End of an era in Chinatown: The Trocadero Theatre and Space 1026 celebrate their final weekend

The Trocadero Theatre, at 1003 Arch St., and its neighboring Space 1026 art space, located just down the block, both closed their doors this weekend.

For a time, they went hand-in-hand in Philadelphia’s artistic landscape: Both spaces have been revolutionary in their approach to alternative lifestyle, art and music. That 1000 block of Arch Street throughout the late ’90s and 2000s was the quickly spinning axis of Philadelphia’s alternative universe.

The Troc booked acts ranging from Beck, De La Soul, Ween, and Kendrick Lamar. There, Skeletor hosted a regular karaoke night, and burlesque troupes such as the Peek-a-Boo Revue harked back to the storied venues’ early-20th-century roots.

Space 1026’s members were united by a sketchily comic aesthetic, while the gallery provided first-time showcases for currently big-name artists such as Cory Arcangel, Shepard Fairey, and Cynthia Connolly. Space 1026’s hosting duties made room for wild performance comedy, rap and punk rock parties with the likes of Maria Bamford, Rose Luardo, Santigold and Kim Gordon.

“That block of Chinatown was a beacon at a very important time when indie rock needed places and outlets for it to survive and thrive,” said neighboring Magnet magazine editor Eric Miller, whose offices reside across from the Troc and next to 1026. “If a bomb wiped out that street back then, the indie rock/punk/metal/skate/art world would have suffered a major loss.”

For the Troc, this is the end. News that the Troc was closing broke in March. Joanna Pang liked the closure to losing a member of her family (her father, Stephen Pang purchased the Victorian theater in 1979). The final performance was this weekend’s Big Mess Cabaret, which was set to the close the theater Saturday.

For Space 1026, this weekend marked a new era. In August 2018, Space 1026 announced it will vacate its home of nearly 21 years, after the property’s owner sold the building to a developer. It has since acquired a onetime beauty salon on North Broad, blocks away from the newly renovated Met Philadelphia. While Space 1026 members say the new Broad Street location will be operational in September, its last show on Arch Street -- a warm and humorously curated, collective retrospective -- closed Friday. .

Space 1026 cofounder Maximilian Lawrence said that he and the collective’s membership have been so busy moving into their new home that they didn’t have time to gather steam and the usual goofiness for a wild Arch Street party. “Maybe that’s a sign of who we’re becoming,” said Lawrence. He was so stressed and busy preparing Space 1026’s new home that Lawrence didn’t even realize the Troc was readying to close. “Oh, man, this is so sad. It really is the end of an entire era.”

To mark their era’s end on Arch Street, cofounding 1026-ers Lawrence, John Armstrong and Andrew Jeffrey Wright threw open the doors to its membership, brought in a boombox, cases of Miller High Life and Santucci’s pizza, and hung out with 30 of its artists.

While deer head portraits and caricatures of Hall and Oates looked down from the gallery walls, Nora Einbender-Luks said, “I will miss the sheer magic of this place, but I’m really excited about the next chapter on North Broad.”

Ana Woulfe agreed with Einbender-Luks about missing Chinatown’s magic and welcoming a fresh start. Woulfe, however, said that Space 2016’s Arch Street charms lay in the collective’s ability to “let an artist take his, her or their time without time constraints -- that’s a huge deal in comparison to other places – and being here allows me to be in touch with an entire, real community, rather than just putting stuff up on Instagram, and into the void.”

Down the street at the Trocadero, you could feel the energy in the night air, as friends and fans of the venue stood before the old Victorian structure, laughing, smoking and reminiscing.

Onstage, the Big Mess Cabaret played on with its usual mix of surreal Bowie-meets-Brecht-meets-Berlioz orchestration, and Borscht Belt performance comedy. There was no point counting how many people were on stage, between BMC’s membership and guests. Some dressed as demon goats or Carmen Miranda. Some acted out Ken Burns-like Civil War letters home. Some made social statements with veiled references to #MeToo and characters named “Pat Riarchy.”

“It’s magical up there, but, really sad considering why we’re here,” said Chris MalCarney, the de facto leader of the Philadelphia Ukulele Orchestra, whose ensemble hit the Troc’s boards on Friday. “I’ll miss that stage.”

Eye’s Gallery’s Carole Shields, a fan of the Big Mess Cabaret, “and really everything at the Troc,” was emotional at the thought of the Chinatown theater’s closing. “This is my favorite place to see shows. I’m taking as many photos as I can to remember it.”

While its bouncers – current and past crews – reminisced outside the venue, longtime Troc bartender and Movie Monday host Raphael Tiberino took all aspects of the loss into consideration. “It’s a shame about Space 1026 and the Troc going down as it is, but, you know what’s ironic? The fish place on the corner that stunk up the neighborhood every day and night? The one you kept hoping would go away so you could breathe easy? It finally closed last month -- just in time for us to leave with them. It’s all sad.”