AFTR/IMG · ROOM · THE-SAINT · CONF VERIFIED
The Saint
Overview
Members-only gay men's disco (1980–88) beneath a 76-foot planetarium dome in the former Fillmore East, the defining room of New York's gay 'circuit' nightlife and the birthplace of the Black Party.
The Saint opened September 20, 1980, created by Bruce Mailman in the former Fillmore East and conceived with designer Charles Terrell as a members-only gay men's club. Its centerpiece was a roughly 76-foot perforated-aluminum planetarium dome concealing some 500 speakers, which opened at the peak of the night to lower a mirror ball beneath a Spitz star projector. Membership ran roughly $125–300 a year, drawing a crowd from the Fire Island Pines and the earlier Flamingo set, an overwhelmingly white, affluent 'clone' gay male scene that earned the room its 'Vatican of disco' reputation. Saturday residents (Alan Dodd opening; Jim Burgess, Roy Thode, Robbie Leslie, Michael Fierman, Warren Gluck, Sharon White, Terry Sherman, Chuck Parsons, Howard Merritt) pioneered long-arc programming (building to a peak, then 'morning music,' then soulful 'sleaze') on one of the era's most powerful systems. AIDS devastated the membership (so pervasively that it was called the 'Saint disease'), and the club closed with a roughly 40-hour final party, April 30–May 2, 1988. Mailman (d. 1994, AIDS) continued events as Saint-at-Large; its signature Black Party, photographed by Robert Mapplethorpe in the early '80s, survives to this day, having moved to Roseland and later venues.
Oral histories & archival media
Under the dome at The Saint
First-hand accounts of The Saint — the planetarium dancefloor, the membership, and the AIDS years — are sought for this record.
Record a memoryArchive plates
Plates fill in as scans clear rights
Sonic profile
Cultural role
DJs, promoters & people
Bruce Mailman
Owner · Creator; also ran the New St. Marks Baths; founded Saint-at-Large. Died 1994.
Charles Terrell
Designer · Dome / cosmos concept ('Terrel' in some sources, needs review).
Alan Dodd
Resident DJ · Opening night.
Jim Burgess
Resident DJ · Classical / film interludes; played the final party.
Roy Thode
Resident DJ · Died 1982; cause disputed.
Robbie Leslie
Resident DJ
Michael Fierman
Resident DJ · Spun the final White Party, Feb 1988.
Sharon White
First woman to headline both The Saint and the Paradise Garage · One of the few Black, lesbian DJs of the scene.
Warren Gluck
Resident DJ
Terry Sherman
Resident DJ
Chuck Parsons
Resident DJ
Howard Merritt
DJ
Sean Buchanan
Resident DJ · Reported first Saint DJ to die of AIDS, 1985 (also spelled Shaun, needs review).
Robert Mapplethorpe
Performer · Photographed Black Party guests in the early 1980s.
Stephen Pevner
Promoter · Carried on Saint-at-Large.
Susan Morabito
Circuit and house DJ; first woman to headline the Saint-at-Large Black Party · First woman to headline the Saint-at-Large Black Party.
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Parties & residencies
The Black Party
Annual leather/kink party; Mapplethorpe-photographed; survives as the flagship Saint-at-Large event.
The White Party
The final White Party, February 1988, spun by Michael Fierman.
Closing Party
~40 hours, April 30–May 2, 1988; roughly 3,000 attended.
New Year's Eve 1981/82
A celebrated Roy Thode set.