Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog

All Power To The Corporate Blog

Earlier this week, Grumpy Old Bookman, a London-based book blog, linked to one of our posts.  One of Grumpy's readers had the following comment:

I followed the Chelsea blog for a time and find it a bit transparently promotional and probably put out by someone on the hotel payroll--which then leaves me a bit skeptical of its elaborate stories. Much like what one would read on the back of a dinner menu. In that sense, nice work.

     At last! Someone who sees the value of our blog!  Thank you Andrew.  We're going to run right down to Stanley Bard and show him your comment and demand that we be paid.  Surely he won't just raise our rent again. (Photo of Jerry and Stanley from 23rd & 7th blog, Screen capture from Chelsesa Walls)
     But we are curious about this restaurant that prints stories about fires and cockroaches on the back of its menu.  Could you give us its name and address?  We'd like to submit a story about junkies shooting up in its bathroom.  But we aren't too eager to eat there. 

The Mysterious Life and Death of David Linter

Seeing as how the tourists often end up with "Dave the Poet," in their lobby photos, we were hoping that Dave would reveal the dark inner secrets of the lobby, but I guess we're going to have to get him drunk first. 

Which poet do you most admire and how have they inspired your poetry?   For my two cents, John Berryman's The Dream Songs is the brassiest work ever put on a page; to have created such mysterious beauty while simultaneously taking evil on board is as divine as it gets.  The guy therefore loaned me his courage.

We hear that you’re working on a project about Herbert Huncke, how did that come about?
My friend and colleague, the eminent Dr. Timothy Sullivan, literally dropped Huncke's autobiography in my lap and suggested I check it.  I read exactly two pages and made a           beeline, albeit a gimpy one, for my room where I called my brother and my agent and convinced everyone that I ought to get the rights to this story.  By day's end, me and Huncke were on our way.

In all of your time enjoying the view from the lobby, what’s the most interesting lobby scene that you’ve witnessed?
I don't really find the lobby trip so interesting.  For me, it's  pure, selfish pleasure.  To read and get laid back and see and shoot the breeze with kind, fun people for hours at a time gives me the biggest kick.   

Tell us about your work in the film industry.
That would be  a looong, very boring story, but I've done, and am doing pretty all right.  At least to the degree that I've got to a point where unless I'm feelin' it;.. the hell with it, the hell with me.   Fair enough and just how I always pictured it.  I guess you might say, I'm just livin' the dream.

How long have you lived at the Chelsea?  Twelve years, though not consecutive.

What inspired you to move into the Chelsea?  Mr. Bard was the only man in town willing to give me a lease without checking my credit.

How did you score your apartment?  I was in LA, just returned from Paris and was a trifle out of pocket.  I was there bumming five g's off my brother so I could get back to New York.  I bought a Village Voice and saw an ad for The Chelsea, advertising, weekly/monthly rates, so I asked a girlfriend of mine to grab me a room. 
   
Do you think there is a creative energy in the Chelsea?  Well, Christ, there ought to be.
 
How has living in the Chelsea affected your creative development?
I've no idea, but I'll bet it has.
   
What other creative people at the Chelsea or elsewhere have influenced your development?  My gal, Berengere, who if I know any genius' she be the one:  I steal everything I can off of her.
 
Who is the most famous person you’ve ever ridden with in the Chelsea elevator?  Arthur Miller. 

What’s the best/worst thing that has ever happened to you at the Chelsea?  I died, (worst), and resurrected, (best, I guess); thereby fulfilling a lifelong Lazarus complex.
   
Do you know if any famous folks have lived in your room? We'se all jes' plain folks in this here room.

What’s your favorite Hotel Chelsea story?  I like the ones about Jerry and Stanley being busboys in the Catskills when they were sprites.
 

Paris Photos

Some of the most engaging photos I have seen from the demonstrations in Paris are being posted by former Chelsea Hotel resident Sparkle Hayter. Photo shown is by by a talented 20-year old named Charlotte Gonzale.

More Bohemian Theme Hotels

Bohemian package tours are all the rage these days.  For 2,600 pounds you can check into the Savoy Hotel in London and follow in the footsteps of Monet.  The room comes with an easle, paints, and presumably, a brush.  For a more authentic -- and much less costly -- experience, why not visit the Chelsea?  Afterall, surely you can walk across the street to the art supply store and purchase your own easel.  And there are plenty of painters around here to provide some instruction free of charge. 

"a couple can stay two nights at one of the Savoy rooms where Monet painted 70 of his famous canvasses of the murky London skyline.  They will also get an easel, paints and the tutelage of art teacher Neil Meacher." (Source: CBC Arts, March 25, 2006)

At least they get it over at USA Today.  They recommend the Chelsea Hotel as one of the places to "feel the beat."

ETHAN HAWKE SUMMONS PROPHETS TO END WAR

MUSIC AND STARS AT BRUCE LEVINGSTON’S FIFTH ANIVERSARY GALA

FOR THE PREMIER COMMISSION

On our way out the door to the pianist Bruce Levingston’s concert at the Lincoln Center, the desk clerk at the Chelsea, having little faith in my powers of concentration, warned me not to fall asleep.

But there was no danger of that, as the program of music turned out to be quite invigorating.  Bruce started the evening off with a familiar Chopin nocturne.  He played it well, and I thoroughly enjoyed his interpretation.  The next piece, “Wichita Vortex Sutra,” by Allen Ginsberg, set to music by Philip Glass from his Hydrogen Jukebox, turned out to be the high point of the first half of the program.  Ethan Hawke came out in a semi-sparkly suit with peach shirt and delivered a stirring rendition of the piece, which is about the poet standing in the middle of Kansas, meditating on the end of war.  Ethan used a soft reading voice, but he was able to make it boom when, halfway through, he spoke like God on High, calling down the prophets of old into the vortex of Kansas to stand with him in proclaiming an end to war. (Unfortunately, this works about as well now as it did back in 1966 when Ginsberg wrote the poem.) (Photo of Bruce Levingston & Ethan Hawke by Lisa Ackerman)

After the break Bruce came back out and played a first-rate Chopin Etude, which I thought was his best piece of the night.  His mood varied between careful concentration and rapturous abandon as he gave his all at the piano, executing what was obviously a very difficult, albeit supremely rewarding, piece.

Next, Philip Glass came out and played Two Etudes, one of the highlights of the night.  It was an exhilarating performance, and he won me over to his method right there.  An authoritative longhair sitting behind me remarked that he had made a couple of mistakes, and I could see what the guy was talking about, but Glass’s exuberance obviated any minor technical concerns. (Photo of Philip Glass and Bruce by Lisa Ackerman)

The last number was perhaps the most compelling: “Knee Play No. 5” from Glass’s Einstein on the Beach, which featured Michael Cunningham’s hypnotic reading of the weird, repetitive text: “These were the days, my friends, yes these were the days my friends...”  (Cunningham is the author of The Hours and A Home at the End of the World, both fine novels.)  Whether by design, or simply because he had a more powerful voice, Michael drowned out Ethan Hawke, who read the other part.  That was my only quibble with the piece: try as I might, I couldn’t hear what Ethan was saying at all.  Nevertheless, it was a splendid performance of Glass’s masterful work, all the more remarkable when you learn that Glass had written a new arrangement of the piece right before the show and it had never been rehearsed in this form before. (Photos by Lisa Ackerman)

It was dreadfully crowded at the Gala reception afterward, too crowded, and there was a bottleneck going into the room.  Nobody could get through to the Veuve Clicquot—and I only wanted water, anyway—and people were swishing their long coats around and knocking wine glasses off of the tables onto the floor.  But the people I overheard all seemed to have appreciated the concert: “It was like a drug,” I heard a man remark.  “I closed my eyes and I could feel it surge through me.  I don’t need drugs with music so powerful as this.”  Drugs or no drugs, we had to get out of the close press in the room, so we fought our way back out to the hall, which by this time was also thronged with music aficionados. (Photo of Philip Glass, Bruce, & Ethan Hawke by Lisa Ackerman)

To our chagrin, our camera malfunctioned, so we couldn’t get any pictures of the stars.  Ethan Hawke was there talking to some old friends from the Chelsea.  Ready to give him a break, since he read the Ginsberg poem so well, I asked him if I could take his picture, and he snarled at me in reply.  I tried to take it anyway, and the camera flashed, but it didn’t turn out.  Damn.  That would have been a good one.  I was more concerned with Michael Cunningham anyway, since he’s a writer—though as far as I know he has no connection with the Chelsea.  (His book about Provincetown, Land’s End, is an extraordinary tour of another place we love, however.)  I overheard him and his friend talking about blogs, so maybe with any luck he’ll read this one and tell us whether he’s ever been to the Chelsea before.  And Michael Stipe from REM walked right past me, so close it was almost a jostle.  I could have whipped my camera out and flashed it right in his face, but by that point I wasn’t even trying anymore.  Ah well.  (I’ll bet he’s been to the Chelsea.)  (At least Patrick McMullan got the shot.) That’s what I get for using one of those disposable cameras; we’ll have to spring for some better equipment if we’re going to make it in the dog-eat-dog world of the paparazzi.

Unable to handle the crowd any longer, we slipped out the emergency door to the street, even though a stern security matron scowled at us disapprovingly.  Thanks, Bruce, for a thoroughly enjoyable evening of music. And thanks to Lisa for all of these wonderful pictures.

(Bruce Levingston’s new CD, Portraits, with music by Glass, Ravel, Messiaen, and Satie, is available at www.orangemountainmusic.com, www.premierecommission.org, and www.amazon.com .)  More reviews: New York Times.
Ed Hamilton

All Tomorrow's Parties - March 27 - April 2, 2006

Monday, March 27, 7:00 p.m.
John Weir, the author of one of the first novels to deal with the AIDS crisis will read from his most recent book, What I Did Wrong.
Half King 505 West 23rd St., NY NY

Tuesday, March 28, 6:30 p.m.
The Algonquin Hotel (the other literary hotel) is the location for the book release party for the new edition of The Portable Dorothy Parker. Editor Marion Meade will be the special guest. A full cocktail bar will be in place. RSVP to attend. Sponsored by the Dorothy Parker Society.
The Algonquin Hotel, 2nd floor, 55 East 44th St., NY NY

Tuesday, March 28, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch, Kenny Kenny & Dita Von Teese invite you to celebrate the release of BURLESQUE & THE ART OF THE TEESE. Book signing throughout the night and show by Dita Von Teese.  Hosts: Sophia Lamar, Kim Aviance, Miranda Moondust, Andrea, and Amanda Lepore.
14 East 27 St., NY NY

Thursday, March 30
Only a couple of days left to catch Fluxus: To George With Love, From the Personal Collection of Jonas Mekas.  The exhibition has been curated from the personal collection of Jonas Mekas, avant-garde filmmaker and writer, founder and artistic director of Anthology Film Archives. Maya Stendhal Gallery, 545 W. 20th St. NY NY

Friday, March 31, 6 pm (doors open at 5:45)
Media artists Pat Ivers and Emily Armstrong will screen and discuss selections from their cable-TV show, Nightclubbing, which aired from 1975 to 1980. Greatest Hits includes performances by Downtown icons Blondie, Talking Heads, the Heartbreakers with Richard Hell, ( Hell recently shared this tidbit with the blog: "You know, I never lived at the Chelsea, though my grandfather did, believe it or not, in the fifties and/or sixties--he was my father's mother and was named Lester Hodgson, but I've visited people there of course, and even recorded a poetry reading there that came out as a deluxe limited edition book/cd in the early '90s.) the Dead Boys, the Lounge Lizards, the Dead Kennedys, the Stillettos with Tish and Snooky, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, DNA, Iggy Pop, the Cramps, and John Cale, among many others, videotaped on location in such renowned venues as the Mudd Club, CBGB's, Hurraha's, and Danceteria. Followed by a conversation with Amos Poe, pioneering No Wave filmmaker.
Cantor Film Center, 36 East Eighth Street, Room 200

Saturday, April 1, 8:00 p.m.
Belatedly celebrate the novelist Nelson Algren's birthday (March 28) by seeing 'TRANSATLANTIC LIAISON',  a new play about Simone de Beauvoir concentrating on her affair with Nelson Algren.  The play uses details from her published letters and the novel "The Mandarins."  Algren is credited with having said "Never eat at a place called Mom's, never play cards with a guy named Doc, and never go to bed with anyone who has more troubles than you."  According to the Chelsea Hotel's official website, both Algren and de Beauvoir have spent time here at the Chelsea.
Harold Clurman Theater on Theater Row, 412 West 42nd Street, NY NY

Sunday, April 2, 8:00 p.m.
The world pemiere of Barfly Redux, Tsaurah Litzky's play concerning the life and loves of Charles Bukowksi.  Bukowski, we know, wrote about his stay at the Chelsea.
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, NYC

If you have a relevant event that you would like featured in "All Tomorrow's Parties," please e-mail the information to [email protected].

It's All About The Snakes

Just like we said last week, everybody remembers the snakes!  Peter Sanford interviews Rebecca Miller about her film, The Ballad of Jack and Rose, which is opening in the UK this week.  The article briefly mentions the Chelsea.
Rebecca's childhood was, in her recollection, 'very normal' - loving parents, growing up on a farm, going to school, no limos or first-class flights. But it took place in a context that was anything but normal. So a visiting Henri Cartier-Bresson would read to her as a baby next to the Roxbury pond from the memoirs of an 18th-century French courtier. And for part of it, she lived with her parents in suite 614 at the fashionably rundown Chelsea Hotel in New York, home also to Lou Reed, Bob Dylan, Norman Mailer and 'a man with a very large snake who lived upstairs'. 

Mary J. Bilge Stops by the Chelsea

After 14-Year Career Mary J. Bilge Proud to Still Be A Work in Progress
(AP Photo/Jim Cooper)

Don't Visit the Basement Or You Might Wet Your Pants

I love articles that start out by telling you that they're not going to be any good (The Independent).  That gives me an excuse to not read them.  But I soldiered on through Tracey Emin's hang-over noodlings because I wanted to see what she said about the Chelsea.  And boy am I glad I did. Turns out that after a party at the Chelsea, she and her friends decided to explore the basement.  God  knows what they did down there, but now it's permanently locked at night, with signs posted saying that's the new policy. We were wondering what brought that about.  Thanks for the info Tracey.  But really, what the hell went on down there?
On Saturday night, my New York gallery, Lehmann Maupin, held a dinner for me. I sat next to two of my favourite men - Hamish McAlpine and Julian Schnabel. It was a really cool dinner and I stayed sober. Well, sober enough to go to Phil Collins' party. (That' s Phil Collins the artist, not Phil Collins the musician). Mad nutty party in a suite in the Chelsea Hotel. Dancing until 4.30am. The grand finale, finding ourselves lost in the basement of the hotel. It was really scary. Like a scene out of Most Haunted. But I managed to stay calm and serene among the pipes and the ghosts - that's because I was reasonably sober. Any other time, I think I would have wet myself. That's what people do when they are really afraid. They wet themselves. (Source: The Independent, March 17, 2006, Tracy Emin)

Tonight's Event

My Mother Told Me I was Different: Stories from Stonewall On June 27, 1969 a routine raid on a little known Greenwich Village gay bar sparked a spontaneous series of events that forever changed the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people. Who were the people in the Stonewall Bar that evening? What happened that night in the bar, on the street, and in people’s minds, and why were these events destined to change society? “My Mother Told Me I was Different: Stories from Stonewall” is the moving story of the night that changed history, as told by the people who lived it. The reading will be directed by legendary downtown director and founding pioneer of Gay and Women’s Theatre, David Gaard. Bluestockings, 172 Allen St., btwn. Stanton & Rivington St. 212-777-6028. 7 p.m. Free.  (Source:  Gay City News)

Help Save One of Literatures Most Disreputable Homes: And It's Not The Chelsea

We hope that Bob and Patti don't use up all of their energy defending literary love nests in London, because we here at the Chelsea may need to call on them some day.  With soulless yuppie condos springing up all around, where else but the Chelsea can future bohemians hope to compose their as yet unwritten Horses or "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands."

Musicians Bob Dylan and Patti Smith are being dragged into a fight to save one of literature's most debauched and disreputable love nests.

The dilapidated house in Camden, north London, was the backdrop for the absinthe drinking, drug-taking and scandalous affair between the French poets Rimbaud and Verlaine who lived there in the 19th century.

The home is now to be sold along with two adjoining houses, and campaigners fear it may be redeveloped to erase the house's literary link unless a sympathetic buyer is found. Rock literati Dylan and Smith, both admirers of the poets, have been approached to give muscle to the efforts to preserve the property. (Source: Independent)

Slapped Down By Prize-Winning Novelist

A while back I posted that I was planning to read a book called Stuart: A Life Backwards, which I remarked was a "non-Chelsea related" title.  But, Whitbread prize-winning novelist Joan Brady (Theory of War) has just written to tell me how wrong I was:

In re Alexander Masters, he is in fact the great nephew of Edgar Lee Masters, who lived at the Chelsea for many years. I am his mother. His father was Dexter Masters, Lee's nephew. That is, he is not unrelated to the hotel at all.  Furthermore, all three of us stayed at the Chelsea for over a month in 1970 or 1971. Alexander's book Stuart is scheduled to come out in the US on 30 May. You will find it listed at amazon.com.

     It just goes to show: everybody who's anybody has stayed at the Chelsea.  (If you've read Stuart, which is about a schizophrenic homeless man, you might think it's likely that he's lived here too.  Certainly we've had many like him.)

     Anway, check out Joan Brady's new novel, Bleedout as well.

The Truth About Those Fancy Hotels Continued

Part IV: Another Sort Of Hotel (Parts I, II, & III)

            The old woman wore herself out early from singing all day, and went into her room and closed the door at about nine o'clock that evening.  I was still pissed off about having been deprived of sleep.  By this point I was so angry, in fact, that I couldn’t even write once it was quiet.  As the night wore on, all I could think of was revenge.  At about midnight I threw open my window and stuck my head out to see if I could see into the woman’s room.  Her lights were out and there was no sound coming from within.  No smell of gas either.  If I had had a smoke bomb, I would have heaved it in through the woman’s window.  I've got to remember to keep some of those suckers on hand.

            I thought about dressing all in black and going over there to perform an exorcism, but I would have needed a suitable text, and I had sold off most of my books before I moved into my closet at the Chelsea. 

          Anyway, I had a better idea.  I drained my beer for courage and headed out into the hall.  I got the fire extinguisher down off its hook, walked over to the crazy woman's door, and banged on it good and hard.  Harder than necessary.  It was taking her a while to answer, so I banged some more.  She appeared at the door in her bath robe, with her coat over the top of it.  A blast of cold air hit me in the face.

            "What the hell?!" she screamed, her eyes darting back and forth.  "Who are you?!"

            I held the fire extinguisher in one hand and the hose in the other.  "I'm the exterminator," I said.

            For just a moment, her face showed terror.  "What?!  What do you want?!"

            "I'm here to spray your room."

            The woman just totally went off: fucking this and fucking that.  I thought she was fucking going to attack me for a minute, the way she was thrashing her arms around.  I got away from her quick, almost running.  The time I took to hang up the fire extinguisher probably would have given her a chance to catch me, but something must have given her pause.  She just screamed; she didn't chase.

            And really, I don’t know what she had to complain about.  You'd think she would have appreciated this independent confirmation for her theory.  But maybe she just hated her late husband, the exterminator, so much that she couldn’t bear to be reminded of him.  Poor man, at least now he's at rest.  For the second night in a row, the woman screamed long into the night.
            After riling up the crazy woman, I didn’t get much sleep that night.  But I still felt it was worth it.  I finally drifted off, chuckling to myself, near dawn.

            I was awakened not long after by a sharp rap at my door.  It was the manager, Mr. Lovano.  I don't think the crazy woman had fingered me, but he had somehow put two and two together.  "What did you do to that woman last night?" he asked.  "Did you threaten her, or what?"

            "Oh, hell no,” I said.  “I just said I was the exterminator."

            Mr. Lovano didn’t seem angry.  If anything, he seemed slightly amused.  Still, he shook his head in disbelief, and said, "Thanks a lot.  We had just gotten her settled down."

            "No problem," I said.  And then, standing there in my boxer shorts, still groggy, an idea occurred to me.  “You  know, maybe we should get an exterminator.  The mice don’t bother me so much, but the roaches are all over the place.”

            “Every building in New York has roaches,” Mr. Lovano said.  “Get some of those hotels.”
            “What?” I said, not comprehending at all.

            “Those hotels.  You know, some of those roach hotels.”

            They got rid of the old woman when her week ran out.  I was surprised: I thought she was going to be one of those who barricade themselves in their rooms and refuse to leave.  We get a lot of those cases around here, people who they just keep on gassing, but who never seem to take the hint.  Anyway, she went on her way to cause trouble elsewhere: hopefully, to the nuthouse, but most likely just back to the good ol’ Harold Johnson's. (Copyright 2006 Ed Hamilton)

All Tomorrow's Parties - March 20 - 26, 2006

Monday, March 20, 7:30 p.m.
R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe, Bright Eyes, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D and Rufus Wainwright will join peace activist Cindy Sheehan for the Bring 'Em Home concert. The event will benefit the Iraq Veterans Against the War and Veterans for Peace. The evening's guest hosts will include such celebrities as Jane Fonda, Alec Baldwin, Margaret Cho and Janeane Garofalo; while Steve Earle, Fischerspooner, Peaches and Devendra Banhart will be among the other performers. (Tickets)
Hammerstein Ballroom, 311 West 34th Street, NY NY

Tuesday, March 21, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch & Kenny Kenny present Happy Valley Tuesdays.  DJ Tommie Sunshine; downstairs DJ Ryan.  SHOWS: the new opera dance sensation MAGAL and The Ultra Hot UFFIE.
14 East 27th St.,  NY NY

Wednesday, March 22, 8:00 p.m.
Don't miss this star studded Chelsea evening at the Lincoln Center.  Pianist Bruce Levingston, one of this country's leading exponents of new music, will be joined by renowned composer/performer Philip Glass in an evocative piano duet from Mr. Glass' Orphee.  Ethan Hawke will read Mr. Glass' setting of Allen Ginsberg's poem Wichita Vortex Sutra. 
Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. $50, $35, $20 or splurge for tickets to the gala.

Thursday, March 23, 8:00 p.m.
The Sam Shepard Festival kicks off at The Big Little Theatre.  For the first time ever all 45 plays will be presented.  Tonight, you can catch "Buried Child," for which Shepard received a Pulitzer Prize in 1979. (Photo: Sam Shepherd & Patti Smith at the Chelsea On stage according to a well placed reader of the blog.)
The Big Little Theatre, 141 Ridge St., NY NY

If you have a relevant event that you would like featured in "All Tomorrow's Parties," please e-mail the information to [email protected]. 

Sexy Romp at the Seedy Chelsea

Elefant singer/indie rock sex symbol Diego Garcia falls into a videotaped romp with a lolita at the famously seedy Chelsea Hotel. The debauched experience seems to set the whole band in a mad panic, which is compounded by the realization that someone has tampered with their instruments. The obvious precursor to this gritty, yet artful b&w video is Madonna's "Justify My Love," although "Lolita" actually outdoes it in terms of actual nudity. -- watch the uncensored "Lolita" in Quicktime, Real, or Windows Media

Singer Holly Williams is Hospitalized

Hank Williams Sr.'s granddaughter and frequent Hotel Chelsea guest, Holly Williams, is reported to be in serious condition following an automobile accident.  "Holly Williams, 25, and her sister, Hillary, were going the funeral of their maternal grandfather Wednesday afternoon when the crash occurred about 45 miles from Memphis, Williams` publicist told the Memphis Commercial Appeal."

How has staying in the Chelsea affected your creative development?
It makes me want to be as honest bnd raw as I possibly can. It makes me write things that I care about, and forget about what other people want. Chelsea Hotel #2 by Leonard Cohen is a brilliant song, along with many others written about that magical place. 
Read her full interview. 

Snakes at the Chelsea

Currently on eBay, there are four bids on this print of a photo of mail artist Ray Johnson which was taken in George Kleinsinger's room here at the Hotel Chelsea.  Kleinsinger was the composer who wrote the music for Tubby the Tuba, though he is perhaps more famous for the menagerie of exotic animals -- including snakes, monkeys, skunks, doves and turtles -- he kept in his apartment on the 10th floor.

We once met an elderly lady when we were drinking in El Quijote and upon hearing that we lived in the Chelsea the first thing she asked was, "Is that man with the snakes still there? I quite going to that place because of him!  Everytime I got on the elevator, there he was with a snake!"

The high bid on the photo is currently $22.50.

Seeking Ciao Manhattan Memorabilia

The Alleghan County Historical Society in Michigan is in the process of creating a display devoted to the film, Ciao Manhattan, in their old county jail which is now home to the Old Jail Museum. Scenes from Ciao Manhattan were shot in one of the cell blocks and they are seeking any Ciao Manhattan memorabilia and/or contact from individuals who were either in the film or were involved in the making of it - or anyone else who may have information about it. Please contact Tom Fleming, President of the Alleghan County Historical Society at email address [email protected], by telephone: (269) 673-440, or by snail mail to Allegan County Historical Society, 2916 102nd Ave., Allegan, MI 49010.

Tom was actually present during the filming of Ciao Manhattan. He was a deputy sheriff at the time and it was his duty to escort Paul America to the second floor cell block across the street from the jail that he was housed in.  (Source:  www.warholstars.org)

A Star Studded Chelsea Evening Featuring Bruce Levingston

Pianist BRUCE LEVINGSTON will appear in concert with guest artists ETHAN HAWKE and PHILIP GLASS at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall at 8 PM on the evening of March 22nd, 2006. This special program will include works by Bach, Chopin, Debussy, Glass and others including the world premiere of Lisa Bielawa's The Lay of the Love and Death. Gala tickets include best seating in the house and a Champagne Veuve Clicquot reception after with the artists. For tickets call CenterCharge at 212-721-6500. For special seating, group and other discounts or more information please call 212-627-3534.  (READ THE REVIEW -- MUSIC AND STARS AT BRUCE LEVINGSTON’S FIFTH ANIVERSARY GALA FOR THE PREMIER COMMISSION)

We've been seeing Bruce around the hotel for a number of years now, and in addition to being a fine pianist he's also one of the nicest guys you could ever hope to meet.  We first gave him our standard interview, and he wasn't too forthcoming, leading us to suspect there was something wrong with out questions.  (He did reveal one interesting piece of information, however: unlike 90% of the people we ask Ethan Hawke is not the most famous person he's ever riddden in the elevator with.) When we asked Bruce about his work he produced one of our most interesting interviews.

Tell us about the music you play?
I play keyboard music from Elizabethan times to the present. Since the piano is my instrument, I often focus on music written by pianist/composers such as Chopin and Schumann, although I deeply love Bach and Scarlatti and play many of their works written for the harpsichord. I never tire of Schubert, who is a kind of magical musical alchemist and the same may be said of Debussy. But Brahms, Chopin, Liszt and Schumann are also real mainstays on my programs. They were so completely composers for the piano and knew how to use every resource it offered to them. Beethoven, who was a very great pianist and whose music I also love, was often writing with other instruments in mind, or else some kind of futuristic piano. At any rate, it is very difficult to completely realize his aesthetic on the piano. Yet the music is so great, one must, of course, try. I think one must almost be (or become) like him in some way to play him. I definitely have sides that are like him, but my inner personality probably leans more towards Schubert and Chopin.

I also play many works by living composers. In 2004, I gave the world premiere of Pulitzer Prize-winner William Bolcom's New York Lights which is a piano concert transcription of the aria Bolcom wrote for the opera A View from the Bridge with longtime Chelsea residents Arthur Miller and Arnold Weinstein.

How did you become interested in the work of Philip Glass? I saw a painting of Glass made by Chuck Close. It made me start to think about how Chopin, Liszt, and Satie had been painted and drawn by their contemporaries such as Delacroix, Ingres and Picasso and how in turn many of these composers had also made musical portraits of figures of their time. (Incidentally, Virgil Thomson composed a whole series of musical portraits of people he knew while they sat for him in his
apartment in the Chelsea Hotel.) When I saw the Chuck Close portrait of Glass I thought that it would be wonderful if Glass composed a portrait of Chuck Close. A few months after I had this idea, I happened to meet both Close and Glass at a reception in New York. I told Glass about my idea and he agreed on the spot to write the piece. I immersed myself in his work and developed a renewed appreciation for his remarkable contribution to art and music. He is one of those rare figures who
truly changed the course of history in his field. I gave the world  premiere of A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close in the spring of 2005 at Lincoln Center and recorded it that following summer. The CD containing the work (along with music of Ravel, Messiaen, and Satie) called Portraits, has just been released on Glass' label, Orange Mountain Music.

What inspired you to work with Ethan Hawke?
I had met him at some point before he lived at the Chelsea. However, we really came to know each other better once he moved into the hotel. We often walked our dogs around the same time! Ethan has a deep love of music and literature. When I told him about my work with Philip Glass, he recounted hearing Glass perform with Allen Ginsberg. I told Ethan I actually had the musical score that they performed together. His enthusiasm for this work ( as well as Ethan's wonderful artistic abilities) inspired our collaboration.

Tell us about the pieces you will play at your upcoming concert?
In addition to the Glass/Ginsberg work called Wichita Vortex Sutra, we will also perform the finale to Glass' masterpiece Einstein on the Beach. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Cunningham, author of The Hours (which was made into a film with a memorable score by Glass), and Academy Award-winning actress Estelle Parsons will perform with us in this amazing ensemble piece. We will be premiering a work by the outstanding young composer Lisa Bielawa and there will also be guest
musicians Colin Jacobsen, a brilliant violinist, Jesse Blumberg, a great baritone, and Alexandra Montano, an incredible mezzo-soprano who will join me in other works of Glass as well as music of Bach, Chopin and Messiaen. Philip Glass and I will also perform a piano duet from his Orphée and we will both play solo works as well. He will play some of his fantastic piano Etudes and I will play some beautiful works of Chopin and Liszt.

How long have you lived at the Chelsea?
Too long.

The Truth About Those Fancy Hotels

Part III: The Police Investigation (Part I, Part II)

            To save money, I rented a room without a bathroom.  Since I was drinking beer I had to piss frequently, and since the bathroom was at the end of the hall, I had to walk past the woman several times during the night.  The first few times I didn't say anything to her and she didn't seem to recognize me.  But one time, on the way back from the bathroom--I made sure it was on the way back--I just couldn't help myself: "Sure is smoky in here," I said.  Predictably, the woman screamed at me and ran after me again, but this time I had my key out and ready.

            The woman continued to yell about the conspiracy--off and on--until about three in the morning.  Then she finally wore herself out, closed her door, and was silent for the rest of the night.
       

            But she was up at the crack of dawn. “Jesus Christ!” I said as I thrashed around in my bed.  “This shit’s gonna drive me to drink!”  Since I had been up the night before writing--and drinking--her raving hadn’t completely unhinged me then, but it was a different story when I was trying to sleep.  I pictured myself strangling her, shaking her by the neck until her body swung limp and her teeth rattled in her skull.

            "You may kill me," the woman raved, as if she’d read my thoughts, "but you'd better dispose of my body good, because there'll be a police investigation!"

            Well, I thought, at least she seems to have resigned herself to her fate.  I only hoped that somebody would hurry up and gas her to death so I could go back to sleep.  With any luck, the police wouldn't wake me up for questioning.

            And then she started singing God Bless America, over and over again.  She was being ironic, of course, and so it was kind of funny, but I would have much rather slept.  The woman sang poorly, in a hoarse, throaty cackle, and the joke soon wore thin.  Once in a while she would switch to Glory, Glory Hallelujah, and that came as a welcome relief--even though she didn't know all the words.

            But then something occurred to me.  In her blindness, through the haze of the dimly lit halls, what the old woman glimpsed may not have been the past, but rather the future of the Chelsea.  The hotel, like the city itself,  was on the verge of a transformation.  In a year or two the florescent tubes would be gone, shining new globes in their place, as would the linoleum, replaced by inlaid wood.  Soon there wouldn’t be any room for her kind here.  Even now, the old bohemians were dying off, or drifting on.  Rents were going up.  The Chelsea was gradually being gentrified.
            The woman seemed determined to sing all day.  A jackhammer would have been preferable.  A bullet to the head, and then a blissful oblivion.       

            Giving up on the notion of sleep, I put on my clothes and went out to get a cup of coffee.  The woman was leaning against the wall, singing boisterously, but also coughing and sniffling between her verses--probably the result of sleeping with the window open in February.

            Along with the coffee, I picked up some beer and cigarettes and a sandwich so I wouldn’t have to go out again.      

     Back on my floor, the old woman was still in the hallway.  I took a better look at her this time.  Her hair had come out of its curl and was dangling limply, its gray roots having worked their way up during the night.  Her clothes, the same as the day before, were rumpled.  Her make-up was smeared, as if she had slept in it.  She had quit singing for the moment.  She was looking into a small mirror and smearing some kind of black stuff under her eyes.  I didn't speak to her, and she showed no signs of recognizing me from the night before. (Next Week: Part IV Another Sort of Hotel) Ed Hamilton, 2006.

All Tomorrow's Parties: March 13 - 19, 2006

Tuesday, March 14, 10:30 p.m.
Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny invite you to Happy Valley Tuesdays. DJ Larry Tee; Downstairs, DJ Ryan. Show: Julie Atlas Mews. Hosts: Sophia Lamar, Kim Aviance, Andrea, Miranda Moondust & Amanda Lapore. (View video of Amanda Lepore's 2/28/06 Happy Valley performance.)
14 East 27 St., NY NY

Wednesday, March 15, 7:00 p.m.
Ig Publishing will host an event for its brand new anthology PROUD TO BE LIBERAL. Readers include Mark Green, Ted Rall and David Rees. Come celebrate the past, present and bright future of the "L-word."
Housing Works Used Book Cafe, 126 Crosby St., NY NY

Thursday, March 16, 7:30 p.m.
Mark Morris Dance Group presents Four Saints in Three Acts. Four Saints was conceived as a modern opera in 1927 by composer/Hotel Chelsea resident Virgil Thomson and author Gertrude Stein. (Photo: Virgil in his apt. Rita Barros)
Brooklyn Academy of Music, 30 Lafayette Ave., Brooklyn NY

Friday, March 17, 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Judy Linn’s photography is an invitation to the Chelsea Hotel room that Patti Smith and Robert Mapplethorpe began sharing in 1971. Linn’s black and white photography creates a voyeuristic view into the personal lives of these famous names. “Robert Mapplethorpe in bed at the Chelsea, #2” was a photo intended to help Mapplethorpe sell the jewelry he was making and ended up being a stylistic inspiration when he began his own career as a photographer. The playful photo shoot allowed Linn and Smith to experiment with different identities; Smith often liked to dress up as someone else, including Bob Dylan, and expected Linn to do the same. 
Envoy Gallery, 535 W. 22nd St., 6th floor, NY NY

Saturday, March 18, 12:00 noon
Join author Kevin Fitzpatrick on a walking tour devoted to the famed writers of the Algonquin Round Table. The tour covers 40 destinations; among them are the former speakeasies, theaters, offices, homes and hangouts of the Vicious Circle.  Walks are held rain or shine. 
Meet in the Algonquin Hotel lobby, 11:45 AM, 55 West 44th St., NY NY

Sunday, March 19, 12:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Work by recent Hotel Chelsea guest and painter Thomas Olvisen is on view until March 26. Thomas draws inspiration for his work from worn down cars and other materials.  Klaus Gallery, 438 Union Ave., Williamsburg Brooklyn

Daniel Reich's temp space

If you haven't stopped by any of the events at Daniel Reich's temp space, plan to do so in the future.  A few art bloggers were in attendance last Sunday for the opening reception of "Between the Lines," a group show curated by Nick Mauss.  (Photo, Bloggy's flickr group.) More photos at James Wagner's website.

An earlier exhibit, "The Self Esteem Salon," was captured by Nancy Smith, publisher of artloversnewyork.com. 

Tribute to Lee Levine

Lee Levine, long time resident of the Chelsea Hotel, will have a tribute of his lighting designwork at La Mama, 74 East 4th St., Saturday, March 11, 3:00p.m. as part of the Coffee House Chronicles.

Lee died Sept. 22, 2000.  His wife Merle Lister will be talking, hearing audio tape, seeing him in photos and reading tributes from people who worked with him.

Claudio Edinger's book contains a nice photo of Lee & Merle.

DIESEL Channels the Chelsea

The Diesel folks left out an important accessory in their homage to the Hotel Chelsea.   Around here the models accessorize with toliet paper rolls.
Here's what Suzy Menkes had to say about the show:  By the time Grace Jones {a former Chelsea resident} took to the runway, yelling and prancing in a studded leather hooded outfit, Diesel had put out its message: jeans, leather and a whiff of the 1980s. The theme was Manhattan's infamous Chelsea Hotel, which seemed to greet all types, judging by the eclectic mix on the runway. The show had energy but not much direction.  (Source: IHT, Feb. 11, 2006) (Photos: Diesel blog) 

Listen to Patti Smith

Listen to journalist Adam Phillip's recent interview with Patti Smith. Smith also reads from her recently published collection of poems, Auguries of Innocence.  (Source: Voice of America)

Thomas Hallas Øvlisen Dreams of the Chelsea

Danish artist Thomas Hallas Ovlisen was recently in town for the opening of his first solo show.  Of course, he and his family stayed at the Chelsea.  His work includes paintings and sculpture using auto-lacquer and enamel on MDF and styrofoam.

What do you do? I make paintings and sculptures, so far.
How long did you stay at the Chelsea? Only four days - for now.
What inspired you to stay at the Chelsea?
We (wife and I) were looking for a good place to stay with two kids. Not that we thought Hotel Chelsea was a family place, but there is room for everybody including our jet-lagged kids and us. And I guess I know of it from the Andy Warhol era so it seemed like a great place to stay while I was in town for my first solo show - Klaus Von Nichtssagend Gallery, - and then Rufus Wainright just gave a big koncert at the Royal Opera in Copenhagen, where we're from and so it all seemed to come together.

Do you think there is a creative energy in the Chelsea?
For sure. It is magic. The big chandelier in our room had our 6 year old spellbound. The concierge made a little book with her one morning, when she woke up and we weren't quite there yet. But everything, all the dogs, everybody there acceptance, understanding and a sense of coming together.

Do you think staying at the Chelsea affected your creative development?
I don't know, but I am sure it will.

What other creative people at the Chelsea or elsewhere have influenced your development?
Well both Renee Ricard and Lola Schnabel has a painting of mine. Lola directly influenced hers, and Renee advised in a direction I have yet to take, but I think about it ever so often. Dike Blair was my professor at school, my friends Rob Hult, Dan Colen, Anna Tanner, Alex Dodge. I think though mainly my first boss Jytte Ulrich(RIP) - I love you and I know you are proud of me wherever you are.

What’s the best/worst thing that has ever happened to you at the Chelsea?
Hotel Chelsea is the best and worst thing that has ever happened to me. Cisca (6 year old) said it straight out, but I think that we all dream of living there now...

What's your favorite Hotel Chelsea story?
Everything I think. The craziness. The history. Its life. I am sure it is all right there if we could only see it.

Our Paris Correspondent Posts an Exclusive from London

The Chelsea blog’s sparkling Paris correspondent takes us behind the scenes to the Resurrection Blues opening night after party.  She apologizes for the lack of photos, but she was too busy partying.  Seeing how that’s the case, all is forgiven.

Transatlantic glitterati came out in strength to see and support former Hotel Chelsea resident Arthur Miller's play Resurrection Blues at its debut at the Old Vic in London March 3.

Among those who attended the performance and the party afterwards were Maggie Smith, Daniel Day Lewis, Aidan Quinn, Katherine Helmond, Richard E. Grant, Emma Thompson, Emily Watson, Greta Scaachi and Charles Dance, in addition to the old Vic artistic director Kevin Spacey and the play's stars Maximillian Schell, Neve Campbell,  Matthew Modine, James Fox, Jane Adams and Peter Macdonald.  The Altmans, Bob and Kathryn, left the party after a few hours to board a private jet to LA, where Bob was to receive his Lifetime Achievement Oscar on Sunday.

Producer, and long-time Hotel Chelsea resident, Scott Griffin, who was entrusted with this play by Arthur Miller before his death, had a large contingent of fans and friends in attendance.  Pals from North America and Europe travelled to London and included opera singers Lauren Flanagan and Catherine Malifitani, renowned doctor. Marcia Gordon, actress Katherine Helmond, philanthropist Mary Kaplan, writer Maggie Paley and the Chelsea Hotel's Caroline Hansberry.  Caroline's Partner, Sir David Remfry, was unable to attend, but hosted a dinner for Scott and a few friends at the legendary Chelsea Arts Club in London.

The absence of Arnold Weinstein and, of course, Arthur Miller, who died within months of each other in 2005, was profound.

"At The Hotel"

According to an article in The Vancouver Province, the new Canadian TV series, "At The Hotel," is based on the Hotel Chelsea.  "At the Hotel focuses on the lives of a group of staff and residents of the Chateau Rousseau -- which is an obvious, albeit slightly more upscale and far less interesting, version of New York's famed Chelsea Hotel."

Here's the plot: "The Chateau Rousseau, located in some unspecified Canadian city, is one of those metropolitan boutique hotels, a century-old family institution housing a mixture of guests and permanent residents, invariably of the artistic variety. The owner is Lucy Knowlton, an alcoholic, faded grande dame who, like the hotel itself, has seen better times. During her lucid moments, Knowlton - played by renowned stage actress Martha Henry - is battling her money-hungry brother who wants to tear the place down to make way for a shopping mall and condo."

Fellow Canadian Susan Swan should sue the series creator, Ken Finkleman, for stealing her idea.  Here's what she says about the blog: “The Chelsea Blog is one of America’s most exciting Web Sites.  Savvy, Sardonic, and always fascinating, its focus is on the hotels famous and not so famous tenants.  Someone could take its stories and make a hit TV series.”

Be sure to check out the March 28th episode, "She Was Giving Me Head on The Unmade Bed," based on the work of another Canadian who used to live here at the Chelsea, Leonard Cohen.

The Truth About Those Fancy Hotels

Part II: Ghosts Of The Old Hotel  (PART I)

            Eventually someone must have complained—or more likely a lot of people, repeatedly,  because that’s what it would have taken  to get a response.  Anyway, one of the desk clerks came up and confronted the woman while she was in her room.  I recognized his voice: it was a young Chinese man named Joe.  I felt sorry for the poor guy for having to deal with this nut.  He was obviously low man on the totem pole.  He didn't have a very advanced command of the English language, or at least not good enough to talk his way out of this assignment.  Joe knocked on her door and said, "Is there problem?”

            "Damn straight there's a fucking problem!" the woman screamed.

            "What is problem?" Joe asked.

            "Can't you see?!"

            "No,” he said.  Then he made a stab at it:  “The window is open?"

            "The fucking window is open because the fucking room is filled with smoke!  I know that smell: you've been spraying for bugs!  You assholes can't fool me!  My late husband was an exterminator!  I better not wake up in the morning with black eyes!”

            Apparently, she believed that the inhalation of bug spray causes black eyes.  I don't know whether this is true or not.  Maybe she just was making a faulty association, and the black eyes she had received in the past had been from beatings by her late husband, the exterminator.  I could see him now: balding, potbellied, rough and unshaven after a hard day’s work, drifting through the halls in his ectoplasmic fog of  insecticide.

            "No one has sprayed," Joe said.  "I smell nothing."

            "I know the score, you fucking asshole!  I've been around!  I know what goes on in these fancy hotels!"  In her delusional state, the woman believed the Chelsea to be a fancy hotel.

            That was the craziest thing the old woman had said yet.  The hallways of the Chelsea were dimly lit by long florescent tubes, the linoleum in the corridors was worn, the plaster of the walls cracked, the paint peeling, and exposed wires and pipes jutted out from the ceiling.  Inside the rooms was even worse.  The cheap hotel furniture hadn’t been replaced since at least the sixties, and was rotting and falling apart.  The carpets were stained and dirty.  Some of the rooms were better than others, but they were all infested by roaches and mice.  That was another thing that made the exterminator story so funny.  I doubted there had been an exterminator in the place in years.

            It hadn’t always been like that.  The hotel had been built in 1883 as a luxury apartment house, and then soon after that had been converted to a hotel for the big shots of the theatre world, people like Sarah Bernhardt—who reputedly slept in a coffin--and Lillian Russell.  Late at night, in the flickering fluorescent lights, it was kind of hazy in the hallways, and the past had a tendency to bleed through into the present.  Then, if you used your imagination, you could see the lingering traces of the grand old hotel.  The layers of peeling paint hid the fancy woodwork, and here and there a stained glass transom had survived.

            So perhaps the woman was remembering the good old days.  I caught myself thinking that maybe she had lived here as a young woman, perhaps with her late husband, at the time a virile young exterminator in the prime of his life.

            The only problem was that she wasn’t old enough to remember that far back.  As far back as the time of Dylan Thomas and even Thomas Wolfe, the place had been down at the heels.  She would have been young in the fifties or sixties, when the place was a serious flophouse, on the order of a Bowery Hotel.  By that point the luxury suites had long since been chopped up into cubicles, like the one in which I lived.

            "Please do not curse me," Joe requested of the woman.

            "They did this exact same thing to me at the Harold Johnson's!"  That's what she said: Harold Johnson's.  I guess she was under the delusion that that was a fancy hotel too.

            "I am sorry," Joe said.

            "I want another room!  Immediately!"

            "No other rooms are available."

            "I paid my $800!!!"  That was apparently what they were charging her for a week's rent.

            "You can have your money back and go some place else."

            "You're not getting rid of me that easy!"

            Then she abruptly changed the subject.  Your guess is as good as mine on this one.  "And another thing," she screamed, "I want you to turn off this heat!"

            "But it is February," Joe protested."

            "I said no fucking heat!"

            "It is thirty degrees out.  You will freeze."

            "I paid my fucking $800 and I say no heat!"

            Joe went out and got the key that was used to adjust the temperature of the radiator.  He came back and turned the radiator off.  "There," he said, a tone of perverse satisfaction in his voice.  "No heat."

            But Joe wasn't getting off that easily.  The woman returned to her favorite topic: "Can't you see this whole room is filled with smoke?!"

            "You are blind, lady."

            "I'm not fucking blind!  I'm legally blind!  That means I can see things up close, just not far away!  Who told you I was fucking blind?!  I'm not fucking blind, you asshole!"

            "Please, you no curse me!" Joe pleaded.

            "Can't I get a fucking clerk who fucking speaks fucking English?!"

            "You no curse me, please!"

            "You fucking foreign asshole!"

            Joe finally got fed up with this abuse.  "You are crazy lady!" he yelled at her.

            "I'm not crazy!"

            "YOU ARE!!!"

            As Joe walked away down the hall, the woman came out of her room and screamed after him, "I better not wake up tomorrow with black eyes!"  Next Week Part III: The Police Investigation (Copyright 2006, Ed Hamilton)

All Tomorrow's Parties - March 6 - 12

Tuesday, March 7, 10:30 p.m.
Just in case you live on some other planet and haven't heard by now, Susanne Bartsch and Kenny Kenny host Happy Valley Tuesday each and every Tuesday.  This week, DJ Larry Tee, downstairs; DJ Ryan & Kim Ann, show: ROSE WOOD
hosts: Sophia Lamar, Kim Aviance, Andrea, Miranda Moondust & Amanda Lepore
14 East 27th St., NY NY

Thursday, March 9, 10:00 p.m.
Celebrate the writing and life of Charles Bukowski on the anniversary of his death.  His work will be read by Roger Bonair Agard, Steve Cannon, Steve Dalachinsky, Bonny Finberg, Galinsky, John S. Hall, Bob Holman, David Huberman, Tsaurah Litzky, Big Mike, Thaddeus Rutkowski, Danny Shot, Moonshine Shorey & Deanna Zandt.  Open Reading follows.  Bring a poem of Bukowski's to read!  According to Tsaurah, Bukowski wrote several poems while staying here at the Chelsea.  Thanks for the tip.  We did not know.
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, between Bleecker & Houston NYC

Sunday, March 12, 11:00 a.m - 4:00 p.m.
For the first time, the results of abstract expressionist painter Stanley Twardowicz's candid portraits of his longtime friend, Beat author Jack Kerouac - can be seen in a handsome portfolio.
The oversized book, which gathers memories and glossy 8-by-10 images within its intricately folded pages, costs $4,950. Only 250 will be handmade. An edition is on view at the Art League of Long Island, part of an exhibit called "On Paper/Of Paper" that features imaginative work by 10 artists.
Gallery Talk & Poetry Reading with George Wallace at 2:00 p.m. today, which is the anniversary of Jack Kerouac's birthday.
Art League of Long Island, 107 E. Deer Park Rd., Dix Hills Long Island

If you have an appropriate event for "All Tomorrow's Parties," please send information to [email protected]