I just watched 54 movie on the FX network this morning with Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Mike Myers, Neve Campbell(this girl is hot and i love her.). I've seen the movie before but i watched it again today because i liked it. I know the movie is a true story about 70's disco club Studio 54 in New York. Steve Rubell who owned the club, is it true that he was gay? I know another white guy owned the club with Steve. I saw in the movie that the club got shut down for a minute because Steve owed the IRS money. Why didn't he pay his taxes? I don't like people who try to scheme on the government and not pay their taxes. At the end of the movie, it said Steve died in 1989 at 45 years old. What did he die of? I also heard that some gays and people were doing drugs at the club. Is the club still in New York and is it used as a tourist attraction? Or has somebody else taken over the club and renamed it?

I believe that VH1 or E! did a special on Studio 54. There have been some books written about the disco scene at 54.

From what I've read and seen, it was pretty wild at 54. People were doing drugs in the back room (lotsa cocaine) and having sex in the bathrooms.

Rubell officially died of hepatitis in 1989, but he was suffering from AIDS and his continued drug use worsened his condition.

The club is used as a Broadway theatre since 1998, several plays have staged there.

As a native New Yorker I know some things about the place.. it has a long history.

The building was used for many purposes throughout the years. Originally it was an opera house in 1927 and then CBS used it as a studio from 1942 to around 1977.

Today it is owned and operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company as a theater since 1998.



The club opened in 1977 and drugs and public sexual encounters were common in the place. They were raided a couple of times for issues with their liquor license.

After various legal issues throughout its opening, such as tax evasion, obstruction, drugs, the original club closed in February 1980.



In the early 80s it was reopened mainly as a concert venue with Madonna and the like performing there. The lease expired in 1988 and this version closed.



In 1989 the rock venue The Ritz moved into the Studio 54 location holding more live concerts until 1994.

There was also a brief attempt at a revival of the club with "Cabaret Royale at Studio 54" that was open from 1994-1996. They went bankrupt.



Then in 1998 Broadway needed more space and to keep the play "Cabaret" going the Roundabout Theater Company agreed to use the former club as a theater and they've been there since.




One of the original co-owners Steve Lubell died in 1989 at 45 from hepatitus brought on by AIDS.

Thanks everybody for the information.

The only thing I can tell you is that I was one of those people that they never let in. I would go to the Copa Cabana and then after try to get in Studio 54.