Hey... What about the grand days of BoyBar??? Matthew really put a lot into those shows... Glamamore... Connie... Robi Martin... Diandra... Missy... Raven... Codie... Perfidia... Lulu... Mona... even Rockin' Rita Fierce!

those nights of wig-drama... BM's gossip updates...... Flotilla's arguments with everyone... Robi's papi-of-the-minute... the chasers finding their way backstage... aaahh! the smell of hairspray and Chanel No 5...

i also miss (sort of) being in the downstairs coat-check with Sally and Andrea either making out, fighting, drinking, or throwing drinks... johnny... thanks for being the sane one behind that wall...

Through the grapevine, I heard that Matthew & Len will be at Wigstock. Since so many of us came through those portals and were molded, shaped, guided in one way or another, it will be wonderful to see them.

Oh, the footage of [[[Boy Bar night at Mother]at PTM]at Daddy] last night was such a treat.

Especially cool was the voyeur's delight I enjoyed, watching Sweetie watch herself from years gone by...

The year was 1998, the month was March, don't remember the exact date, but it was the same night as the annual Patsy Cline look-alike night at Cowgirl Hall of Fame.

[This message was edited by xtzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz on 09-23-01 at 06:49 PM.]

Be careful what you say.
Rumor has it that Matthew Kasten is on the Motherboards!

Oh and does she have tales to tell!

oh yes my dear children of the night I am here and yes lets talk about boy bar!
I would like to see what other people thought!

Ok, This is getting complicated.
There are 2 Boy Bar topics going on.
The other one is "Boy Bar and Blacklips"

I'm going to merge them and make "Blacklips" it's own topic.

So if you are confused by the "Blacklips" references all of a sudden...
take another valium and just go with it.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: daddy,

This starts it all from Night Nurse:

quote:

Ok, I am starting the topic that I mentioned from the Chrysis topic in NY Girls Forum. Eve and I have had several discussions regarding what are the parallels and "rivalries" between these two NYC performance institutions in the early 90s. I do remember one night at the Boy Bar, Matthew was talking to someone about a show, and he quipped "we'll have none of that Black Lips nonsense" or something along those lines. I never really understood what it was about as I was so JC, and at the time perhaps too intimidated to ask.

They were two totally different types of "houses" to use that term. I always enjoyed Black Lips' shows because they were so egalitarian and edgy, but I loved the glamour-infused Boy Bar, and that's were my roots were.

Now a decade later, time has passed, so let's dish the story, or am I assuming there is more than there was?

Moved Reply:

There was always a certain BoyBar/Pyramid rivalry, even from day one. As well as an incredible cross-pollination.
I, of course, adored the glamour and spectacle that was BB, and was honored when Matthew invited me into several BB shows. Glamour? Me?
BTW, Tanya Ransom and I went to the newly opened BoyBar once and were told by the staff, "No drag queens allowed!" Then Matthew Kasten came along and changed all that.
And...
Do you know who the first Miss BoyBar was? None other than Hapi Phace! I believe she staggered against the backdrop, as she was accepting the "crown," and pulled it down upon herself. A classic! This was very shortly before Matthew came to create the legendary standard of the BoyBar Beauty, and old garlic/JD breath was running the entire show.

Moved Reply:

Oh..Don't get me started.

I did hair and Make up at both venues for both
" houses". Mathhew gave me free reign on my work and Antony always had such great ideas. I learned a lot from both places.

Boy Bar not only had cute fags but hot queens and the show always entertained.

Pyramid/Black Lips productions either worked perfectly or were a beautiful hideous mess.

Miss all that so much.

Did hair and make up on many a budding star: Sweetie, Faux Pas, Mistress Formika, Sherry Vine, Floyde, Flotilla DeBarge, Peau De Soir, Connie Girl, Miss Guy, The Princess Diandra, and many more. Legends one and all!

Moved Reply:

I went to both Black Lips and Boy Bar, and while I appreciated Black Lips and thought it was genius, I always preferred Boy Bar. Of course in those days I was merely a spectator, until my stint in Louis Quatorze during the Channel 69/early Jackie era. But a huge fan nonetheless.

Black Lips got too weird and kooky for my tastes sometimes. Boy Bar combined the camp of a traditional drag bar, with the unique sophistication and genius you only find in New York. The endless paegentry, the glamour battles, the classic showmanship. And what I especially loved was that it was filled with cute trendy boys, and so the cruising element ran in perfect harmony with the drag show element. You could also DANCE, and dance clubs seem like such a thing of the past now.

Moved Reply:

I can entertain the notion of a BOYBAR- PYRAMID topic, but with all due respect BLACKLIPS did not posess the the same cache' as the two sainted nightspots. I marvelled on some evenings watching a BLACKLIPS show. Antony, Lily, Flloyd, Eve, Johanna all were amazing, and very much added legend to the PYRAMID legacy. I do see it as an offshoot of PYRAMID however, and although worthy of much praise, only a miniscule fraction of the beauty The PYRAMID offerd for so long.

As someone who worked at both venues I was extremely lucky to know the uniqueness of each beast. The hilarious times I spent onstage at PYRAMID with TABBOO! and Hattie and Hapi and Linda and Faux were times I will always treasure. When I went to BOYBAR on Mona Footes good word to Matthew, the first thing he did was get me with Glamamore and glammed me up. BOYBAR was about the gorgeousness of artifice. The sparkle and gleam of an unattainable glamorous existence. Matthews knowledge of fashion, and hair, and film, and stage were enhanced and built upon like Pyramid, by the many people he filled the stable with. Hair people, designers, make up artists all clamored to have a hand in the magic. Matthew Kasten knew how to PUT ON A SHOW!!! There are still things Matthew instilled in me like a mother to a budding teenage daughter I will never forget. For instance earrings are ALWAYS to be worn even with a]hairdo that covers the ears. What if by some tragic occurrance, your ear should show during a number and had no ornament. TRAGIQUE!! Never wear your makeup to match your clothes. Accentuate your haircolor with make-up. LASHES AND NAILS A MUST. He was a perfectionist. PYRAMID had a rawness, an edge, even an element of danger in that you never knew what was going to go down once you got out on that stage,because you were playing with so many loose cannons. I remember shooting Cathay Che in the face with heavy cream that came shooting out of a huge green prosthetic cock I wore playing Pugsly in one of TABBOO's Addams Family shows. she was horrified, but her horror propelled my performance to campier heights.

the real topic should be how JACKIE 60 took the creme de la creme of both houses and perfected the recipe to new heights. JACKIE had all the best elements of both BB and PYRAMID. The cast of kooks that scooted across that stage was really SOMETHING. Oh well another time.

Moved Reply:

Sweetie, I will never forget, and always thank Matthew for one comment he made to me back in the day, as he turned seriously to me and said-"Randella, a blonde pencil for your eyebrows dear, don't use that black." Like Clay Aiken, I listened to his feedback for such a seemingly simple thing, AND he was right...

Moved Reply:

actually boy bar did try anh host Black lips one time but it just never happened,the Black lips shows were too unreliable fro the standard put forth on the boy bar stage.
and yes I am quite shure I made that remark!

Moved Reply:

quote:

Sweetie: The real topic should be how JACKIE 60 took the creme de la creme of both houses and perfected the recipe to new heights. JACKIE had all the best elements of both BB and PYRAMID.

That is so true Sweetie. Jackie brought together so many worlds, that's a big reason why she worked.
One thing is for sure...
There would be no Jackie 60 without Boy Bar, Pyramid or Patricia Field for that matter.
It's not a coincidence that the Boy Bar staff, the Jackie 60 staff and the staff at Patricia Field was almost identical.

And all the talented people behind the scenes doing wigs, costumes, choreography whatever...
was (AND STILL IS) all one Downtown family.
Blacklips included.

Blacklips @ Jackie was sort of like Chi Chi's dark little secret. Sort of like the retarded Kennedy daughter that they hid away in an asylum.

(Who knew that one day that little retarded girl would sell out Carnegie Hall!


Antony

Alright, now that we got that out of our system...
If you want to talk about the now legendary "Blacklips", I found a topic already started.
BLACKLIPS


Now back to Boy Bar.
Where do we begin?

I know...

Who can name the Boy Bar Beauties AND their monikers? (Matthew -this doesn't include you!)

1) Princess Diandra -
2) Robbie Martin -"A Little Bit Of Nothin'"
3) Connie Girl -"THE Connie Girl"
4) Sister Codie Ravioli -
5) Glamamore -
6) Flotilla DeBarge -"The Empress Of Large"
7) Miss Shannon
8) Miss Perfidia

Sombody help me!

OK Daddy I will not play but you got Robi Martin mixed up with some one who is not on the list XOXOXO

Glamamour - The Hog Queen of Lipsink

Good work Bobby.

Damn!
Who was "A Little Bit Of Nothing"
Oh I know...
It must be "Peau De Soir"