{"id":382494,"date":"2026-08-27T10:56:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:56:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/382494\/"},"modified":"2026-08-27T10:56:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T10:56:19","slug":"miami-beach-leader-returns-and-remembers-the-great-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/382494\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami Beach leader returns and remembers The Great Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Stu<\/p>\n

Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, points to the arches inside the old Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. Jackie Gleason helped design the original theater. \u201cWe opened it as the newest hotel in Miami Beach 58 years ago now,\u201d said Blumberg.<\/p>\n

Alie Skowronski<\/p>\n

askowronski@miamiherald.com<\/p>\n

On the last night of crooner Harry Belafonte\u2019s weeklong run in Miami Beach in 1967, at the height of his fame, the stage crew and hotel general manager played a prank.<\/p>\n

The theater, designed by a New Yorker with a sense of humor, had a split stage \u2014 each side could rise independently.<\/p>\n

Grammy winner Belafonte was about to perform, standing at center stage. The crew started to raise one side and Belafonte\u2019s left leg began to elevate. The sold-out crowd gasped, then went silent. Belafonte was one of the biggest stars in show business.<\/p>\n

The stagehands finally lowered the elevated side of the stage, ended their mischief, and Belafonte began singing.<\/p>\n

The entertainer kept his composure, and then laughed about it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t blink an eye,\u201d one of the chief pranksters recalled. When Belafonte\u2019s show ended, and he came off the stage, he was laughing.<\/p>\n

Miami Beach today may be filled with newcomers, cranes and construction, deals and demolitions. But there\u2019s still a connection to the past.<\/p>\n

Stuart Blumberg remembers. He lived it.<\/p>\n

A one-time Playboy building enters the real estate market \"Original Original arches and box seats designed by Jackie Gleason sit inside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The news that the old theater is for sale brought back a lifetime of memories for Blumberg, an 89-year-old Miami Beach High grad who rose from bellboy to become a prominent leader for decades in the region\u2019s hospitality industry. He doesn\u2019t want people to forget what this city was like.<\/p>\n

The former Playboy Theater<\/a> was once part of the Playboy Plaza Hotel, now the Castle Beach at 5445 Collins Ave.<\/p>\n

The venue was a popular spot for live entertainment in the 1970s and beyond. The video of Gloria Estefan\u2019s 2011 hit \u201cHotel Nacional\u201d<\/a> was shot there. The theater boasts about 26,000 square feet across three levels. The Castle was converted to private condos in the 1990s, but the theater is independently owned.<\/p>\n

Yet Blumberg said that before the venue became the Playboy Theater, it had another life.<\/p>\n

He should know: He was the hotel\u2019s first general manager. That hotel began as the Hilton Plaza and opened in 1967.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe theater was called The Great Room designed by our entertainment director, Jackie Gleason,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Yes, that Jackie Gleason.<\/p>\n

Gleason was one of the world\u2019s top comedians and entertainers from the 1950s through the 1970s. He played Minnesota Fats in the 1961 film \u201cThe Hustler\u201d starring Paul Newman, starred as Ralph Kramden in \u201cThe Honeymooners,\u201d the 1950s television series, and hosted a weekly variety show from the Miami Beach Auditorium.<\/p>\n

He remembered lines without rehearsing and even produced and sang. His nickname? The Great One.<\/p>\n

\"Entertainer Entertainer Jackie Gleason in Miami Beach. Museum of Miami \/ Miami Herald File <\/p>\n

Blumberg was a star in his own right, for decades, one of the most prominent names in the South Florida hotel and tourism business. He founded the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association and led it for 20 years. He started the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and helped build the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.<\/p>\n

Blumberg recently agreed to head over to the old theater and share his memories of the place.<\/p>\n

A nostalgic Miami Beach visit \"Stu Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, in the lobby outside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. It had been 55 years since he has been back. \u201cWe opened it as the newest hotel in Miami Beach 58 years ago now,\u201d said Blumberg. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

On a weekday morning, Blumberg drove by himself to the former theater from North Bay Village, where he lives with his wife, Marlene.<\/p>\n

When he arrived in the place that meant so much to him, no one at the hotel recognized him, neither employees nor guests. Kids and families ran around the lobby. Some children lay on the floor. The carpet was ragged. The hotel long ago was converted into condos, losing any exclusiveness or elegance it once had.<\/p>\n

Blumberg maintained a stoic face but was experiencing a range of emotions. He was initially a bit depressed to see the lobby\u2019s deterioration. Still, he was glad to be back.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of memories,\u201d he said wistfully.<\/p>\n

He revealed that he hadn\u2019t been back in 55 years. \u201cI never walked back in until today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Blumberg walked around, then cut through the lobby. He pointed to where Jackie Gleason had an office, designed for him, and to where the fine dining area was, adjacent to the theater.<\/p>\n

Neither Gleason\u2019s office nor the dining room remain, but each evokes an era not seen since. A revolving stage with Freddy Martin\u2019s orchestra had regaled guests. Every day featured music and dancing. That, too, is long gone.<\/p>\n

A lot of memories.<\/p>\n

Stuart Blumberg,<\/p>\n

Former manager<\/p>\n

Each server wore a tuxedo. Female guests donned elegant dresses while men wore ties and jackets. Those were the bare minimum requirements to get in. This was an era long before people paraded through hotels in flip-flops, yoga pants and workout bras.<\/p>\n

Gleason often showed up at the hotel unannounced, and he\u2019d go to his office, Blumberg recalled. Then, \u201che\u2019d take me and go into the dining room, pick up a lady and start dancing with her,\u201d said the former general manager. \u201cThey\u2019d go gaga over him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the place to be,\u201d surrounded by the era\u2019s top celebrities, Blumberg said.<\/p>\n

Long before anyone knew who Blumberg was, he was enjoying a brush with the stars and living his best life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I\u2019d died and went to heaven,\u201d he said. \u201cThis place was paradise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elegant Miami Beach \"Stu Stu Blumberg inside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. Jackie Gleason played a role in the design of the theater. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The Hilton Plaza Hotel, opened in December 1967 and would be the last hotel in Miami Beach built from the ground up until the Loews made its debut 31 years later.<\/p>\n

During that era, South Florida hotels had fancy, elegant nightclubs. The Hilton Plaza competed with the Fontainebleau just down the street and the Diplomat in Hollywood for the top entertainers of the day.<\/p>\n

Frank Sinatra, Tiny Tim and the Smothers Brothers were regulars at the Fontainebleau. The Supremes, Diana Ross and Eddie Fisher performed at the nearby Eden Roc. The Beatles\u2019 second TV appearance in the U.S., on the Ed Sullivan Show, was taped at the Deauville. Next door, the Carillon put on elaborate shows, posting a sign to enter the lobby: \u201cJackets and ties required after 7 p.m.\u201d<\/p>\n

As this golden era was forming on the Beach, a young Blumberg worked at another hotel in downtown Miami. But a personality conflict with the boss made him start looking for other jobs. He\u2019d regularly drive past the new hotel under construction on his way to work.<\/p>\n

One day on his way home, he dropped off his resume. Within a few months and before 1967 ended, he was hired as the Hilton Plaza\u2019s first general manager. He was 30 years old.<\/p>\n

As young as he was, Blumberg had some experience in hotels. He broke in as a bellhop in 1956 at the Americana in Bal Harbour, the Tisch family\u2019s first hotel in the Miami area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where I got my real training,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He was friends with Bob Tisch until his death in 2005, and son Jonathan Tisch, who said last year he\u2019ll be retiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou live long enough and everything comes full circle,\u201d Blumberg said, laughing.<\/p>\n

Jackie Gleason died in 1987 at his home in Lauderhill at 71. His acerbic wit helped make \u201cThe Jackie Gleason Show\u201d a television hit from the mid-1950s through 1974. By the time the Hilton Plaza opened, he had already moved to South Florida. He continued his weekly TV show from Miami Beach in what is now The Fillmore, near Lincoln Road.<\/p>\n

Then he was brought in to help design the Hilton Plaza\u2019s nightclub and theater, initially named The Great Room, an ode to Gleason\u2019s nickname. His influence is seen on several elements even today.<\/p>\n

He helped build the first physical stage for performers. He designed it like a theater and studio at the same time, Blumberg said during his recent visit.<\/p>\n

The split stage was Gleason\u2019s idea. The comedian was also in charge of booking entertainers, directly or through his agency at the time, the influential William Morris.<\/p>\n

He handpicked Harry Belafonte to be the first act, Blumberg said.<\/p>\n

The entertainer and civil rights activist who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II had popularized Calypso in the U.S.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe women of that time went nuts for him,\u201d recalled Blumberg.<\/p>\n

He did the customary two shows a night, 9 p.m. and midnight. The last night was when Belafonte unexpectedly found himself on stage with his left leg elevated.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe decided to have some fun with him,\u201d said Blumberg.<\/p>\n

That was just the beginning of the fun. Jack Benny, Connie Francis and Woody Allen also came to town.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery major star played these rooms,\u201d said Blumberg.<\/p>\n

By 1967, Benny was already a legend. He didn\u2019t need to, but committed to two shows a night for a week. But after his first performance on his first day the comedian told Blumberg, \u201cI\u2019m not going to do a second show.\u201d It had become too tiring for him. Singer Vikki Carr took over for the midnight show.<\/p>\n

Then he did something stunning for that time, in Blumberg\u2019s view. He said \u201ctake half of my money back.\u201d That gesture made a strong impression on the young hotel general manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was such a wonderful man,\u201d Blumberg said, and the two became friends. The general manager visited him in California in later years.<\/p>\n

\"Stu Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, holds a money clip given to him by comedian Jack Benny that he still uses inside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com Inside the theater<\/p>\n

To enter the theater, Blumberg walked past a long, draped hallway and many cobwebs.<\/p>\n

He entered what\u2019s now the back half of the theater. That part was new to him. Moving his head in half-circles, he said \u201cthere was nothing here\u201d back in the early days.<\/p>\n

The original Great Room, the theater and nightclub, could seat about 600 he recalled. The space he was now visiting could seat at least two to three times that.<\/p>\n

But he could recognize some things. His hands pointed to the arches high above. Box seats were still there as was the balcony, which Gleason had built. The walls still showed evidence of the original blue velvet. Blumberg loved touching that while visiting.<\/p>\n

\"Stu Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, touches the original blue velvet wall that still stands inside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

The stage curtains were a different color and the split stage was no longer there.<\/p>\n

Blumberg\u2019s memory was holding up better than some parts of the theater were.<\/p>\n

But his memories weren\u2019t always warm. Young Stu Blumberg\u2019s job wasn\u2019t always fun or funny.<\/p>\n

\u2018I want to kill the MF\u2019 \"Connie Connie Francis, then 87, on her living room couch in Parkland, Florida, on Friday, June 6, 2025. Her 1962 song \u201cPretty Little Baby\u201d has introduced her to millions of young people on TikTok. She died July 16, 2025, at 87. Al Diaz adiaz@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

Singer Connie Francis<\/a> got booked at The Great Room at the height of her career. She arrived with a list of 20 typed demands. Many were easy to meet, like hot tea at the piano. Singers didn\u2019t want their voices to get hoarse over the long night or week.<\/p>\n

She also asked that the air conditioning in the hall be turned off when she performed. But that was trickier in South Florida.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got 600 people in the audience. I can\u2019t do that,\u201d Blumberg remembered telling her.<\/p>\n

She responded: \u201cIf you don\u2019t turn off the air, I\u2019m not going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young general manager\u2019s solution? They shut off the air before Francis got on stage. But once she started singing, they turned it back on. By then, it was too late for her to complain. She couldn\u2019t stop singing.<\/p>\n

After completing the first show, Francis came offstage furious. \u201cI want to kill the MF\u201d who turned on the AC, Blumberg vividly remembers her saying. Her manager hurled his hands onto Blumberg\u2019s chest. But the hotel general manager kept telling them, \u201cI have a job to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He did the same thing all seven nights she performed, drawing her anger each night.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have a friendly relationship,\u201d he said of the star, who moved to Parkland in Broward County and died last year.<\/p>\n

Still, Blumberg also got to pick up actor Cary Grant. He booked a limo and driver and rode out to the Fort Lauderdale airport, onto the tarmac and right up to Grant\u2019s private plane. And they hit it off.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was bigger than life,\u201d said Blumberg, and they talked about their families and kids.<\/p>\n

Woody Allen also performed at The Great Room in its first year. In the 1960s, before his famous filmmaker days, he was a leading stand-up comedian.<\/p>\n

While in town, Allen spent all day holed up in his hotel suite writing scripts for future films. But between the two shows, \u201che used to go into the fine dining room and I used to sit with him,\u201d recalled Blumberg.<\/p>\n

Every night, Allen ordered the same thing: stone crabs, tomato juice and cheesecake. But he never touched the cheesecake.<\/p>\n

Finally, after seven nights, the general manager worked up the nerve to say, \u201cWoody, can I ask you a question? Why haven\u2019t you touched the cheesecake?\u201d Allen slammed his hand into the cheesecake while yelling, \u201cI thought you\u2019d never ask me!\u201d<\/p>\n

Blumberg said, \u201cHis humor went over people\u2019s heads.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the future of The Great Room?<\/p>\n

Looking at the former Great Room today, it\u2019s uncertain what the future holds. During his visit, Blumberg was trying to make sense of whether it had one.<\/p>\n

Its most vivid life may be long gone, but should it be preserved \u2014 the rich history and the nostalgia?<\/p>\n

Visiting the place is one thing. But what next?<\/p>\n

Blumberg said his visit was in part \u201ca reality check.\u201d It made him realize \u201cI have outlived everybody from that time.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also deeply misses what he and the city once had.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiami Beach was the place that every major entertainer had to play,\u201d said Blumberg.<\/p>\n

Could that be resurrected after the theater is sold?<\/p>\n

Some original elements of The Great Room, like the balcony, remain. The lights are still there. The stage got larger. But a lot of work would be needed to bring it back to the glory years.<\/p>\n

Still, The Great Room as Blumberg knew it is gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat room will never be the same again. It will have no history to it,\u201d he said. \u201cGoing into that space made me realize you can\u2019t go back again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blumberg and preservation<\/p>\n

One might imagine that a man nearing 90 and who was a prominent leader in hospitality has grappled with the issue of historic preservation. That was evident during and after the visit as he sought to reconcile his nostalgia with his more nuanced and pragmatic views.<\/p>\n

When he was head of the hotel group, Blumberg opposed historical preservation on Lincoln Road to 23rd Street because he felt the Miami Beach Convention Center needed hotels next door to take off.<\/p>\n

He says today, \u201cI lost [that fight] but I\u2019ve proven to be right.\u201d That\u2019s because a new Grand Hyatt is rising adjacent to the convention center and is scheduled to open in 2027. The center has lost a lot of business each year due to not having a connected hotel, tourism experts have said.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the perpetual debate over The Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater, the performing arts venue. While it remains there, Blumberg has previously supported letting it come down due to its deteriorating condition. He promised to keep Gleason\u2019s name alive. The venue is where \u201cThe Jackie Gleason Show\u201d was taped in the 1960s. In 2022, the city allocated $29 million in bonds to renovate it. It continues to hold weekly events.<\/p>\n

So, what about The Great Room?<\/p>\n

Despite the lifetime of memories he produced, Gleason only stayed with the Hilton Plaza Hotel for one year. Then, in 1970, Playboy bought the building. Then it became a Hyatt House hotel.<\/p>\n

In 1974, a Miami Beach hotelier named Harold Konover bought it and reamed it the Konover. In 1987, months before he died, Konover sold it to New York developer Abraham Hirschfeld, who renamed the building Castle Premier. Hischfeld preserved the theater but renamed it Hirschfeld Theater, for Broadway caricaturist Al Hirschfeld. The venue hosted productions of \u201cPhantom of the Opera,\u201d \u201cEvita\u201c and \u201c42nd Street.\u201d<\/p>\n

The entire building was later renamed the Castle Hotel. In 2021, New York City-based Top Rock Holding, a real estate firm, acquired the theater and has owned it since.<\/p>\n

The theater remains on the market for about $6.5 million, said Daniel Shimhayiv, vice president of the company. That\u2019s down from the original price of $8 million when it first listed in 2025.<\/p>\n

The day Blumberg visited, he tried to encourage the sellers while being realistic.<\/p>\n

\"Stu Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, walks through the original entrance way inside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. Jackie Gleason played a role in the design of the theater. The Blue velvet pillar on the right is the original wall color. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n

He suggested a couple of names to the real estate broker. He asked about different ways the space could be used.<\/p>\n

\u201cCan you operate a business on it?\u201d he inquired, meaning independent of the condo units in the building.<\/p>\n

Yes, was the answer.<\/p>\n

Happy to hear that, Blumberg then rolled off some ideas. A community theater, art school, a studio for young artists, or art gallery. He asked if the stage goes all the way to the back wall.<\/p>\n

Told yes, he enthusiastically replied, \u201cYou\u2019ve doubled the space!\u201d He showed where the original one Gleason built had ended.<\/p>\n

Blumberg asked if you could enter this space from the main lobby and got a positive answer. He was happy to hear that. \u201cThat\u2019d make it ideal for an art gallery,\u201d he said, or a studio to record music videos.<\/p>\n

The former general manager would be among the first to say the old theater needed a major infusion of money and a lot of work to raise the curtain again.<\/p>\n

With all the new money flowing into South Florida real estate, can the theater attract a buyer and recapture the magic?<\/p>\n

Even with the star power of Jackie Gleason, the theater got lucky in its first year.<\/p>\n

Blumberg and Gleason had booked a duo, Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, to do 10 shows, one week\u2019s worth, in March 1968. The performers signed contracts one year earlier when few had heard of them.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, unknown to Blumberg or Gleason, the two debuted a pilot show on television in September 1967. \u201d It immediately caught fire and by 1968, the weekly \u201cLaugh-In\u201d was a huge hit, launching the fame of Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin. And Rowan and Martin became famous, too.<\/p>\n

Yet, when it came to The Great Room, the two kept their word. They honored their contact, and in March 1968 did 10 shows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe place was packed,\u201d recounted Blumberg. \u201cThey were the big rage at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Great Room was the only venue that could land the duo, recalled the former general manager.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody else could get near them,\u201d recalled Blumberg with pride, referring to the many other clubs and hotels trying to book them. He still has a lot of pride.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fortunate.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stu Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, poses inside the old Great Room and Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025, at the Castle Hotel in Miami Beach, Fla. Jackie Gleason played a role in the design of the theater. \u201cWe opened it as the newest hotel in Miami Beach 58 years ago now,\u201d said Blumberg. Alie Skowronski askowronski@miamiherald.com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stu Blumberg, the original general manager, points to the arches inside the old Playboy Theater on Thursday, Dec.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":382495,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-382494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382494","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=382494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/382494\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/382495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=382494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=382494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=382494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}