We’ve all heard stories about how New York City nightlife was once the world’s best.  A city with legendary clubs worthy of staying up past dawn; clubs whose names represent the eras in which they existed. Come September, 28-year-old theater scion Simon Hammerstein and partners will open The Box. And, if all goes as planned, it could give some jaded New Yorkers a reason to go out again. 

Oh, did we mention it’s dinner theatre? “Please don’t call it a nightclub.  It’s dinner theatre for a younger generation,” begs the London-born, New York-bred theater director whose first gig was producing raves at age 16. The idea for The Box was born when Hammerstein was directing late-night theater with The Wooster Group’s Richard Kimmel. “I got tired of going across the street to get drunk with the audience,” explains Hammerstein.  Along with Randy Weiner (of The Donkey Show), the three hope to create a world that transports. “It’s submersion theater. I want to deliver a show in a much less sheepish manner, and create a world that transports.”

The space, which is still undergoing renovation, is located in a 70-year-old, two-story, 5,000-square-foot sign factory on Chrystie Street, with a stage door that opens onto Freeman Alley. Most of the materials including the lighting, bars, wallpaper, and marble fireplaces are salvaged antiques from the 1920s, which create a wacky patchwork that feels part theater, part brothel, and part speakeasy.  Everything has history -- from the old subway tiles, to Prohibition-era bottles unearthed in the basement. Upstairs will have curtained off private booths, bathroom stalls culled from an insane asylum, and a vintage-looking crib “for late-night antics,” winks Hammerstein. Downstairs, dressing rooms contain 1920s vanities, “which I’m sure will get trashed in a week.”

Despite the hedonistic vibe, The Box, which boasts board members like Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Josh Lucas, plans to offer world-class entertainment in an intimate environment. They have hired the engineer from the Metropolitan Opera House, and their premiere show will be Puccini’s Turandot, followed by Jack Kerouac’s 1957 jazz play, Beat Generation. “We want to do shows that will be raucous,” explains Hammerstein over drinks at neighboring restaurant Freeman’s. (Apparently, all reported conflicts between Hammerstein and Freeman’s owner Taavo Somer over hipster alley rights, have been squashed.)

Just don’t look for Hammerstein -- who takes piano lessons to unload stress -- to take the stage. “I’m not very good.” 

~Sara Costello

Go There:

The Box opens this September at 189 Chrystie Street, NYC; (212) 674-7113; theboxnyc.com

First Simon Hammerstein photo courtesy of Patrick Mcmullan, patrickmcmullan.com

Second Hammerstein photo by Hermes Pan