GAIETY THEATER - GONE 20 YEARS...... RIP

[+ BOZO T CLOWN]

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Normally a day to drink and celebrate.  For the former patrons of the Gaiety Theatre, comme moi, March 17th is a sad day ☹️.
The Gaiety Theatre closed its doors for the final time on March 17th, 2005. Twenty years ago. And yes, it really does seem like yesterday.
"The G" as it was known to regular patrons like Bozo, was a victim of: the Disneyfication of Times Square, Giuliani zoning laws, and the advent of new technology which brought about sites like Grindr, Rentboy, etc. which, for many, made a trip to Times Square obsolete.
From a personal standpoint, Bozo spent his formative years as a young clown - a good deal of his adolescence - at the famed strip club on West 46th street and Broadway, between the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and Howard Johnson's Restaurant (the best clam strips in town!).
When the G was shut down by NYC authorities, never to return... Bozo shed a few tears. There will never be anything like it again.
Thanks so much to Denise and her sisters for providing us with so much joy and entertainment, and thanks to all of the boys (especially the Canadians) who danced there for the 27 years of the Gaiety's existence, and gave Bozo and others so much pleasure.
The theater may have closed, but the memories will remain forever.

BTC
🤡

 

        

Edited March 17 by BOZO T CLOWN

[LaffingBear]

Sad I never made it there.  I'm actually surprised I didn't.  I knew about.  I was in NY for work frequent 2000-2004, always added a weekend midtown,  saw broadway shows.  I wasn't nervous, as an SF bay resident and fairly frequent patron of NobHill Theater and Campus Theater.

I always felt some regret that I never experienced the place.

Perhaps those places don't match current/younger folks desires.  All of the SF places closed too.  

Edited March 17 by LaffingBear

[+ sync]

A great feature was the meet-and-greet area where one might hob-nob with the dancing delights.

[diehard_002]

Indeed, a one-stop shop for all your out-of-your-league dreams. 

Despite the so called technology 'advancements' in hooking up, the old fashioned way of just getting out, being there and having a good time beats most of my digital encounters.

[kingsley88]

I remember it was right next to BEAUTY & THE BEAST musical (Lunt-Fontanne theater) and you had to go up the stairs. I went back in 2004 for the first time and sat at the back since I was too nervous to sit front row. It was amazing. That meet/greet area was also very new to me at the time and of course everything was done in cash. I recall there was a bank of america ATM across the street.

I was never in the mailing list so I missed out on seeing the biggest gay pornstars strip at the Gaiety but the ones I saw were all very handsome muscle guys with big packages.

[Buff Daddy]

Bozo. Yes where has the time gone. My first time at the Gaiety was October of 1977. I remember looking around when i got in front of those famous stairs,  to make sure know body was watching and zipped my way upstairs.  I thought I entered Heaven.  Those days you could do privates with the dancers through a door on the right side.  No Pakistani were there watching you like a Hawk. I got to know  Denise and her Sister.  And the famous side room where you could talk with the dancers to set something up. Oh and the telephones that dancers made calls 📞  on. How ancient. Friday nights were packed. Just don't sit in the back if it was raining lol. The roof leaked and Denise had a bucket 🪣  to catch the water.  Before the Canadians arrived most of the dancers were local guys 👦.  Buffdaddy had a blast with a few of them. Glad I'm still around to remember.  

BTW.  Buffdaddy started the first all nude dancers event in NYC!. In the Month of July 2005. At a place called  13 Little Devils 😈.  On Orchid and Delancy Streets lower East Side..That's where I met Daniel Nardico who owns RedEye. We worked together then. And we are back working together again.  Love ❤️  you guys. 

[JckBNimble]

Gosh what a trip down memory lane. It's almost like I can still smell the inside of those walls! 

My first real job was in 2000 in Times Square and lord knows I would take many a lunch break at the Gaiety. I was a young, hung, 21 year old with an obsession for male dancers. I was way too shy and naive to ever talk to any of them, let alone hire one, but boy did it make the work day fly by.  Thank you @Buffdaddyfor keeping that spirit alive all these years later! 

[+ nycman]

Ahhh…the Gaiety!

Where I first met David angel wings and Enzo with the snake tattoo. 

Two beautiful (and kind) men who took a liking to a young and lustful nycMAN.

And the very first man I ever spoke to in the side room. An extremely handsome Italian muscle boy from Long Island who described to me at great length his ability to suck a golf ball through a garden hose. I could barely afford the entrance fee, but god how badly I wanted to hire him. 

[+ azdr0710]

a buddy danced there for two weeks in 2004 or so......he's straight as an arrow, but got into the scene when a girlfriend encouraged him to dance.......a regular customer hired him to go to a nearby hotel room for some shenanigans one day.......up in the room, my friend evidently refused to do all the things the customer wanted and he reported that behavior to Denise, who fired him that night.......

[rojjodc]

The HBO has a great series called the Deuce about the NYC porn industry and Mayor G induced 'clean up' of the West 42st street district in the late 1970s and 80s.  It's a great series with lots of LGBTQ content and one or two episodes had a skit with a guy who danced at the Gaiety.  I only visited once, but it brought back a smile when I saw the episodes.  When I told my boyfriend at the time that the Gaiety was an actual go-go and hustler type bar in NYC at the time, he could not believe it.

[jeezifonly]

Occasional trips to NY in the late 80’s led to noticing the ad in The Village Voice. Finally went in 1990, always hit the Gaiety whenever possible until it closed - always fun, occasionally thrilling… a call-back to my secret cruisy skulking well before coming out. I feel bad for the younger generations that missed out entirely on such places, before every available dick in the city was on your phone.  

[pubic_assistance]

I went a few times before it closed. I recall there were some really superior looking young men who used to perform there. It was nice that you could check out their moves, before you negotiated a "private show" in the lounge.  I was still pretty young...so wasn't in the habit of shopping for providers...but it was always tempting. I did hook up with ONE amazing performer from there, named Vito. My first ever hire. Amazing experience.

[kingsley88]

On 3/19/2025 at 12:37 AM, azdr0710 said:

a buddy danced there for two weeks in 2004 or so......he's straight as an arrow, but got into the scene when a girlfriend encouraged him to dance.......a regular customer hired him to go to a nearby hotel room for some shenanigans one day.......up in the room, my friend evidently refused to do all the things the customer wanted and he reported that behavior to Denise, who fired him that night.......

Sorry your friend got fired but at the same time, I recall folks normally negotiated all that stuff in the Gaiety lounge before leaving the theater.

[+ azdr0710]

many here will remember the well-known "Dr. Mike From CT", who danced at the Gaiety in the early 2000s and got that stage name, I believe, because he always started dancing while wearing scrubs......he also traveled the country for private meetings, occasionally posting the travel announcements with sexy teasing videos which many here will remember.....very clean, but sudden, retirement notice one day on the forum about ten or twelve years ago......pictures of him are nearly non-existent on the web....several years ago, I posted a g-rated picture of him I'd found in a forum thread on him here....it was quickly yanked from the thread....incredibly good-looking guy who worked it hard at the Gaiety and elsewhere and then retired as evidently planned for years

https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/127765-dr-mike/

https://web.archive.org/web/20101215231919/http://daddysreviews.com/venue/usa/new_york/dr_mike_nyc

https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/148147-best-retired-scorts/page/2/#findComment-2231649

https://www.companyofmen.org/topic/145511-escorts-of-yesteryear/page/6/#findComment-2221142

 

Edited March 21 by azdr0710

[TheBossBabyback]

Were there any real rules in the private dance area? I know folks talk about taking guys back to a hotel but were getting it on in the private booths?

 

And apparently this was shot there in the 90s. Hot Gaiety Stripper

I would have loved to go, just to see Joey Stephano. Heard he did some great shows. 

 

Edited March 21 by TheBossBabyback

[+ azdr0710]

33 minutes ago, kingsley88 said:

Sorry your friend got fired but at the same time, I recall folks normally negotiated all that stuff in the Gaiety lounge before leaving the theater.

yeah, you're right, but I think my friend may've? promised the moon and the stars to the client in the lounge and then delivered less

[kingsley88]

8 hours ago, TheBossBabyback said:

Were there any real rules in the private dance area? I know folks talk about taking guys back to a hotel but were getting it on in the private booths?

I don't remember any private dance area. If there was one I must have missed it. There was a lounge that served as a casual meet/greet area for audience members and dancers (after their shift). That's where negotiations happen before going to a nearby hotel. When I went in early 2000s, the going rate was $200 cash.

[+ sniper]

I remember when I was a kid reading my older brother's straight porn mag from the late 70s there was an article with a pictorial where one of their editors got up on stage and danced and that was one of my first inklings that my inclinations lay that way. First went there in 1998. Thomas was first private, kind of a dud. The second was TJ(RIP) which was much more memorable.

But was the Gaiety actually shut down "by the authorities" or was it just the building was sold and slated for demolition?

[Buff Daddy]

The building was sold. Denise was under a Grandfather's clause that allowed her to do the shows. Guilliani tried to restrict what she was doing hench the Pakistani guys came to watch everyone.  Once the building was sold she lost her Grandfather's clause. And that was that. 

[Patbud]

I’m new here and just joined. Thanks Bozo for bringing back memories. I remember when I stiffed 1 of the dancers. I ran out when we were done. I liked when there were 2 dancers on stage and the dj called them the dynamic duo. 1 time I was there, I thought the dj looked more handsome than any of the dancers. Did the dancers get paid by Denise? Speaking of her, I always wondered how she took being cooped up in her cubicle. Once the clean up of the neighborhood started, the feeling wasn’t the same and I think it was when women were allowed in. Then she might as well allowed little kids in. I was there about a month before it closed and stayed about an hour and thought I haven’t missed anything.

[+ sniper]

Yeah there was a super hot DJ can't remember his name. Sometime toward the end he was wearing an eye patch for a while.

[Cooper]

12 minutes ago, sniper said:

Yeah there was a super hot DJ can't remember his name. Sometime toward the end he was wearing an eye patch for a while.

@sniper, Are you thinking of Neo? 

[+ sniper]

I felt like he had a more Anglo name but it's possible. White guy, medium brown hair, kind of Abercrombie looking.

[marylander1940]

Great memories! 

On 3/17/2025 at 6:54 AM, BOZO T CLOWN said:

Today is St. Patrick's Day. Normally a day to drink and celebrate.  For the former patrons of the Gaiety Theatre, comme moi, March 17th is a sad day ☹️.
The Gaiety Theatre closed its doors for the final time on March 17th, 2005. Twenty years ago. And yes, it really does seem like yesterday.
"The G" as it was known to regular patrons like Bozo, was a victim of: the Disneyfication of Times Square, Giuliani zoning laws, and the advent of new technology which brought about sites like Grindr, Rentboy, etc. which, for many, made a trip to Times Square obsolete.
From a personal standpoint, Bozo spent his formative years as a young clown - a good deal of his adolescence - at the famed strip club on West 46th street and Broadway, between the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre and Howard Johnson's Restaurant (the best clam strips in town!).
When the G was shut down by NYC authorities, never to return... Bozo shed a few tears. There will never be anything like it again.
Thanks so much to Denise and her sisters for providing us with so much joy and entertainment, and thanks to all of the boys (especially the Canadians) who danced there for the 27 years of the Gaiety's existence, and gave Bozo and others so much pleasure.
The theater may have closed, but the memories will remain forever.

BTC
🤡

 

        

Should a sign by the National Park Service like Stonewall be placed in the lot where the gaiety once stood? 

Edited March 21 by marylander1940

[hungry4darkmeat]

Agreed! The Prince theatre on the west side highway was amazing too