Dec. 8, 1978 Gusto Nightlife story: Harvey and Corky's Stage One

 

With the Century Theater shuttered, Harvey Weinstein and Corky Berger head off into a new venture.

Dec. 8, 1978 

Harvey and Corky’s Stage One

         Watch for the final double bill in the old Century Theater next week – the wrecking ball and the bulldozer. Rest assured, however, that the memories, the guiding spirit and even a few of the fixtures of the grandly decrepit downtown movie house and rock concert hall are safely ensconced in the suburbs.

         They’re out here near the metropolitan area’s new commercial epicenter – Main and Transit in Clarence. The Century’s old brass balcony railing fences off a raised section of tables. Shining down on the new T-shaped marble bar are the white and gold stained-glass light covers from underneath the balcony. Hanging from the low peak of the ceiling are three antique chandeliers.

         This is Harvey and Corky’s Stage One. Formerly Patrick Henry’s. Formerly the Poorhouse East. Harvey and Corky’s goal: To transform this scruffy, financially listless, 500- to 700-capacity rock music club into a snappy talent showcase, a place on the level with Toronto’s El Mocambo, Cleveland’s Agora and New York City’s Bottom Line.

         Gone are the days when a show in the 2,900-seat Century Theater would pay for heating that old barn of a place. Currently, a concert that size is a high-risk proposition. Costs are rising and the ticket-buying public is getting selective. Going the club route means lower attendance, but expenses are lower too.

         Moreover, the record companies often will give an assist by picking up part of the tab for talent and advertising. It’s one way, sometimes the only way, to introduce an unknown to the market. And then there’s music promotion diplomacy. The promoter who books an act into town first has the inside track on future bookings. The road from Stage One leads to Kleinhans Music Hall, Shea’s Buffalo and Memorial Auditorium.

         Unlike the Century Theater, Stage One doesn’t have a big marquee, which makes it hard to spot next to that wholesale produce market in the Main-Transit Plaza. Habituees of the old Patrick Henry’s will notice there’s a new window looking into a new sound booth next to the old front door. Open that door and there’s a turnstile and an admission charge which varies from night to night, depending on the attraction.

         The most striking change inside isn’t the pictures of the rock stars or the mirror reproductions of hit albums or the freshly-affixed glory of the Century Theater or even the new bar. It’s the wide-open expanse of floor space.

         “They took out all the tables,” one young Patrick Henry’s regular complained. “Now there’s this big gulf between the stage and the bar that nobody wants to go into.”

         Once the crowd builds, the gulf evaporates. Usually that happens by 11 or 11:30 p.m. On busy nights, the floor is packed with spectators standing to watch the performers, severely restricting the view from back near the bar.

         The T-shaped bar resolves one of the biggest ordeals at the old Patrick Henry’s – elbowing up to the counter to order a drink. There are waitresses, as well. Two draft beers are offered and the choice of premium whiskies seemed hit and miss, at least during the first two weeks of operation. Still, it isn’t as if they brought the old bar from the Century, with its bottom-shelf booze and all. Here, at least for the first two weeks, the bartenders were pouring a generous shot on the rocks for $1.50.

         Thank heaven they haven’t brought the Augean restrooms from the Century either. Restrooms apparently weren’t on the list during the $20,000 remodeling last month. The tiny game room and the stuffy dressing room are slated to be swallowed up in event of future expansion.

         Manager of the place is Danny Berger, Corky’s broad-shouldered older brother. He formerly was bartender and manager for Gabriel’s Gate in Hamburg.

         “He’s a hell of a nice guy,” says Brad Grey, who oversees the talent. The youthful Grey, who’s due to get his degree in communications management at UB next May, is executive director of Harvey and Corky Productions. Booking the national acts is Rich Saltus, last year’s concert director at UB and now head of People’s Productions, a semi-autonomous agency within the Harvey and Corky organization.

         The format Grey has worked out involves a little bit of a lot of things. For the general rock crowd, there are three nights reserved for top local bands – bassist Bill Sheehan with hard-hitting Light Years every Monday, followed by Cock Robin every Tuesday doing fresh, crisp copies of the latest hits. These days that means most of the new Billy Joel album. Fridays will feature a variety of groups.

         Then there are specialty nights. Wednesday promises to become sort of a party-down situation, with free admission for women and a complementary glass of champagne too, while the sound system serves up everything from Donna Summer to Fleetwood Mac. Thursday provides a showcase for new local talent, which involves performers signing a one-night-only contract with Fred Casserta and Starstruck Productions. Starstruck handles the Thursday details. Sundays are reserved for national recording groups, like Canada’s Guess Who (minus Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman) this Sunday.

         Grey’s pride and joy is comedy night Saturday. It’s proven to be Stage One’s most significant success. The first two weeks found full-house crowds, seated at a floor full of tables, cracking up at the antics of the Buffalo Comedy Workshop and a trio of standup comics from the Comedy Store in Los Angeles. Guest hosts have been equally inspired choices: WKBW-TV news anchorman Irv Weinstein and county Democratic chairman Joseph Crangle.

         This Saturday the emcee is WKBW-TV newsman Don Polec, with the Buffalo Comedy Workshop and guest Kelly Rogers from Catch a Rising Star and the Improv in New York City. Saturday’s tariff is $3.50 admission and a two-drink minimum for shows at 8 p.m. and midnight. Early arrivals who stand outside hoping for a good table are wasting their time. Tables are assigned by phone reservations in advance. Last week there were reports of overbooking.

         To this reporter, who spent half a dozen nights taking the measure of the place, Stage One is a grand vision that’s not yet come into focus. Granted, the first two weeks were beset with transition difficulties and staff changes. And, of course, the nightly format has not jelled. As a result, it’s been boom or bust. Mostly bust.

         Take Monday. Monday with Light Years used to be the biggest night of the week for Patrick Henry’s. Now it’s anemic. Wednesday night is sheer rigor mortis. Old patrons have been caught off-guard. Would there be a dress code, they wondered. Would you have to be 21 to get in? Rather than find out the answer (there’s been no change in policy), they’ve stayed away.

         Harvey and Corky have succeeded in bringing their concert hall stars out after the show. Charlie Daniels stopped by. So did Hall and Oates. But when it comes down to bringing fans out for national acts at the club, the record has been dismal. Wet Willie and Pure Prairie League both lost money at the door, even though a seasoned group like Pure Prairie League can generate incredible excitement in a club setting. The crowd that night urged them on to a delirious hour-long encore.

         Despite its intents as a showcase, Stage One falls short of being the perfect setting for talent.

         “It’s long, it’s ugly and down at the end, you have a bunch of people standing up drinking,” said one performer. “It has the air of impromptu, like a fire hall set up for a wedding reception.”

         The Buffalo Comedy Workshop was obliged to change costumes in the sound booth. Members of Light Years are unanimous in their opinion of the acoustics. Miserable. “It’s all those hard surfaces,” Bill Sheehan observes.

         Nevertheless, the Stage One showcase is an idea whose time has come. Given the right promotion, it ought to succeed. If it doesn’t, the major obstacle may turn out to be its size. On the good nights, the club is not big enough. Maybe they can solve that by going back to the Century Theater for one more souvenir. They should transplant the balcony too.

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IN THE PHOTO: The Stage One logo, as depicted in Gusto.

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FOOTNOTE: Stage One had a relatively short run despite hosting some notable showcases by future stars early in their careers, such as The Police, who sold out two shows there in March 1979, and U2, who played before a handful of people when they opened for local band Talas, who were just back from a cross-country tour with Van Halen, on the Monday night that John Lennon was shot in December 1980. The club closed abruptly at the end of September 1983. By that time, Harvey Weinstein's focus was turning to movies.

Meanwhile, Brad Grey, the erstwhile executive director of Harvey and Corky Productions, went on to much bigger things as an artist manager and TV producer in Hollywood and then chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. He died in 2017.

Rock fans all over the world know bass-playing legend Billy Sheehan. After his sojourn with Light Years, he returned to Talas and from there went on to work with UFO, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth and his own groups, Mr. Big and Niacin. Mr. Big currently is in Europe on a farewell tour that will come to Buffalo to play June 6 in Electric City, the showcase club that currently occupies the old Tralf in Theater Place.