Riobamba (nightclub)

The club was located on East 57th Street near Third Avenue in Manhattan.[1]

The Riobamba was owned by American Mafia boss Louis "Lepke" Buchalter.[2] While Buchalter was awaiting execution on death row, his wife ran the club.[3] From 1942 to 1944 the club was managed by Linton D. Weil and Arthur Jawitz.[4] There was a claim that the Duke of York owned the real estate where the club was located.[5]

Patterned after the larger Copacabana, the Riobamba was a "glitzy jewel box of a joint" with a small dance floor on which stood a baby grand piano.[2] There was no stage; the performers stood near the tables at which patrons sat.[2] The room seated 400.[6]

Shows typically featured a stand-up comedian, a dance troupe, and an orchestra[7] in addition to the main act. At the beginning of the set, a line of chorus girls came out singing a song called "Riobamba", which had been written by Leonard Bernstein and which the club had purchased for $50; Bernstein recycled the musical trope in his 1944 ballet "Fancy Free".[7] Floor shows were held at 8:30 pm, 12 am, and 2 am, while dance troupes and relief bands performed at other times.[8]

Among the acts that performed at the Riobamba were singer Jane Froman,[9] vaudeville performer Grace Hayes,[10] singer-actress Hannah Williams,[8] and the Chandra-Kaly Dancers.[11] Dean Martin appeared as a last-minute substitute for Frank Sinatra in September 1943.[12][13]

Frank Sinatra Riobamba postcard, 1943

In 1943 Frank Sinatra's managers tried, unsuccessfully, to book him into the Copacabana, which was then "the hottest of the hot" of Manhattan's nightclubs.[2] They settled for a three-week engagement at the Riobamba, which was experiencing serious financial trouble.[15] Sinatra was offered $750 a week.[2][16] The singer did not receive top billing; he was advertised as an "extra added attraction" under monologist Walter O'Keefe, singer-comedian Sheila Barrett, a dance troupe, and a choir.[17][18] Though Sinatra was unnerved by the small size of the performance area and was gripped with stage fright, he leaned against the piano and began singing.[2] According to columnist Earl Wilson, who was present, "Frank was in a dinner jacket and he was wearing a wedding band. He had a small curl that fell almost over his right eye. With trembling lips – I don't know how he made them tremble, but I saw it – he sang 'She's Funny That Way' and 'Night and Day' and succeeded in bringing down the house".[2]

Before the week was out, Sinatra was attracting standing-room-only audiences even for his 2:30 am show, and Barrett had been demoted to second-billing under Sinatra and had quit.[2] When O'Keefe announced that he was quitting, too, he told his last audience, "When I came to this place, I was the star and a kid named Sinatra, one of the acts. Then suddenly a steamroller came along and knocked me flat. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the rightful star – Frank Sinatra".[2][18] The club increased Sinatra's pay to $1,000 and then $1,500, and he performed for a total of ten weeks,[19][20] becoming "one of the biggest draws in any New York club".[14] The gig served to prove Sinatra's appeal to more mature audiences than his "bobby soxer" fan base,[21] while autograph seekers thronged outside on the sidewalk.[22]

In the wake of Sinatra's success, other clubs rushed to hire "crooners". La Martinique hired Argentine vocalist Dick Haymes, jumpstarting his career.[23] In August 1943 the Riobamba ranked in the top three clubs in New York in Billboard's fifth annual poll; the others were the Stork Club and the Latin Quarter.[24]

In spring 1944 the Riobamba was shut down by the Federal government for nonpayment of taxes, including the amusement tax, alcohol tax, withholding tax, and Social Security tax, amounting to a back claim of $24,000.[4] The club was also reportedly delinquent in paying musicians and performers, as well as on its mortgage.[4]

In September 1944 it was announced that the club would reopen under the lease of Harold Jacobs and Julius Yablok;[4] in December 1944, Café Society nightclub owner Barney Josephson was said to be interested in assuming the lease.[6] In March 1945, theatrical producer George H. Kondolf and a group of other interested parties purchased the Riobamba, but the club was not immediately opened due to a curfew issue.[25] By 1946, the Riobamba had been replaced by the Embassy Club.[26][27]

The year after Louis Buchalter was executed, his widow Betty married the former manager of the club, Arthur Jarwood, also known as Arthur Jawitz.[28]