Picture it: you’re Lady Gaga.
You’re relaxing in your private space backstage before a performance. You warm up your vocals looking out at the New York skyline, high enough so the paparazzi can’t get to you. At that moment, the lights and sounds of your star-studded hometown are your only accompaniment. The illuminated marble bar – dressed up in black and gold – is stocked with your favorite alcohol, Jameson whiskey. You pour yourself a drink. You’re almost ready to provide the event entertainment for the evening.
Prior to this, you arrived through a separate entrance.
You’re whisked past behind-the-scenes prep straight to your VIP lounge, with no possibility of running into eager spectators beforehand. The same goes for the back-of-house hallways you use to access the stage (no spoiling the performance before it happens!). There, your band waits, including an aerialist trumpet player hanging from the ceiling (as long as we’re imagining, though totally achievable at The Glasshouse).
“I can’t wait to do an event there, just so I can use the VIP lounge.” – Ryan Hill
You put on your peacock feather crown and make your entrance, surrounded on both sides by the glittering city lights as your backdrop. At least for the first song, anyway. For this event, you’ll have several stages throughout the space, each with its own lighting and sound setup. You’ll even perform on a terrace overlooking downtown Manhattan and the Hudson River. But that’s no problem. Entertainment is a breeze at The Glasshouse.
The VIP lounge at The Glasshouse
“I can’t wait to do an event there, just so I can use the VIP lounge,” says Ryan Hill of Apotheosis Events, whose larger-than-life events include all of the Hamilton premieres and the opening night fetes for The Cher Show and West Side Story on Broadway.
“So often what happens is that I’m working on events for a television show or a film or a Broadway show that has massive marquee names, and I have to cordon off a section of the party and make that into the headliner’s lounge, obscuring it with some potted plants and things like that to give them some level of privacy.”
He’s even had to do this for Cher.
“The Glasshouse allows me to give that person their own party, to have a private moment with their guest, and to address any security concerns.”
Not just a pretty space
The green rooms are for more than talent.
“For a premiere, often what I am tasked with creating is not just a party, but a space where the PR, advertising and marketing teams can meet to discuss reviews and have meetings,” Hill says.
“In the past, I have shoved advertising and PR and marketing teams into tiny makeshift offices. I have had them behind rope and stanchion in the hallways.”
The bottom line? He’s just excited about all of the thought that has gone into designing the event space for entertainment.
“I have had to do a step and repeat for the cast to arrive outside of the venue, in the parking garage on the street because it doesn’t fit into the venue,” he adds.
“Or I have to build a coat check outside so I can use the coat check area for press. I’m constantly being forced to be creative. The great thing about The Glasshouse is that there’s so much well-thought-out ancillary space that I don’t have to make those kinds of decisions.”
And that goes for the staff as well.
“I also have to think about where my waiters are going to set all their stuff down. When I walk into The Glasshouse and I see the separate locker room for waiters and staff I’m like, ‘Finally.’”
Style and substance
Performers will especially appreciate the conveniences.
“I’m so glad that they thought about the talent end of things,” says Erik Marshall of Hank Lane Music, a Glasshouses-preferred vendor that provides live event entertainment including bands, DJs and novelty acts. Its roster includes E Street Band drummer and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Max Weinberg.
Marshall himself has been in the business for more than 30 years as a performer.
“The away-from-the-crowds access, the large freight elevator which allows for quicker load-in, the separate entrances, the green rooms – it’s built for what we do, and it allows us to focus on making the magic we are making on the stage, instead of worrying so much about the behind-the-scenes logistics.
“It allows us to focus on making the magic we are making on the stage.” – Erik Marshall
“Even the mixing position was well thought out, from an audio perspective. It’ll be much easier for us to focus on the performance, to sound check and to load in and out. Glasshouses has done a lot of the work for us already.”
For performers, it’s also thrilling to play in a venue created especially for what they do. “The Glasshouse feels like you’re in a place that does concerts, in a place that does high-production shows,” Marshall says. “The band gets excited about it too.”
Tech talent
For shows, the space’s flexibility is a major plus, explains Darren Olarsch, President of On the Move, which curates live music and unique entertainment.
“Sometimes, we’ll have to build a stage or convert an area that’s not a prime position. The ‘black box’, I call it. But the tech installation capabilities at The Glasshouse are amazing,” he says.
“I’m so excited to see how we can utilize the abundance of rigging points available throughout the space. That is huge, because we do a lot of aerial and installations that require motors and things from above. Not just for talent, but for tech.”
But it always comes back to the spectacular amenity spaces, with the VIP lounge and green rooms each including a private restroom and shower.
“The VIP lounge and green rooms are ridiculous, the nicest in the industry.” – Darren Olarsch
Everyone from Paul McCartney to RuPaul will pause to admire themselves in the glamorous, Hollywood-esque vanity lighting, where there’s power enough to support the multiple glam squads of the Kardashians, where the wi-fi and streaming ensure you don’t miss a thing and where the marble-trimmed private showers and restrooms feel especially luxurious.
If you’re not a star, you’ll definitely feel like one (pro tip: We hear stars drink Jameson).
“The VIP lounge and green rooms are ridiculous, the nicest in the industry,” Olarsch says. “They will blow away any artist that comes.”
