Civilian NEW YORK Hotelier Jason Pomeranc adds to his Sixty Collective with a new brand, enlisting David Rockwell to bring the drama of Broadway to its debut. Words: Ayesha Khan • Photography: © Johnny Miller (unless otherwise stated)
A
fter developing the wildly successful Thompson hotel
legendary New York show Hamilton, cast members would
brand and primping it to be picked up by none other
put on impromptu aftershows at the Stage Door, allowing for
than Hyatt, New York-based hotelier Jason Pomeranc
fans who were unable to afford the hefty price tag to witness
launched Sixty Collective and seemed content to nurture its
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some of its highlights.
four flags around the US. As it turns out, while New York
Guests enter by way of a Broadway-style marquee that
was hunkering down amidst a pandemic, the ever-ambitious
magically turns into an infinity mirror installation once
Pomeranc was busy conceptualising his next brainchild. “I
inside. Check-in at the tech-savvy hotel is done via app
love that it seems to allude to the democratisation of style
or kiosk (remember the democratasation mandate). Guests
and luxury,” he says when asked why he chose to coin this
then proceed through an exposed brick corridor that feels
new brand Civilian.
like a theatre’s backstage, leading to elevators lined with
For Civilian’s first foray, Pomeranc chose to partner with
illustrations from Broadway’s finest costume designers. Also
hospitality veteran David Rockwell, to whom the Midtown
on the ground floor, a diner-style restaurant with mirrored,
West hotel’s theme was a no-brainer. Given its proximity
vaulted ceilings harkens back to the once-ubiquitous theatre-
to the glittering marquees of Broadway and his own passion
district diner. On any given night at these establishments,
for set design – which has won him multiple Tony Awards –
distressed playwrights would have clandestine meetings with
Rockwell imbued the property with a fitting theatrical theme.
dramaturges and hopeful leading ladies would be feverishly
“I had been thinking about a Broadway-centric hotel for a
running lines before their big audition. This iteration features
while and as I was writing my book, Drama, I thought a
brass-trimmed sconces etched with sketches of all 41 of
lot about why people need to be together,” says Rockwell.
Broadway’s theatres, executed by famed illustrators such as
“Editing this book during the pandemic gave me a chance
Tony Walton and Es Devlin, while the hotel’s secret alley-
to think about my love affair with theatre and some of the
facing garden has a mural by famed scenic painter Joseph
powerful experiences I’ve had.”
Forbes, whose credits include A Chorus Line and Evita.
The overriding theme at Civilian is togetherness, and
Up a cast-iron stair surrounded in a luscious velvet stage
with that the hotel hopes to carry the Stage Door tradition,
curtain, guests are brought to the nerve centre of the hotel
where adoring audience members line up at a theatre’s back
– a space that Rockwell describes as the “watering hole”
door at the end of a show to be delighted by cast members
as he laments the loss of popular hotspots such as Café
coming out to interact with them. During the debut run of
Edison. With an eclectic blend of furnishings, an expansive
