Welcome to O’Sardi’s!

For the upcoming film “Blue Moon,” featuring Ethan Hawke as the celebrated Broadway lyricist Lorenz Hart, a detailed replica of the legendary Sardi’s restaurant on West 44th Street was constructed. This intricate set was brought to life in a film studio located in Dublin, Ireland, over 3,000 miles from the original landmark.

“We had to recreate Sardi’s somewhere,” director Richard Linklater shared with The Post. “There was no way we’d get access to Sardi’s for an entire month.”

Ultimately, the production team made their way to the vibrant landscapes of Ireland.

“The historical challenge was significant,” Linklater explained. “We recreated all those iconic pictures, poured over every book, and studied the actual designs and architectural drawings. It was a thrilling experience to create such an authentic and precise reproduction.”

Of course, structural changes were made to suit the unique needs of the film, which is set on March 9, 1943, the opening night of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma!” 

The downstairs bar, where most of the witty action takes place while whisky flows, is much smaller in real life. 

Hawke’s Hart, Bobby Cannavale’s bartender and Andrew Scott’s Richard Rodgers, who wrote “Pal Joey” and other shows with Hart before partnering with Oscar Hammerstein, needed room to spread out. 

And there are easter eggs hidden in the newly created celeb caricatures hanging on the wall. 

But the classic style and ambiance of the New York institution, which first opened in its current location in 1927, are spot on.

Remarkably so, because Dublin-based production designer Susie Cullen has never step foot in Sardi’s before.

“I was sent videos of a walk-through,” Cullen told The Post. “As you walk in through the door and what you see when you look left, what you see when you look right.”

She added: “We changed reality and made it work.”

Cullen prioritized what she believed were the eatery’s important aspects: the amount of cartoons on display, the deep red and brown color tones and the abundance of dark-stained wood.

The film was made on a tight budget. So, the designer borrowed flats from other projects.

And some 100 original caricatures were drawn by a local artist to look like the well-known portraits at Sardi’s.

But they’re not all of Broadway royalty of the day like Tallulah Bankhead and Ethel Barrymore.

“A few crew members appear amongst the characters,” Cullen said. “Like Richard [Linklater] is in. John Sloss, the producer, and his family, and one of the other producers, a couple of art directors.”

Another aspect of creating Sardi’s of-a-different-era atmosphere is the performances. Hawke and Cannavale did hands-on research to nail the vibe.  

“Ethan and I live three blocks away from each other,” Cannavale told The Post. 

“So, like the month before we went to Dublin, we went to Sardi’s a few times and we hung out. And we’ve hung out there before because we’ve had opening night parties there. And I think we both have our caricatures up on the wall.” 

Then, on the night prior to flying to Dublin, Hawke told The Post, Tony winner Patti LuPone walked in and joined the pair for a drink.

“Patti LuPone was holding court and people were coming in, and there was all kinds of Broadway gossip happening,” he said. 

“And Bobby went behind the bar and, you know, asked the bartenders about different details about what it’s like to work there and how it would have changed.”

Actually, making “Blue Moon,” which is now in theaters, proved something of a homecoming for Cannavale, who currently stars in “Art” on Broadway with James Corden and Neil Patrick Harris.

“I worked in a lot of bars in New York City,” he said. “Not Sardi’s, but yeah it did feel pretty authentic to the actual Sardi’s for sure.”