Documentarian Marc Saltarelli & Gay Icon Bruce Vilanch (Studio One Forever): "Think Mark Zuckerberg With An Afro and a Large Penis"

Show Notes

Dennis is joined via Zoom by Marc Saltarelli, the director of the new documentary Studio One Forever, about the legendary Weho disco Studio One. Dennis is also joined by writer-performer Bruce Vilanch, who appears in the film and was a regular at the club back in the day. The pair discuss the colorful and sometimes controversial history of the club, the club's treacherous back stairs, and how Studio One is often thought of as a rip-off of Studio 54 but it's actually the other way around. They also talk about the club's founder Scott Forbes whose vision didn't always include people who didn't look like him, like women and people of color. They also talk about the early AIDS benefits that happened in the Backlot cabaret space. One of these was headlined by Joan Rivers and caused such controversy at the time that her family received death threats. But the show went on! Other topics include: the treasure trove of Studio One photos that was discovered in a most unlikely place, the courage it took gay men of the era to line up on Robertson Boulevard to get in and the songs that always remind Bruce and Marc of Studio One.

https://www.facebook.com/studiooneforever/