54 Dining Table Set
"The 1970s can get a bad rap," says Mark Ricker, the production designer on the new Netflix limited series Halston, "but there was a very chic, sophisticated, textural sense of style in the era that we really tried to recreate—and I think we were successful."
They had to be, considering so much of impact the series—which stars Ewan McGregor as the designer whose story unfolds against a backdrop of disco-era excess—depends on how it looks. Locations like Halston's Upper East Side townhouse, the Palace of Versailles, and Studio 54 were all necessary, and getting them just right was integral to the series' success.
JOJO WHILDEN/NETFLIX
Some of the locations that Halston used are just what they appear, while others are a work of design magic. The designer's Montauk compound, for example, was recreated elsewhere on Long Island, an old suite of Ralph Lauren offices in Midtown were converted to apartments for Liza Minnelli and Calvin Klein, and Brooklyn's Prospect Park Boathouse stood in for a Parisian hotel lobby. Even Halston's beloved orchids, which pop up everywhere in the series, weren't exactly what they seemed: "We used the same orchids everywhere," Ricker says. "Luckily orchids can be brilliantly faked. We spent money on them, but we used them everywhere."
Putting together this puzzle is part of what made Halston appealing for the designer, who previously worked on projects including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Coastal Elites. "When the project was brought to me, I was interested for all of the obvious reasons," Ricker says. "I was a specific moment of a period that I hadn't done, and with iconic places that I wanted to get right." How did he do it? We find out, below.
Olympic Tower
ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/NETFLIX
To portray Halston's legendary offices at Manhattan's Olympic Tower, the series hoped to film in the actual building. But since Halston's offices were the only ones in the building to have double-height ceilings, it became apparent that filming on location wasn't the best option.
"Olympic Tower was so specific, and we build it as a sound-stage set," Ricker says. "Halston's office, where his corner desk was, was what we had the most photos of, so we replicated that."
The room included furniture inspired by pieces seen in vintage photos and video, and to situate the space, miniature versions of the spires of St. Patrick's Cathedral were constructed to be viewed through the windows behind Halston's desk. "The real places were so fantastic," Ricker says, "that we really just wanted to create them accurately."
The Townhouse
ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/NETFLIX
Halston's Paul Rudolph-designed townhouse sits at 101 East 63rd Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side and, on screen, plays host to some of the series' most important moments. But getting the minimal, luxurious space just right required a bit of ingenuity.
"I assumed we would shoot in the actual townhouse because it was a useable location for a long time," Ricker says, "but I believe Tom Ford bought it in the interim and it wasn't available to us. Then, I assumed we'd build it on stage, but there wasn't the space to do something of that scale. That was a high-wire act; I thought, how the hell will we find a location that makes sense for this?"
Luckily, a location scout for the series found a private home in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook that fit the bill. "I saw photos and said, 'take me there, immediately,'" Ricker says. "It didn't look anything like the townhouse, but it had the right bones so that if they could make the deal, we could bring the details of Halston's home into the location. It's not an exact copy—those who know the Rudolph house will know the difference—but I don't think anybody watching it will question the choices we made."
The Palace of Versailles
ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/NETFLIX
One of Halston's most dramatic episodes plays out against a very recognizable location: the Palace of Versailles, where a now-legendary fashion show was held in 1973 pitting American designers against their French contemporaries. At first, the series considered actually shooting at the palace, but options a bit closer to home are what ended up on screen.
"Initially we were talking about going to Versailles, and I was certainly on board for that, but then somebody suggested to me this old, grand 1920s movie palace in Jersey City," Ricker says. "The lobby of that theater is where we ended up creating the auditorium where the Battle of Versailles show happened. We built the stage there, and then went to Tarrytown's Music Hall, and all of the actual staging took place there." Also in the mix: a mansion in Yonkers with a French chateau feel that stood in for outdoor scenes. "Those locations all cut together created something fantastic," Ricker says. "Half of my job was convincing the producers that there were no other options."
Studio 54
ATSUSHI NISHIJIMA/NETFLIX
While the building the housed the legendary nightclub is still standing—it's currently home to a Broadway theater—the production used some other New York City nightspots to stand in when the real location wasn't available.
The main dance floor and DJ booth were shot at Manhattan's Hammerstein Ballroom, the basement scenes were done on a sound stage, and exteriors were filmed at the Union Square-adjacent music venue Irving Plaza. And if some elements of the nightclub scenes look familiar to eagle-eyed viewers, well, there's a reason. "All of the red carpet got trucked from our Olympic Tower sets to the Hammerstein Ballroom to film the Studio 54 scenes," Ricker says. "Any time you can use things more than once and it actually makes sense, you do that."
And for the series' other hot spots? Monkey Bar, the clubby Midtown power-dining spot, was transformed into a cabaret for Liza Minnelli's nightclub act. "The scene where we first meet Liza was shot in The Monkey Bar," Ricker says. "We covered all the murals because they were distracting, and then we created a stage where the steps are; it was really the only place for her to perform so the entire crew had to walk through the curtain and over the stage. We had to move the drums every time someone had to get in or out."
Adam Rathe Senior Editor, Arts and Culture Adam Rathe is a senior editor at Town & Country, covering arts and culture and a range of other subjects.
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Source: https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/a36489364/halston-filming-locations-sets-studio-54/
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