By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — The developers of a gay urban resort hotel and an innovative British theater troupe gained overwhelming support from Community Board 4 during key liquor license votes on Wednesday night.
The Out NYC, a 123-room complex planning to open on West 42nd Street in 2011, earned CB4's approval to serve alcohol at its restaurant, interior courtyard, atrium and pool hall. The gay-focused resort, a part of the Barcelona-based Axel Hotel Group, will also operate a nightclub on the site, which won liquor license support in the spring.
The U.K.-based Punchdrunk immersive theater group seeks to move into the 530 W. 27th Street space that once hosted a vertical mall of clubs and lounges including Spirit, B.E.D., Home and Guesthouse.
If Punchdrunk does indeed move its Shakespeare-Hitchcock hybrid production, "Sleep No More," into West Chelsea, it would signal a wholesale change in character for a block once notorious for its megaclubs.
Speaking before the vote on Wednesday night, CB4 Chelsea liquor license chair for Chelsea, Paul Seres, described the concept of the show as allowing viewers to find out "what would Shakespeare be like behind the scenes? If you ran into Puck smoking a cigarette, what would that be like?"
The performance blends acting, dance, music and installation art.
Both The Out NYC and Punchdrunk (applying under the name Sleep No More) will next bring their applications to the State Liquor Authority, which takes CB recommendations under advisement but is not bound by them.
