Located in a building built in 1898 as a flophouse for transient men, the Village Gate nightclub opened at the corner of Bleeker and Thompson in 1958.
The Village Gate was a popular jazz club for many years. John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, and many more played here. Aretha Franklin had her NYC debut at the Village Gate.
From 1971 to 1973, a musical comedy revue called National Lampoon's Lemmings had a successful run at the Gate. Starring John Belushi, Chevy Chase and Christopher Guest, the show lampooned the 1969 Woodstock Festival, calling it Woodchuck.
In 2001, the off-Broadway theater in the basement, the Village Theater, hosted a play based on Janis Joplin called Love, Janis.
