The immersive, mesmerizing, and orgiastic Queen of the Night had its final show at the Diamond Horseshoe ballroom on New Year's Eve, but the same team has another dinner theater spectacular up its sleeves, and it's slated for Hell's Kitchen—unless some disgruntled local residents can stop it.

Variety Worldwide, the entertainment company behind Queen of the Night and The Box, is hoping to run two shows per night at the new venue, until 4 a.m. on Tuesdays through Saturdays. Producer Randy Weiner, who is a co-owner of The Box and also produced Sleep No More, told us that he could not provide any details about the new show as it's still under development, and "much depends on sorting out our collaborators and working through their schedules and artistic ideas."

However, Weiner did say that like Queen of the Night, the new show will have a gustatory element—according to the company's liquor license transfer application, menu items may include pomegranate-infused smoked salmon and 10-pound bone-in leg of lamb. That application also shows that the space will be a restaurant/cabaret/night club/dance club, featuring "a variety of entertainment in addition to dancing by entertainers and patrons."

The venue under consideration is 311 West 57th Street, a former church and recording studio that has most recently been home to nightclub Providence NYC. That club has given residents of 301 and 315 West 57th Street, the neighboring buildings, considerable grief over the years: attendees at last night's Community Board 4 meeting described complaints of fighting in the streets, drug use, and eggings. Some see a change of tenant as a welcome replacement, while others worry that these problems will just persist.

"While it might sound like some place I would like to go to, I'm not sure I'd want to live above it or near it," said CB4 member Ernest Moderelli IV. "And because of the previous problems we've had at this location, I think that this is going to be a problem in the future."

Weiner said that past Variety Worldwide ventures such as Kazino were also situated in residential neighborhoods, and did not face much pushback once they started operating there.

"We're very committed to both the neighborhood and doing the very highest level artistic work," Weiner said.

Deborah Fromberg, who lives in the building above the venue, said that her initial concerns about the potential new tenants faded once she realized that they might be comparatively less disruptive to the area than Providence.

"I was excited to see an operation that looks to me more like Cirque du Soleil-meets-dinner theater-meets-fine-dining, which I think would be an improvement to a straight nightclub," she said. "This is where we live, this is where we come home, and I like the idea of having performance-based artistic expression in my building where I live."

But Susan, who lives a block over on 58th Street and would not provide her last name, said that after researching Variety Worldwide, she could not support them coming into her neighborhood. She cited unfavorable coverage of The Box, and accused the owners of misleading the community in describing themselves as a dinner theater group.

"The obscenity and the sex acts and the dildos that are passed out—it's not for me, but I don't want to judge there," she said, referring to goings on at The Box. "They present themselves as a theater group, but clearly are much more a nightlife venue."

Ultimately, CB4 voted to deny the application for a transfer of liquor license unless Variety Worldwide agrees to a number of stipulations that include capping capacity at 599 (the space can hold 750), providing security outside the neighboring buildings, and doing additional community outreach. The applicants appeared resigned to comply with those stipulations, and the matter will now have to go before the State Liquor Authority.

"We are aware there have been issues in the past, but in all fairness it seems those occurred many years ago and in connection with a different operation than what we're proposing here," said Alexander Victor, an attorney for Variety Worldwide. "Ideally we would like to have everybody's support, but we realize that's not possible."