ManRay reopens in Cambridge tonight

ManRay will bring back their weekly Campus gay night each Thursday

ManRay, was a fun, popular bar in Central Square that opened in 1983 and closed in 2005 to make space for a new condominium development. Each Thursday ManRay became “Campus” and catered to the LGBTQ+ community. It was on a Thursday night in January 1999 that I met my partner at Campus.

I was sad to see this bar close and in the years that followed I repeatedly (hopefully) wrote about rumors that it would reopen. I first wrote about it in 2013 and again last summer. Each time the rumors while credible resulted in nothing but resounding silence as the rumored date of opening would come and go. Imagine my surprise when last night, seemingly out of the blue, The Boston Globe publishes, ManRay, legendary Cambridge nightclub that closed in 2005 will reopen Saturday.

According to Vanyaland, which initially broke the story about ManRay’s reopening, the venue will follow a similar weekly schedule that the original nightclub hosted from Wednesday to Saturday, with a nightly curfew of 2 a.m. and an age entry policy of 19+ at the door. Wednesday will resurrect the goth party Crypt; Thursday revisits the Campus gay night; Friday returns its fetish-themed industrial night; and Saturday celebrates Heroes, DJ Chris Ewen’s new wave and electro party that was previously held at nearby Sonia.

The new space will also have a stage to accommodate bands and artists (perhaps a new drag show or two could be in its future or a new home for Ryan Landry and his misfit performers – who can say), but Ewen said in Vanyaland that ManRay’s main purpose will be to provide people with a nightclub they can come to and enjoy.

ManRay / Campus
40 Prospect Street | Central Square
www.manraynightclub.com