The Limelight

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Deconsecrated church where the New York Limelight was situated

The Limelight is the name of a string of different nightclubs that were owned and operated by Peter Gatien: one in Miami, one in Atlanta, one in New York, and one in London.

Two were located in old churches: the one in New York and the one in London:

The first Limelight was opened in Miami in the 70s. When it burned to the ground in the late 70s, Peter Gatien turned to Atlanta for his next incarnation of Limelight.

The next Limelight was opened in Atlanta, Georgia in February 1980. It was housed in a strip mall in the former home of the Harlequin Dinner Theatre. In 1983, Gatien moved to New York to open another Limelight club, and his brother Maurice was given the reins of the Atlanta club. Maurice reportedly had less talent for the nightclub world than Peter. "Peter was the brains behind the operation," says house photographer and publicist Guy D'Alema. "Maurice ... didn't want to spend a dime and didn't have a creative bone in his body." The club was located next to a 24-hour Kroger's grocery store, which became known, affectionately, as "Disco Kroger." The official website of the Atlanta Limelight is www.LimelightAtlanta.com

The Limelight, London, was located in a former Welsh Presbyterian church that dates back to 1754 on Shaftesbury Avenue, just off Cambridge Circus. The club was owned by Peter Stringfellow and was popular in the 1980s. The club's decline in popularity led to its closure and takeover in 2003 by Australian pub chain 'The Walkabout' who have converted it into a sports bar.

The Limelight in New York, which was owned by Peter Gatien and designed by Ari Bahat, opened in November 1983. It was located in a former church on Sixth Avenue in an area once known as The Ladies' Mile, Manhattan, located east of Chelsea, and was a prominent place to hear techno, goth, and industrial music, and to obtain recreational drugs. It hit the news in 1996 when club and party promoter Michael Alig was arrested and later convicted for the killing and dismemberment of Angel Melendez, a Limelight-based drug dealer. The 2003 film Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin and Seth Green, was based on this event. The Limelight was closed by the police, but subsequently reopened several times during the 1990s. In September 2003, it reopened under the name "Avalon."

While Gatien's Limelight is no longer at the center of NY nightlife, many of the cadre of club kids continue to be quite active. Richie Rich, Kenny Kenny, Rik Parker, Amanda Lepore, Sophia Lamar, and many others from the Limelight, TWILO, and Tunnel era can be found hosting and promoting top parties in Manhattan.

See also: The Slimelight

[edit] Other, unrelated "Limelights"

The Limelight in Belfast, Northern Ireland is a bar/ music venue. It is part of the Limelight/Katy Dalys/Spring and Airbrake complex in the city. The Limelight, and its other music venue neighbours have a reputation of being the place to see bands play in the city before they become "big". "The Limelight" in Belfast is however , unrelated to any of the "Limelights" above. The band "Oasis" played the small venue on September 4th 1994, and according to many local people, the band received a phone call saying that their album "Definitley Maybe" had reached number one in the UK album charts, shortly before the band cut their gig short and ran out of the venue to celebrate. Other sources claim the album did not reach number one until the dayafter. Noel Gallagher has commented on the venue:

"The Limelight is now part of our heritage,". "There was a great buzz when the owner Eamonn McCann informed me we had hit the No 1 spot that night in '94. I'll always remember this place with affection. We had a party that night and the audience joined in. That was the start of our success story."