Stayin' alive in Hollywood.

54 director Mark Christopher talks about his first feature film--and its gay content

It's been almost 20 years since Studio 54's glorious heyday, but many of us who were too young--or too square--to get in are still smarting from never having delighted in the dizzying decadence of the club. This summer we'll all get a taste of what it: was like when Miramax Films releases 54.

The movie is directed by Mark Christopher, whose critically acclaimed short films The Dead Boys Club and Alkali, Iowa first put him on the Hollywood map. Brought up in Fort Dodge, Iowa, the 36-year-old gay director describes the disco era as an age of "blissful ignorance, naive decadence," which is precisely what attracted him to the subject. "I've always loved disco, and I wanted to do a coming-of-age story- set in that time because I came of age then," he says.

The film tells the story of a young stud from New Jersey (Ryan Phillippe) who lands a job as a bartender at the Manhattan nightspot. In the process he navigates his way through various sexual and emotional entanglements with a coat-check girl and aspiring singer (Salma Hayek) and her busboy husband (Breckin Meyer).

As for the film's exploration of the gay aspects of the legendary 54 scene, including the sexuality of co-owner Steve Rubell (Mike Myers), nothing's set in stone. Christopher was still editing at the time of this interview.

When did you first become interested in the subject of Studio 54?

The genesis of the idea dates back to when I'd go to the local bookstore in Fort Dodge in the '70s and read about it in the magazine After Dark. That was how I knew about it. Because other than that, I didn't really see it reported on.

Did you ever get to go to 54?

In the '80s. It was a different incarnation then. It was less fabulous.

How much does actual fact come into play in the movie, particularly in terms of Mike Myers's portrayal of Steve Rubell?

Steve's the only character who's real. Storywise, fact doesn't come into play at all except in dealing with the decline of the club.

But Rubell wasn't openly gay during 54's heyday...

No, he wasn't. As played by Mike, he's a little more openly gay. It's a weird question because at Studio 54 there weren't really labels. It was [one of the first places] where that straight-gay mix happened. Gay people weren't only tolerated--they were celebrated.

Most people tend to think of Studio 54 as this celebrity hangout, yet your film focuses on one of the club's bartenders. Why?

It's not about Liza and Halston and all of them. It's the point of view of the mortals and not of the disco gods. But the funny thing about Studio 54 is that the bartenders were so much at the center of everything; they were at the core of desire. And they became sort of famous. I remember speaking to a former bartender who said that someone ran up to him on the streets of Paris and asked him for his autograph.

With the whole disco revival in full force now, it seems as if some folks are playing down the gay elements in their own reinterpretations of the era. How gay is Studio 54?

Basically, they're straight characters. There's a lot of gay background in the same way that there's the celebrity background. It's not gay like The Dead Boys Club or Alkali, Iowa.

I assumed that since you had directed two short films explicitly portraying gay experience, 54 would also portray gay experience in a direct, realistic way.

I just don't know how much of it there will be. It's a very sexy movie that has a lot of flesh, and gayness is in the air. But as far as how it fits into the stow, I can't say yet because we're still cutting. So I don't know what works or not.

Did you have any problems with Miramax asking you to tone it down or "degay" it?

It's all about getting the movie to work. It's such an edgy movie for a wide audience.

But having come from the world of independent filmmaking, and having made two shorts with gay content, did you feel you had to tone down your sensibility to adhere to the constraints of making a big movie?

No. During shooting, Miramax really left me alone. They came and supported me, and it was great. But making a low-budget movie for art houses is different from [making] something that's for a wider release. I love old movies, and old movies were really about a studio system. It's fascinating because times have not changed. Studios are studios. In terms of Miramax, 54 is a big movie. It's not the independent world.

It sounds as if you're saying that many directors have to "go through" certain things when they work with a studio. I'm assuming they're not positive things.

I mean all the fun you have to go through.

I understand your next project is The Mayor of Castro Street for HBO. I remember that Robin Williams was once supposed to play Harvey Milk.

I can't talk about the cast, but there are some amazing actors who are interested. Everyone is interested in this project because it's such an amazing stow.

From Steve Rubell to Harvey Milk. That's quite a leap you're making.

I know, but that's the fun part.