Frank Sinatra, Sting, Slow, a steakhouse and even a few inquests.
No, they’re not a mishmash of elements behind a Jeopardy question. Instead, they are disparate parts of the ever-evolving story of the Penthouse Nightclub, which once again transforms itself this Friday, May 18 with the return of live entertainment of the non-exotic dancing variety for the first time in at least two decades.
Independent theatre company Seven Tyrants Theatre has taken over the roughly 5,000 square feet of space above the nightclub, which will play host to weekly music, comedy and theatre nights starting this week.
The new digs will be called Tyrant Studios.
“We’re after anyone who is looking for really excellent content when it comes to live theatre, live music and professional comedy in Vancouver — that, I think, is a pretty large umbrella,” said Seven Tyrants Theatre co-artistic director David Thomas Newham.
The studio will start off with thematic, weekend-only entertainment: Fridays are for jazz, Saturdays feature live comedy and Sundays will include stripped-down sets of unplugged tunes.
This weekend’s offerings include comedic bits by Juno award-winner Ivan Decker, Sophie Buddle and Myles Anderson, while the music comes by way of the Tim Sars Trio, Two Apple Tobacco, Jess Me, Celine Chandro and Brian Africa. The space they’ll be performing in is spread across two rooms, with a capacity of roughly 50 seats each.
Save for a recent 10-day residency by reformed Vancouver underground legends Slow, the space has been relatively vacant over the last 20 years. Some film and TV projects were filmed there, including Da Vinci’s Inquest, and the rooms were steakhouse in the 1970s.
The ’50s and ’60s saw the space used as a quasi after-hours club that attracted the likes of Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. An antique piano in the room has been played by Sting and Oscar Peterson.
The venue’s history could be looked at as both a blessing and a curse, given patrons enter the joint through the same doors that lead to the exotic dancing portion of the building. But a dry run of theatre shows used a test case in February and March suggested otherwise.
“I was so surprised by that,” Newham said. “I assumed the cliché would be that people wouldn’t want to come in, but I actually think many people want to come in and check this out. They just need a reason to come down here.”
Established in 2007, Seven Tyrants Theatre has been a bit nomadic prior to this year. Newham and company had rented theatre spaces across the city before arriving at inevitable cost pressures that ate up too much of the company’s bottom line. A member of the company’s board of directors knows the Penthouse owners, the Filippone family, and the plan was hatched earlier this year.
While shows are slated for weekends only throughout the summer, Newham’s expansion plans include five nights’ worth of weekly theatre programming on top of tunes and comedy.
And despite the death knell dealt to countless venues in recent years, Newham believes his new venture has staying power.
“We’re in this for the long haul,” he said. “We’re opening our doors on the 18th and we hope to keep them open indefinitely. The plan is to have as much live entertainment of a high calibre as possible happening up here on as many nights of the year as possible.”
Tickets for this weekend’s shows are available online at tyrantstudios.com.
@JohnKurucz
