Bountiful Bosoms
With Halloween fast approaching, Im surely not the only
one whos been losing sleep lately wondering just how
haunted Elviras hills really are. But on Friday the
13th, I finally got the chance to find out when everyones
favorite Mistress of the Dark took full advantage of the superstitious
holiday to promote her frolicsome new feature film, Elviras
Haunted Hills.
And just where do you think the beloved icon of drag queens
everywhere would throw such a party? At Lucky Chengs,
of course. After wading through the overflowing pond of women
that engulfed the East Village restaurants main room,
I was graciously welcomed by the lovely Joey Arias in a secluded
back room (get your minds out of the gutter). Elvira was everything
I imagined she would be (and so much more), and it was simply
mesmerizing watching the buxom b-movie queen effortlessly
work the room greeting guests and posing for the press.
After several complimentary cocktails, I joined the procession
down Houston to the Sunshine Landmark Cinema for a screening
of the movie whose tag line entices: "Evil. Terror. Lust.
Some girls really know how to party." While it would
be nearly impossible to top her first cinematic effort, Haunted
Hills did provide just enough laughs and gratuitous cleavage
shots (come on, I know Im not the only gay man harboring
a platonic fascination with womens breasts) to make
it all worthwhile.
Heteropalooza
Every once in a while I like to infiltrate
the straight club scene to see what kind of shenanigans those
crazy hets are up to. While its true their parties rarely
ever hold a candle to ours, there is at least one exception
in New York City Sound Factory. Arguably the best (and
certainly the cleanest) nightclub in town, the gay community
has been enjoying this multi-level dance emporium sporadically
over the past two years thanks to Ric Sena, producer of the
infamous Alegria parties held on Sunday nights of holiday
weekends (note: the next one is October 13 with local DJs
Chad Jack and Eddie Elias).
But who would have guessed that the clubs long-running
Saturday night shindig with resident DJ Jonathan Peters would
be anywhere near as entertaining or as scandalous?
I experienced my first Heteropalooza at Sound Factorys
13th Anniversary party in April. My accomplice and I experienced
complete sensory overload as we marveled at the endless parade
of beautiful women and hot hunky men (who, by the way, were
mostly shirtless and didnt seem the least bit bothered
by our admiring stares). The stage shows, which at many nightclubs
often come across as unnecessary and distracting, were brilliantly
provocative, particularly the homoerotic tribute to one of
our favorite groundbreaking sitcoms of the 50s. The bizarre
reenactment of the famous candy factory assembly line episode
of "I Love Lucy" began innocently enough, but soon
devolved into an unexpected lesbian love fest as the two ravenous
beauties portraying Lucy and Ethel stripped each other down
to their lingerie and seductively explored each others body.
So naturally we returned for the Underwear Party a few months
later, where we were treated to a co-ed wet underwear contest
complete with on-stage shower. Speaking of showers, I could
use a cold one after reminiscing about those sexy male contestants
and they werent shy either!
Just when you thought things couldnt get any raunchier,
Sound Factory announced its S&M party, slated for Saturday,
September 21. Ill admit I was a bit surprised (albeit
thrilled) to see gender-bending ads for the party appear on
the back cover of Next magazine. And once again, a testosterone-fueled
and silicon-enhanced mob of revelers packed themselves into
the club like sardines, and many of them ended up staying
well into Sunday afternoon. Without going into graphic detail
about the shows, lets just say that they gave Black
Party a run for its money.
Battle of the Tea Dances
You know summers over and the boys are back from Fire
Island when there are no less than three separate tea dances
from which to choose on a Sunday night. Such was the case
this past weekend when I was forced to pick between Keana
at Splash (I refuse to use that stupid new acronym), Julian
Marsh at Octagon, and DeMarko at Sound Factory. I guess I
could have stopped by all of them, but Im a firm believer
in doing everything in moderation. So DeMarko got the bid
this time, and what a fun little soiree it turned out to be.
Held on Level 4 of the club (complete with a buffet in the
cabaret lounge and a percolating hot tub), patrons were hoisted
up to the entrance in an eerie freight elevator that gave
the party a distinct underground feel.
There wasnt much of a crowd when we arrived at 9:30pm,
but by 11 the dance floor was full. Drink prices were awfully
steep for a tea dance $5 for bottled water; $9 for
a cocktail! but under the spell of up-and-coming DJ
DeMarkos sublime Junior-inspired set (he also spins
at G on Fridays), I couldnt help but think that this
monthly event is really going to take off.
Speaking of Junior, hell be celebrating the one-year
anniversary of Earth, his weekly after-hours party at Exit,
on Saturday, October 6, along with Vernessa Mitchell and a
few thousand of his closest friends. Also on the horizon is
the fourth installment of Victor Calderones monthly
Tribalism party at arc (the formal Vinyl) on Sunday, October
20. If you havent check out this delectable dance party
yet, you dont know what youre missing.
Until next time
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