By Michael Barbieri***Well, New York… we’ve all been through the pandemic wringer, but as most of you know, the city is finally beginning to reopen. To that end, I have some great news for fans of drag. To paraphrase the announcement made before their shows, “Ladies and gentlemen—and everyone in between—Lips is BACK!!!”
Yes, Lips Drag Queen Show Palace Restaurant and Bar, a fabulously fun showcase for drag entertainment, has finally reopened after nearly 15 months of Covid lockdown. And I was THERE!
Lips, for anyone unfamiliar with it, is a combination restaurant, bar and performance venue, with locations here in NYC as well as in Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego and Fort Lauderdale. At every location, fabulous drag queens serve you your meals and then they SERVE you a show, Hunny!
Lips NYC reopened officially on May 20th (with a soft opening the night before) and my husband Vincent and I made reservations for their first Broadway Brunch service on Sunday, May 23rd. Hosted by the hilarious Ginger Snap’t, the Lips brunch celebrates all things Broadway, with all the girls lip syncing to fabulous show tunes, mixed in with a few pop hits to vary the playlist a bit. The glitz and glam of drag combined with songs from the Great White Way is a match made in drag heaven!
Now in its 8th year, everything abou
t the brunch is Broadway themed. Even the menu is in the form of a Playbill—here called Dragbill, and all the entrees are named after well known shows. In our case, Vincent had the Miss Saigon Chicken and Waffles and I ordered the Sweeney Todd Steak and Eggs! Just about the time we finished our food, the show began.
Sunday’s performance proved that the time away from the venue hasn’t diminished any of the girls’ star power! Ginger opened the show with “Belle,” from Beauty and the Beast. This wasn’t a kid’s show, however, as Belle’s choice of reading material hilariously included an oversized copy of Playgirl! Lauren Ordaire gave us an energetic Money Medley which had fans tipping her like crazy and Shiny Penny had the crowd clapping along with her lip sync to “Bring On the Men,” a number cut from Jekyll & Hyde. Ginger returned to the stage as Elsa from Frozen, and gave us a flatulent version of “Let It Go.” Hysterical! She was then followed by drag chameleon Heidi Heaux, sporting enormous hair and doing a number I had never heard: “Get Down,” from the new musical Six.
Next up was our very own server, the beauteous Clarice Hart who worked the house with the Sparkling Diamond medley from the Broadway production of Moulin Rouge! The complex medley included bits of “Diamonds Are Forever,” “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” “Material Girl” and Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies!” One of my favorite girls, Chandilier, took a break from her bartending duties to give us “Poor Unfortunate Souls” from The Little Mermaid.
For the finale, Ginger returned in full Rafiki makeup to perform “The Circle of Life” from The Lion King. All the girls took part, playing the various other jungle creatures. The number ended with Ginger holding aloft a tiny stuffed lion cub for the gods to bless! Perfect end to an almost perfect show! The only bit of negative criticism I have is that the music to which the girls were lip syncing was blaringly loud! Not only did it leave us with our ears ringing when we left, but the excessive volume distorted the lyrics, making many of them incomprehensible. But no matter—we’ll be back again and again, and I’m sure they’ll settle into more comfortable sound levels as the shows progress.
Lips is truly unique and over the past 20 years, Vincent and I have had some wonderful times there. We’ve spent New Years Eve with the girls on several occasions; Vincent has taken me there for my birthday; and we, in turn, took Vincent’s mother there for her 65th birthday! Nobody parties like the girls at Lips bachelorette parties, graduation dinners, Sweet Sixteen parties. I’ve even been dragged onstage for a dance contest! And every night brings different entertainment; sometimes they’ll have Bitchy Bingo, other nights they’ll have karaoke contests, and every night brings a variety of different queens—all of them (say it with me) FABULOUS!
To owner Yvonne Lame, managers Charlie, Jason and Brandon, and to all the Lips gals, I want to say congratulations on your reopening. And WELCOME BACK!!! We’ve missed you! Let’s try not to be apart this long ever again!
For information about Lips, go to www.lipsnyc.com or call 212-675-7710 for reservations.
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