“The idea was that we found some old speakeasy that burglars would use to store their gear before fencing it.” So says Simon Hammerstein, great great grandson of the ballroom’s namesake and proprietor of The Box. Although it’s been active since December 2006, the theater and nightclub dinner theatre 189 Chrystie Street is not expected to be “officially” open until June. That’s because Hammerstein is busy schooling dancers’ routine and searching out new acts to dazzle the crowd.
“Three nightly shows will be put on, and Hammerstein and his team have been scouring circus schools and the like in France and Russia for guest stars. One of his favorites is a twenty-inch-tall woman named Firefly whom he wants to live in a glass house suspended above the bar and read aloud from her diaries.”
Is that even legal? If you can’t wait, head over to Brooklyn to hear teenage diaries read aloud at Freddy’s Back Room.
Photo by Mike Duva.
