Pierre-Antoine. Yes. I love it. So listen, first off, how are you and where are you

I'm doing really well. I'm actually at my house in New York City. getting, you know, practicing my disco moves. I've got my most disco t-shirt on. This is a

stormtrooper from Star Wars, which sort of coincides with the disco period. So although

I look kind of underdressed, there's a reason for it. I totally get it. So I've got my night

at Studio 54. So just so you know, my husband Preston and I, we lived at Studio 54 during the

Steve Rebell, Ian Schrager days. We used to go Sunday nights, Monday nights, and Thursdays

every Halloween and New Year's Eve. So I could tell you stories, my friend

There'll never be a better place than Studio 54, and there'll not be a better place than 54 Below

which is literally the basement where we spent many an evening at 54

Well, I should be interviewing you. I want to know what went on in that basement

a studio that's legendary, what went on down in that basement. It's legendary, and now it's a stunning nightclub supper club

And they just received a fabulous Tony Award honor, which is so well deserved

You know, I call it Broadway's premier supper club and Broadway's living room

So first of all, congratulations on Turn the Beat Around. 54 celebrates, 54 Below celebrates Studio 54

How excited are you to be presenting this evening? You know what

It's really, it's kind of a dream come true. I was a couple of years after, 54 Below has been here for over a decade now, which is hard to believe

but a couple of years after it opened I was approached to become a director of original

programming for the club meaning I would create content for them and one of the very first ideas

I pitched was this night was a night saluting the legendary space that we happen to be inhabiting

and so we've actually been doing it for about eight years like sporadically here and there

um but we did it last summer and it's so much fun that Richard Frankel said you know what this

should be a monthly event. And, you know, God love him, true to his word, now it is a monthly event

And it's really thrilling because it, you know, a lot of the 54 Below regulars are there, but it's

also bringing in a brand new audience that doesn't know the club at all. And they get to discover

this beautiful jewel box of a room in the, you know, the heart of New York City, sort of downstairs

where all this sort of magical stuff happens. And this show has been a real gift to everybody

involved. Everybody loves to do it. We're going to rotate the cast, which is great, but everybody's

upset because they want to do every one. It's so much fun. It really, it's a nonstop dance party

And one thing that they've added for this monthly run is, as you mentioned, Emmanuel Pierre Antoine

Dance Studio is going to teach a dance class for anybody that wants to take, you don't have to take

it. It's not mandatory, but it's just, you know, teach some people the hustle and a couple of

you know, special moves so they won't feel intimidated when they get on the dance floor

But unlike any other show at 54 Below, once the music starts at seven o'clock, it does not stop

until, you know, about 820. Well, actually it stops twice. It stops for two brief periods

because it's three different disco sets all at the same beat. That was part of what made disco

so great is everything sort of ran at the same beat that you could dance to. You know, they say

if you have to do CPR, you should do it to the beat of staying alive. Well, so this has three

different tempo sections and it gets it ramps up through the night it's really cool Michael Holland

who did the arrangements did a phenomenal job because when I had the idea I said you know I

if we're going to do this it needs to be like a disco playlist it needs to be non-stop one song

segue into the other and it really it has just become like the greatest party in town

okay so take me back so when guests enter okay at seven o'clock like I mean because I go to the

club all the time. I mean, the tables are beautiful. So what a dance floor goes in

tell us how the evening works. So right in front of the stage, they, they bring in a

they don't just move the tables, they move the tables and bring in a dance floor, which is

awesome. And so people are seated sort of around the periphery of the dance floor

which is in front of the stage and right at seven o'clock, it starts with you hear a little bit

of the intro to MacArthur park, right into disco Inferno and we're off and running

and January was the first time that we that we've done it where they had the dance lesson before and

the minute the music started everybody was up in the past it would take like a song or two for

people to feel like they could stand up but now it's instant and we couldn't get them to sit down

it was really really really fun and you know everybody goes all out people dress up there's

a costume contest if you win the costume contest you get two free tickets to a future 54 below

performance and a $100 food and drink voucher, which is awesome. So, I mean, some night I'm going

to step out of the show and dress up and win that prize because that's a big, that's a nice gift

Oh, that's an incredible gift. I think I'm going to pull my old wedgie dancing shoes out of there

and find some disco outfit. That's a great deal. I mean, two tickets to another show

and a $100 voucher. That's an incredible other evening at 54 below. So, all right. So let's just

talking about so the hustle i mean what are some of the wonderful steps they teach well i i okay so

in all fairness the first month i was upstairs with the cast putting the finishing touches on

things because the day of our show four people called out sick with covid so i was like what so we all sort of scrambled and we been doing this show so long we can all sing everything So we sort of reassigned parts

So I missed, I know they teach the hustle. I'm not sure what else they teach. But the night is

really a free form night. I've seen some people make comments like, oh, I don't want it to be like

a structured dance night. It's not a structured dance night at all. That's just a fun, a fun sort

a gift to you to teach you one dance step if you don't know any. But clearly, you know them all

So perhaps you should start coming to teach the 930 dance class. There's not one currently

but you'd be an excellent, excellent person to handle that. You know, that's really funny because

you know, just I'm sure the young kids now all look back, like all my niece and nephews are all

like, oh, Uncle Richard, I wish I was able to have gone to Studio 54 or learn those incredible

dance steps. But it's just a free for all. That's the great thing about disco. You can move any way

you want to go as long as you keep beat to the music or even if you don't just move a leg move

a hip move an arm do whatever I mean that's right besides Broadway show tunes and soundtracks

disco is my life just so you know no I believe it and I understand that because disco is

it's just a joyous celebration which is what show tunes generally are as well

and like musical theater like Broadway cast albums disco is is a is a finite thing

Like if you were to do the music of the 90s, that means something different to everyone who was alive in the 90s or the music of the 80s

There were so many different genres, but disco was such a short, finite period that those songs sort of live in a moment in time

And so every generation since then knows the same disco songs and loves them

So everybody, all ages are on the dance floor, you know, living their best life to this music that brings us all together

let's talk about some of the incredible songs that you are having this set I mean there are

so many incredible disco songs that everyone's going to be like oh my god I know that song I

play it in the car right well I mean my personal favorite is the the number one song from the queen

of disco which we say to the audience the queen of disco is and they all say Donna Summer and I

say not Donna Summer because she actually doesn't hold the title the woman who actually holds the

title as the queen of disco is from Newark, New Jersey, and that's Gloria Gaynor. I Will Survive

is that song, which has a very special place in music history. It was the first song

the first disco song. It was the first song to win a Grammy award for best disco song

It was also the last song to win a Grammy award for best disco song because it was a one-year

category. By the time the Grammys got on board with disco, disco was over. And that song really

speaks to what made disco so great. While a lot of the songs are about, you know, I feel love or

YMCA, what can happen at the gym? Like there's a lot of sex and disco and a lot of, you know

but I Will Survive is about empowerment and just claiming you're good for yourself and standing up

and being a survivor. So to see that whole room of people singing along to that, each one of whom

listen, if you're in New York City, you're a survivor. You have some sort of survivor story

So to see that whole room singing along to I Will Survive is really, really thrilling. To see the whole room doing the arms to YMCA. It's like, I mean, is there another song? Maybe the Macarena, which I couldn't do, but I can think of anything else where it's so simple and so thrilling and just joyous. I keep using that word, but that's really what disco is

so i can only imagine because i've known people who have gone to this and i've spoken to them and

said it's one of the best nights they have ever spent out was going to this event at 54 below

some of them were old enough to have gone and danced in discos and some brought like you know

their their you know their their kids or just friends of theirs who are like oh my gosh it was

so much fun it's so freeing yeah well the first i remember the first time we did it i we get a wide

variety of audiences, but the first time the audience was on the, was on the older side

And I remember thinking, Hmm, is this going to work? And it was like magic because disco is

almost 50 years old. Um, I mean, it started like around 75, 76 is when it really kicked in. So

we're almost at the 50 year mark. So the people that were dancing, you know, if you were 20 years

old in 1970, you're now, you know, 70. So it really, it's, it, it, that's what's so great about

it's a night filled with music but also memories of of of your youth or of your past or of your

best friends or whatever it's it's it's a moment in this particular time that we're all together

in the club but it's also a moment in each individual person's own time and it's really

sort of a you know it's like I don't it's not a wedding band and it's not like a wedding but when

you go to a wedding and everybody's dancing but when they put the disco on everybody at the wedding

gets up. It's the one genre that everybody sort of, you know, feels free to express themselves to

So it's been really, really, really fun. Okay. So you have an incredible band. That's amazing

I mean, how many pieces has it changed? I mean, it's five pieces. We have Michael Holland

who's our music director, musical arranger on piano. Larry Lely is almost always on the drums

Matt Scharf Glass is almost always on the bass. We have a couple of different guitar players. The

last time was Micah Burgess. And on saxophone, flute and clarinet, it's usually Jeremy Clayton

but last time was Sam Dillon. So it's a five piece band. I mean, it sounds incredible. I mean

it sounds like, holy, I can't believe this is happening. It's really just, it's thrilling

And the audience is singing along. I mean, it's a party. I mean, it just, it really is a party

And it's so much fun. I know that sounds so stupid and simple, but that's what we need now

We need fun. I know this evening offers that for absolutely everybody. And you have an incredible lineup of singers, right

So everybody sings different songs during the night. We do. Like, it just keeps rotating

It's like you turn the radio on and it's one song after the other and nobody gets introduced

They just come and go and they come back in and come back out and they cover each other

And, you know, you just spoke to something very important. You said we need to have fun

And that was kind of the thing about the disco period. It was right after the turbulent 60s and all that went on there

and it was right before the AIDS crisis. So it was a window when America was just about having fun

when having fun was sort of the escape that everyone needed and still needs. So yes, it has

an incredible cast And as I said it going to rotate But the next month we have Hamilton star Blaine Alden Krause is going to be with us before he goes back on tour as Burr We have Anthony Murphy from Aladdin and Diana

We have Jessica Hendy, who is like one of the legendary belters of our time

Kelly Rapke, Lorena Lasitza, like a whole host of people. And it's sort of an embarrassment of riches to think that you'd get to see one of these

people in a night, but to see all of them really at the top of their game, just like

shredding these disco songs. I mean, it's just, it's thrilling. Do they get dressed up too

with their best disco wear? Oh, they do. Everybody has disco wear. In fact, I wear

this suit, but then I, you know, this is my big disco move, is this

Oh, I like that. Right? Yeah. So that sort of makes everything work. And they don't think, who is this

old guy up there? Like, it sort of like takes all the years away. It's like, what's going on behind

what's going on in that man's eyes? He lived through the disco era. Right

No, but it's like the greatest thing for us, and we used to go to Studio 54, is you let all your inhibitions go at the door

And that's the great thing about having this done. I mean, this is a no-brainer when you came up with this idea

Let's do this at 54 Below, which is the basement, which was legendary, right below the most famous disco of all time, Studio 54

So just people being at this event that you put together must make them feel like they're a part of history that happened in this building

And they're standing in the same place where the likes of Liza Minnelli, Mick Jagger, Baryshnikov, everybody was down there

Halston, Calvin Klein, everybody was there. Cher. And you. And you. I was

Yeah. Spent a lot of time in that basement, believe me. And you could hear the music

But I mean, just the history of the building and how beautiful the club is now

I mean, when you walk through the doors of 54 Below, you go down that beautiful staircase

and you're going into a whole other time. Right. You know, you must know that as, you know, as a producer and a director, like, you know

you open that door, you know, right next to the old marquee of Studio 54 and you walk

into that building and there's such a history there. Right. Yeah, absolutely

And there's still like 54 Below still has a little velvet rope out there

You still kind of have to every night, not just for us, but every night, like old Studio

54 used to have, which is so cool. and another thing of you know you mentioned the history of the room which we go into a little bit

in the show as i said the music does stop briefly twice during the night and we give a little bit

of history and like what happened in this room and like the legendary things that people that

were there and things that went on but the thing that i think is most shocking to me about the show

and the need for this show is there's nowhere to dance in new york city anymore like even when i

moved here in the early 90s there were dance clubs all over you could go dancing every night if you

wanted. And now, I mean, they may exist, but I don't know about them. And they're not prominently

advertised or talked about. So this is really a chance for people to sort of experience not just

what Studio 54 was, but what New York City used to be. You used to be able to go out all night long

with your friends and dance and just throw caution to the wind and have a great time

and revel in each other, being with each other, but also just sharing this great music

I had goosebumps of just you saying that. But like I said, the perfect combination of 54 Below and Studio 54, totally a no-brainer

And if you have to take the elevator down, I'm going to tell guests, if you can't do the stairs

you go into the Studio 54 building and right in the lobby is this fabulous Studio 54 sign that says 54 building

I mean, that's history, too. I mean, that's an amazing, you know, take the elevator down

Now, let's talk about costumes of the people that come there. I mean, like you said, you win two tickets to another show at 54 Below and a $100 voucher

I mean, I'm sure people are putting on their full disco way to come to this thing, right

They should. I mean, I'm going to take a little walk with you

Sorry. I should have had this ready. I didn't think we would talk about costumes, but we did

But there was a fabulous woman at the last show named Lila. She was at the 930 show

She danced the whole time. She was fabulous. she was like i want to take you home and i was like my husband would not stand for that

but she had this fabulous hat and she put it on my head at one point right i mean come on

look at this oh is that a look is that a look i mean that's a look so i'm gonna that is grace

jones right michael jackson at studio 54 all self-pessages google pictures from there and i

guarantee you they will see that hat with somebody wearing a hat just that's that it's fabulous she

gave it to me she just gave it to me she had such a great time she said it's yours take it keep it

so it's going to become a part of the show but people go all out I mean it's really because it's

it's like I said you don't get to go dancing anymore so you don't get to embrace sort of this

you know anything goes sort of freedom vibe and dance like disco and um you know sort of let loose

So it's really, it's a party, but it's more than that. It's kind of a, it's a release actually

which I think we, as we've spoken to, we all really need right now after being pent up for so many years in our homes

and afraid to go out. And listen, you can, 54 Below has very strict COVID policy

with their performers. We all have to prove test and, which is great

because they take care of everybody. And you can be on the dance floor with a mask if you want

You can be on the dance floor without a mask. Like you can feel free to be whatever you want down there

And it's just really, you know, I hope you're coming. Are you coming

Oh, I'm coming. It's one of the safest environments, just so audiences that are watching 54 Below takes

their COVID very seriously. And like I said, it's a very safe place to sit and feel comfortable and people can still

order drinks all night and order food and everything else, right? Yes

You can have, you can eat throughout the show. You can come early and have dinner. You're going to eat throughout the show

People eat people. Some people just sit and observe. You don't have to dance, but it really is. It's, you know, there's no judgment in this room. And

which is why everybody gets up because it's just fun to flail around. You know, if you think you're

not a dancer, like, oh, my husband's not a dancer. Yes, he is. When the disco music starts, if you

can get him up there, he's going to, everybody has the best time, which is why people have come back

again and again. Which is why we're really hoping that this, this, this, this one once a month thing

really, really takes off. Yeah. I mean, the food there is superb. So like I said

the chef's menu there is absolutely gorgeous. And the drinks are gorgeous. I mean, they are

I know there's a name for people that do that, that shake drinks there, the staff at 54 Below

is so wonderful. And like I said, they mix these, I'm sure you have disco drinks on your

on this Wednesday night right We had they have a special disco drink for this night specifically made for this night And you know people are downing them I telling you because it hard work to disco you know work up the sweat you got to keep drinking The staff at 54 Below is one of the great staffs of the world

Just from top to bottom, from the owners to Jen Tepper, who books it to the sound and light people

to the maitre d', the host, the hostess, the bar staff, the wait staff, the people in the kitchen

the kitchen comes out i mean it's so you can see the whole kitchen like peering out like dancing

in the doorway um and as soon as they're you know you know let go they sort of come join the party

too um it's a real it feels like a family party you know the big disco song we are family is

actually not in the show but the last time i thought you know we should add that because

that's kind of what it feels like in the basement it feels like a family like which is like the

great thing about New York City in general, it's made up of people who came from around different

parts of the world to find their family. And I think it still was a big part of that. That period

in time was about a lot of people, you know, finding and feeling free with their own, with

their newfound family. So I thought we should add that song. That's one that it needs

See, that's what you could do. There's so many wonderful disco songs during the time period

like, oh, for the next, next, next month, we'll add this song. And what are some of your favorite songs that are a part of the evening, Scott? Well, I know I stopped talking about it. I got started

and then I stopped. But I mentioned I Will Survive and YMCA. But a song that I wasn't terribly

familiar with, but I knew, but now I love is Boogie Oogie Oogie. Get on up on the floor. It's such a

it's like an invitation. It's one of those moments where people just, and they, to see people

there are people that know every word to every song, obviously. But that one is sort of a really

really fun thing to watch because in my mind it was one of the lesser it was one of my lesser

known disco songs that's a great one um disco inferno is fantastic ymca is fantastic um it's

raining men um closes the show which is sort of the very tail end of disco it was actually after

the studio 54 days but we've included it because it's such a great crowd pleaser the minute that

intro starts, anyone that's not already up is on the floor. And what I think is so great about that

song, besides just being such a fun song, is it was written by Paul Jabara, who wrote a bunch of

disco hits for Donna Summer, but it was co-written with Paul Schaefer, who most people know from The

Late Show or Late Night with David Letterman, and don't realize what a great songwriter he was

and that one of the, you know, classic disco songs is actually his. So he's on my list to call and

invite i love paul he's been he's been so supportive over the years so i hope we can get

him down there and and maybe even play one night that'd be so awesome if he jumped up and and did

you know play this rain and then with us but that's in there of course the last song of the

night um i said you know it's time for the last song and they all shout out the title i was like

i know i know what it is like there's only one last night last called disco song which of course

is last dance um so that's a great party a lot of the songs it's interesting they start slow we

there's a we do enough is enough no more tears the barbara streis and donna summer do it which

starts like it's raining and then the beat kicks in um i will survive starts kind of slow and the

beat kicks in um uh it's raining it's raining minutes beat the whole time but last dance starts

slow and the beat kicks in so there's a it's it's interesting how there was sort of a you know later

on in disco there was like a form like they sort of like you know make you wait for it sort of thing

like it started you know the beat's coming but you got to wait and it's it's sort of fun to see

that anticipatory feeling ripple throughout the crowd oh and turn the beat around of course is in

there what a great song is that vicky sue robinson i mean i know a lot of younger people know it from

when the gloria stephan and uh recovered it but vicky sue robinson that original recording it's

just it's magic i mean it's just it's electrifying no it's funny there's the verse to a lot of these

disco songs is that verse would you say it's slow and then you hear the bump bump bump that

just blows the roof off the place. Right, right, right. So my final question is to you

what do you enjoy the most about this night? Well, I mentioned the sense of family. And I

think that there's family in the room, but also family on the stage. I mean, a lot of these people

we've known each other for a long time. And they're, you know, some of the most successful

people in their individual fields and musical genres. And just to get to come together, every

time we come together, it really feels like a love fest. It's a celebration for us as much as

it is for the audience. And like I said, nobody wants, it's the one time I make a call and everybody's

like, yes, whatever I had to do, I'll clear my calendar to be there and sing because it's such a

it's a gift to be together on the stage. And it's a gift to give this evening to the people in the

room. And I think that's what's the most fun about it is that it really feels like everybody

walks away, having had a really, really wonderful experience. And it's nice in life when you get to

be a part of an evening like that. But it's just, again, about joy. Yeah. So it's the first Wednesday

of every month? Every month at 7 and 9.30. Oh, so you have the whole night? The whole night

We do it twice. It's tiring. It's exhausting. It's a great workout. You get your disco workout

like this is your monthly why do you look so good i do my disco workout at 54 below that's right i

love that there's two shows and people can buy and have a chicken and stay the whole night right yeah and what the first last month there was a table of 16 people that came to the seven o'clock

and stayed for the 9 30 because once you're out and dancing you don't want to go home so yeah

oh that's that's really incredible so everyone watching once again one of 54 below's most

popular evenings has now become a monthly event called Turn the Beat Around, 54 Below

Celebrate Studio 54. You'll dance the night away on the first Wednesday of every month as you

relive the glory and decadence that was the legendary Studio 54, featuring a full band and

some of New York's most acclaimed singers. And the 7 o'clock show has a partner with the Emmanuel

Pierre Antoine Dance Studio. That's incredible. So people want to learn like professional dance

steps for the night. That's pretty incredible stuff. And you might even win a prize for best

stress. So for tickets, go to 54below.com. Scott, this has been great catching up with you

my friend. Great seeing you. Thanks for having me