Lionel Nation - The Day Theater Dies Is the Day America Dies Inside Aired: 2025-05-31 Duration: 06:54 === Studio 54 Memories (05:25) === [00:00:00] Something before I forget. [00:00:01] Just one of those things. [00:00:03] Before we let the evening go, this is that one I saw. [00:00:10] A very, very, very troubling play. [00:00:14] What did you say? [00:00:14] It's troubling? [00:00:15] Troubling. [00:00:16] It's a play that was called Call Me Izzy. [00:00:20] And it was, wasn't that something? [00:00:22] Wasn't it? [00:00:23] It's not a feel-good. [00:00:25] It's not a feel-good. [00:00:27] It's not that, but it's Elizabeth's, uh, Jean Smart, rather. [00:00:30] From Designing Women and... [00:00:34] What's that one called? [00:00:37] Hacks. [00:00:38] What? [00:00:39] Hacks, yes. [00:00:41] At the Studio 54 Theater. [00:00:45] It's Studio 54. The Studio 54. The famous drug den in Emporium. [00:00:52] And it was... [00:00:58] Hugh Jackman. [00:01:00] Come on, Hugh. [00:01:02] Live from New York with Love. [00:01:05] Radio City Music Hall. [00:01:07] Hugh, come on. [00:01:10] Come on, Hugh. [00:01:11] Come on. [00:01:12] It's okay. [00:01:13] But this was about 90-100 minutes. [00:01:17] Gene Smart. [00:01:19] One woman act. [00:01:21] Absolutely incredible. [00:01:25] Incredible. [00:01:26] Incredible. [00:01:27] That's all I wanted to say. [00:01:29] So make it a point, at some particular time, to celebrate this thing called theater. [00:01:36] I'm not sure how it's done in your town. [00:01:38] If you ever come to New York and you ever get the chance to see something, there is nothing like it. [00:01:44] This is one of the best. [00:01:45] She's like 76 years old. [00:01:47] And it's one of the, she is just absolutely incredible. [00:01:52] And it's something which I want to explain. [00:01:54] If we lose our... [00:02:00] If we lose our theater, if we lose our arts, we lose everything. [00:02:08] Everything. [00:02:10] It's the only thing that separates us from the animals. [00:02:15] We are spending our time wasting so much time talking about stuff. [00:02:20] I mean, it's interesting. [00:02:20] Somebody asked a question about the Diddy Trial. [00:02:22] Do you really care about the Diddy Trial? [00:02:24] Do you really care? [00:02:26] Seriously. [00:02:28] Let me say you do. [00:02:30] Do you really? [00:02:32] Say, do you care about tariffs? [00:02:33] No, I don't care about tariffs. [00:02:34] This is a different story. [00:02:36] This is something which is so important. [00:02:39] The thing that separates us from the animals is theater, the ability to express ourselves, how much money we put into the arts, not from the government, just us individually. [00:02:49] STEAM, science, technology, education, arts and math. [00:02:53] That's what we need to do. [00:02:55] Have you ever seen a broad We saw Vanessa Redgrave one time in a one-woman act just sitting in a chair. [00:03:05] That was it. [00:03:08] It was unbelievable. [00:03:14] You've got to experience a Broadway act. [00:03:17] But Studio 54. The Studio 54. To see this, it was there in 1927. [00:03:24] It was called the Gallo Opera Hall. [00:03:27] Then in 1942, it became a studio for CBS. [00:03:32] And to see the, you can almost feel the, what went on there. [00:03:37] That was the epicenter. [00:03:39] To walk in and to think that there were people, thousands of people dying, trying to get in with Rubelle working the door. [00:03:46] And you're walking right in there. [00:03:47] It was just, just incredible. [00:03:49] If you get a chance, Do something to support the arts. [00:03:56] I know this sounds corny. [00:03:57] I don't think anybody cares. [00:03:58] I don't think we really care about this. [00:04:00] We're losing theater. [00:04:02] We're losing film. [00:04:04] It's going to be AI. [00:04:07] I don't know if anybody even cares about that. [00:04:10] I hope, for the love of all of us, for the love of God, I hope that we recognize the fact that this is serious business. [00:04:18] I mean, we really absolutely We need it. [00:04:23] That's all I want to say. [00:04:25] There's nothing really, really deep about this. [00:04:27] Because I think we are so, we're losing our sense of, we're not writing, we're not creating, we're not into poetry and the arts in museums, and all of those things which a society just understood. [00:04:41] There was a time when Greek and Roman society put all of their money into architecture and buildings. [00:04:46] Not because they wanted to build some governmental... [00:04:54] But because of the artistry, the architecture was an art. [00:04:57] We're losing this. [00:04:58] We are losing it so much. [00:05:01] And it is so difficult. [00:05:04] I happened to look up. [00:05:06] I was in the studio and I looked up and I saw this. [00:05:07] See this typhoid, this big hyperglanular guy with a hat on backwards covered in tattoos. === Never Forget This! (01:43) === [00:05:14] And this is the wit. [00:05:16] This is our Mark Twain. [00:05:18] That gut bucket is our Mark Twain. [00:05:24] So sad. [00:05:26] And I know nobody cares about this. [00:05:28] And I realize this. [00:05:29] And I know that I'm kind of wasting my time. [00:05:31] But that's okay. [00:05:32] That's okay. [00:05:33] Just because I'm wasting my time doesn't mean it's not true. [00:05:36] I mean, we as a society must understand something. [00:05:40] We are not kidding around here. [00:05:42] We can't lose this. [00:05:44] Because once you lose it, it's gone. [00:05:46] And there are people who are going to say, some people have never been to a play. [00:05:51] Never been to a musical. [00:05:53] Never. [00:05:53] Sometimes you go maybe to a bad high school version of it, but at least somebody was trying to do something. [00:06:00] That's all. [00:06:01] That's all. [00:06:02] I did a piece today, I hope you read it, on why Indian Americans and Indians are such great spellers, why they have destroyed and owned the art of the spelling bee. [00:06:20] That pissed off a lot of people, which is great. [00:06:22] It's one of those things which is absolutely critical. [00:06:26] So in any event, dear and great friends, have a wonderful evening. [00:06:30] Remember what I'm saying. [00:06:33] Remember, because nobody's talking about this. [00:06:35] We're talking about Epstein, and you know, that's important, and Diddy, and yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:06:40] But this is critical. [00:06:41] If you lose the art, you lose everything, okay? [00:06:44] Art is for the soul. [00:06:46] Have a great day, my friends. [00:06:47] Don't forget to subscribe to Lionel Nation. [00:06:49] Don't forget Mrs. L. Follow her at Lin's Warriors. [00:06:51] And don't forget, the monkey's dead. [00:06:53] The show's over. [00:06:54] Sue ya.