Boston Natives Bring Vaudeville to Nightlife Scene With Theatre District’s STAGE
With its doorway wedged between Emerson College entrances and a bike storage room in a brick-lined alley, STAGE Nightclub might not be the place you would expect to spend your Saturday nights — but the outdoor facade is misleading.
The downtown Boston space has been completely transformed from the mechanical bull-adorned Liquor Store, into a Vaudevillian, prohibition-era lounge with a dance floor, four bars, and four stages.
The brainchild of business partners Russ deMariano and Ed Brooks (The Brahmin), and SJ Torres (Howl at the Moon, Down Ultra Lounge), STAGE could be what the Boston nightlife scene is missing.
“We thought Boston needed a little bit of a push, a little bit of something different. The nightlife I’ve seen here has been great, but it could be better — so how do you do that? It’s to do something like we’re doing here at STAGE,’’ deMariano said during a visit to the space.
The trio had a concept in mind for nearly a decade and was able to turn it into a firm plan after some traveling gave them inspiration.
“We stumbled upon an experience out on the West Coast, and the nightlife was kind of similar to what we’ve been thinking about. It was a little more circus-y than we wanted to be,’’ deMariano said. “And then we stumbled upon an experience in New York that was a little bit more risqué than we wanted to be — and then we figured we can maybe gel those two, and we can do it.’’
Brooks and deMariano left the creative planning to Torres, who thinks the performance elements will truly set STAGE apart from its downtown competitors.
Visitors of the club, which has a capacity of 520 people, will be treated to several rooms of entertainment, including the Library, a room which features a bar and leads to the main space — but only if a patron can find his or her way through a false bookcase door first.
Other spaces like the Copper Lounge, named for its copper-plated ceiling, and the Lyra Lounge, feature bars of their own, as well as performance spaces, seating, and dance areas.
STAGE, which had a soft open earlier this month, opens to the public for good on January 16.
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