Drag’s Big Stage Test

(Pusse Couture)

From the time cabaret was born, drag acts have been entertaining vibrant audiences looking for something outside the box. Drag lovers have appreciated the spectacle, the gender-bending, the glamour and the humor since the first queen took the stage. But as drag becomes more commonplace, with bars and clubs having a larger presence of drag hosts and performers than ever, what are drag fans now willing to pay for?

Publicist Ron Lasko used to not think very highly of drag performance. “Growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, the only drag that I ever saw was more of the pageant variety—men in ill-fitting sequined prom dresses lip synching to Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton ballads,” he tells us. “It was moderately amusing in a bar, for free, but I would never consider paying for that experience.” Brandon Voss, promoter and part owner of XL Nightclub points out that “Drag shows in New York are typically used as filler on weeknights in bars. It’s very difficult to get customers to buy a ticket because so many bars offer drag shows [for] free.”

If that’s the case, what does sell? Lady Bunny, has found major success with her comedy acts. She feels the key to a successful drag act is “Uniqueness.” “The most successful drag acts are outrageous talents like Varla Jean Merman, Dina Martina, Miss Richfield and Jackie Beat. These girls can carry a full-length show, and they are different enough to warrant fans paying to go to a venue where they might not ordinarily go.”

Lasko eventually moved to New York. It was there that he first saw Lypsinca and developed a new appreciation of drag. He went on to co-found Spin Cycle, a production company that produces major drag acts. He says the company chooses to “work with artists who have honed their own distinct style, created a distinct character and each of them has a specific niche—Coco Peru is the monologist, Jackie Beat is the drag Weird Al, Shequida is the opera singer, Hedda Lettuce is the comedian, Dina Martina is the drag Pee-Wee Herman, etc.” Voss similarly has worked to offer something distinctive. “We’ve made [XL’s main drag cabaret] Hot Mess into an actual theatrical production—albeit with some pretty sick humor—and tried very hard to differentiate it from your typical bar show. As a result, we have found a lot of success with it and people have been willing to pay,” he says.

Voss isn’t the only one to catch wind of the changing business of drag. East Village Asian drag staple Lucky Cheng’s recently abandoned its long time home for a super sized cabaret in Midtown in order to profit on the tourists of Times Square. Lasko observes that although “the audience is predominantly gay, it is becoming more and more mixed. With each passing year we get more bachelorette parties buying tickets [to drag shows]. Older married couples have started to come out as well. It is very encouraging.” Drag queen and part owner of the famous drag restaurant Lips, Yvonne Lamé, agrees. “Starting in the ’90s, Lips was home to the ultra-chic and trendy gays,” she says, “[but] as the champagne wore off, they have moved on. Now, primarily we enjoy huge parties of straight girls for bachelorette parties and sweet sixteen parties, large tours of European tourists who believe our divas are real girls, and plenty of straight guys that are dragged here by their girlfriends to be harassed. People love drag more than ever.”

But what has caused this shift in audience? “I hate to say it but that damn Drag Race show has seriously evolved drag,” states Brandon Voss. “It’s thrusted it into mainstream and cultivated a straight audience. I work with Logo a lot and have produced their premiere and finale parties for the show over the past few years. Most of the people that come out to these things are straight girls.” Lamé agrees that drag depicted in the media has made an impact on the scene. “With the ever expanding [drag] characters seen on TV and movies, drag queens are being seen as a legitimate form of entertainment.”

And it’s proved profitable for her business. “With record crowds and record sales, we are busier more now than we have ever been in 16 strong years,” Lamé shares. And so it seems that drag does still sell—especially when it’s unique. So as long as the crowds keep coming, the queens will keep performing, doing their part to make this time-honored art form a legitimate money-making business.