Original poster for a New Year's Eve party hosted by The Saint At Large, 1996

New York: The Saint at Large, 1996. Vintage poster advertising a 1996 New Year's Eve party held by The Saint at Large at The Roxy in New York City.

Founded in 1980 by impresario Bruce Mailman, The Saint was housed in a three-story building formerly occupied by East Village concert hall the Fillmore East. The Saint was seasonal, open two nights a week, and was members-only for its first five years of operation, initially courting the largely white, wealthy A-list guests of its Manhattan predecessor, Flamingo. The Saint's gracious and spectacular environs—featuring a 4,800-square-foot circular dance floor, a system of over 1500 lights, and an advanced, planetarium-style star projector—attracted crowds in droves, and the club soon established itself as the top dance venue in New York for gay men.

As the 1980s progressed, The Saint's clientele began diminishing as New York was hit by the AIDS crisis, and the club began struggling to bring people in. Staff began cracking down on the uninhibited sexual activity that had once characterized the venue, and in 1985 the club began to allow mixed (i.e. straight and gay) crowds on Friday nights. The Saint also began hosting women-only events the following year, but to no avail: the club continued to lose money, and in 1988, Mailman announced the club's closure.

Mailman continued to produce events under the name The Saint At Large, a practice carried on by organizers Susan Tomkin and Steve Casko after Mailman's death in 1994. The Saint At Large continues to host yearly parties today, and also hosts The Saint Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving artifacts of New York's LGBTQ nightlife and culture of the late twentieth century.

28 x 20 inches, folded. Very Good plus, lightly creased, with pinholes at the top two corners.

[Book #167704]