Michael Fesco Papers
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Abstract
Michael Fesco (1934-2019) was a Broadway dancer and major figure in New York City's gay nightlife scene. From 1974 to 1981, he owned and managed The Flamingo, New York City's first exclusively gay disco. The club was located at the corner of Houston and Broadway and was only open to club members. In addition to regular dance nights, The Flamingo hosted themed parties with elaborate set pieces and themed decor. After closing The Flamingo in 1981, Fesco remained active in the gay nightlife scene and hosted events at other venues, including Studio 54. The Michael Fesco Papers (dated 1958-2007, bulk dates 1974-1982) document Fesco's career in theater and nightlife. The bulk of the materials are related to The Flamingo and document the club's origins, annual theme parties, and eventual closure in 1981. These materials include photographs, posters, correspondence, invitations, member newsletters, audio recordings, and a small selection of artifacts, including buttons, matches, and a lighter. Fesco's Broadway career is documented with correspondence, a handbill, and one scrapbook, and his post-Flamingo work in nightlife is documented by posters, invitations, and a second scrapbook.
Biographical Note
Michael Fesco (1934-2019) was a Broadway dancer and major figure in New York City's gay nightlife scene. He moved to New York City in 1958 to study ballet and worked as a dancer in Broadway productions. In 1969, he took a summer job working at a nightclub in Cherry Grove on Fire Island, where he later designed and opened the Ice Palace. At the Ice Palace, Fesco focused on dance music and regularly employed DJs, something that was unusual at the time. He also created the "tea dance" to attract customers to the club on typically slow Sunday afternoons. In 1973, he decided to focus on gay nightlife in Manhattan, and he opened The Flamingo in 1974, where he continued to employ DJs, host regular dance nights, and produce themed parties until 1981. The Flamingo was a members-only club located on the corner of Houston and Broadway and was one of the first discos explicitly created for gay men. Fesco did freelance event planning and promotion both before and after operating The Flamingo, using the company name "Michael Fesco Presents" in the 1970s and "Michael Fesco Productions" beginning in the 1980s. He had long-term relationships with the singing group Labelle and drag performer Lynne Carter, both of whom he worked with throughout the 1970s and 1980s under both company names. In the early 1980s, many Michael Fesco Presents parties were at Studio 54, and Fesco later planned parties at other clubs, including Club West End and The Roxy. He also created "Sea Tea" parties in the late 1990s, which were tea dances held on boats sailing around Manhattan. In addition to tea dances, Fesco planned annual Halloween, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and season opening and closing parties, as well as parties with themes including "Tropicana," "Tattooed Cowboy," "Black Party," "White Party," "Follies," and "Carnival."
Arrangement
The materials in this collection have been grouped by topic and arranged in chronological order.
Scope and Contents
The Michael Fesco Papers (dated 1958-2007, bulk dates 1975-1982) contain materials documenting Michael Fesco's career as a Broadway dancer, nightclub owner, and party producer. The collection documents gay nightlife in New York City in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the emergence of exclusive gay membership clubs during that period.
This collection is primarily focused on The Flamingo, the gay, members-only nightclub that Fesco owned and operated from 1974 to 1981. Fesco's time operating The Flamingo is documented through the Flamingo Flash newsletter, press clippings, party invitations, posters, correspondence, a list of members, and ephemera, including napkins, buttons, matches, and a lighter. There are also photographs and slides that depict performances, party sets, and renovations at The Flamingo, and show prominent party guests, including Andy Warhol, Divine, fashion model Norma Jean, and artist Victor Hugo. The collection also contains slides showing an early Calvin Klein fashion show which was held at the Flamingo in 1975. Fesco regularly employed DJs, and this collection includes audio recordings of sets by Howard Merrit and Armando Galvez on magnetic sound tape. He also hosted exhibitions at The Flamingo for artists including Richard Karowski, Joe Minimitello, and Michel Lablais.
Some photographs taken at Flamingo parties and events contain nudity. Photographic slides in box 5, folder 24 include images of sex acts.
Michael Fesco's career in theater is documented with correspondence, a hand bill, photographs of him performing in a 1966 production of Oklahoma!, and a scrapbook that contains news clipping and copies of Actor's Equity contracts. The collection also includes a flyer for a party planned by Fesco at the Ice Palace on Fire Island. Fesco's freelance party planning, including his work with Labelle and Lynne Carter, are documented in photographs, party invitations, event tickets, promotional materials, and press clippings, many of which he placed in a second scrapbook.
The Michael Fesco Papers also include slides showing aspects of Fesco's personal life, such as the renovation of his Brooklyn house and vacations with friends.
Subjects
Donors
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date; Michael Fesco Papers; MSS 602; box number; folder number or item identifier; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Donated by Dougie Meyer in August 2019; the accession number associated with this gift is 2020.034.
Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact Fales Library and Special Collections, special.collections@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.
Appraisal
In 2024, pornographic slides were removed from the collection. Unlike The Flamingo party slides depicting sex acts, these pictures were not taken in public and the subjects' faces were showing. They were removed protect the privacy of the subjects.
About this Guide
Processing Information
At the time of accessioning, materials were rehoused in archival boxes and folders, maintaining their original order. Oversized items were removed from their frames. Materials were described on the collection-level with a box-level inventory.
In 2024, an archivist grouped materials by topic, arranged them cronologically, and assigned file titles. Unnecessary Mylar enclosures were removed and slides were housed in protective sheets. Small paper items, such as membership cards and raffle tickets, were placed in acid-free envelopes within folders. Folded materials were unfolded and placed in appropriate sized housing. Materials in a scrapbook were removed from the scrapbook pockets and placed in archival folders, but are described as one intellectual file. Oversized newsprint and ephemera were sent to preservation for housing, and audio media was labeled with individual identifiers. Actor's Equity contracts that contained personal identifiable information were photocopied and the photocopies were redacted and retained in the collection. The original contracts were discarded.
