Boys’ night out
Not since celebrating Halloween on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood several years ago have I seen so many men in dresses. Sure, some of them are Cpl. Klinger-like, ungainly in their body-skimming ensembles and high heels. But a lot of them are hot. Double-take hot. If only I looked half as good in a cropped tee and miniskirt.
Welcome to the Queen Mary in Studio City, which has been serving up female impersonators for more than 40 years to a strikingly diverse audience of straights, gays and everything in between.
On a recent Saturday night, the lounge is packed for the 9 o’clock show with couples, small groups of friends and, in the last row, a dozen female UPS employees ready to party. The show opens with an old queen who looks a lot like a West Palm Beach matron -- big hair, diamonds and all -- overdue for a face-lift. S/he zeroes in on the bald men in the audience. (Beware, ye follicly challenged.) Several unrepeatable jokes follow. Just know that the Queen Mary is not for the prudish.
Maximilliana is a crowd favorite. He does an electric version of “Walk Like an Egyptian,” stripping down from an oversized caftan into a sequined gold bikini top and matching hot pants. Shortly into the number, he steps down off the stage. Audience members tuck dollar bills into the waist of his pants, his cleavage. Later on the evening, he returns as Boy George. There’s also Dolly, a blond who does an acrobatic performance of “All That Jazz,” and Dani Kaye, who owns the room with an R-rated version of “Hey, Big Spender.”
Between the Madonna and Whitney Houston numbers, there are also a couple of Chippendale’s-style flings. One muscular fellow bares almost everything, then goes slithering up a pole like a seasoned stripper. He grabs a glass of beer from a table, slowly pours the liquid over his chest -- hope the owner was finished -- and follows this up with splits atop the bar. Soon he’s playing to one of those UPS women, and she’s loving every second of it.
Over the course of the evening, the audience gets rowdier and looser with those dollar bills. No doubt the two-drink minimum is a factor here. Fortunately the drinks are relatively cheap.
“They’re beautiful performers,” says 30-year-old Los Angeles resident Barbara Chanrion, who is checking out the show with two male friends. “The bodies are great, the costumes are nice and the makeup is beautiful.” This is no small compliment, considering Chanrion is a casting agent.
Outside the lounge in the front bar, an odd assortment of men in jeans and polo shirts and others in cascading-curl wigs and lipstick mingle over cold beer and the signature Kahluaccinos. A dozen girls and guys dance to high-energy techno music. Others hang around the perimeter, taking it all in. This show is almost as good as the one on the main stage. But it feels decidedly more cliquey, closed: a place for cross-dressers, transvestites, the transgender crowd and those who love them, not the ogling curious.
Before I leave for the night, I visit the ladies’ room. But as is often the case for us females, there’s a line, a line I don’t feel like waiting in. As I turn to leave, I catch sight of that familiar icon on the door: a stick figure in a triangular skirt. It’s the same icon I’ve seen a thousand times before. But tonight it has new meaning. Tonight it’s anything goes.
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Queen Mary
Where: 12449 Ventura Blvd., Studio City
When: Wednesday-Sunday. Cabaret shows take place Fridays at 9 p.m., Saturdays at 9 and 11:30 p.m., and Sundays at 9:30 p.m. Reservations suggested for guaranteed seating.
Info: (818) 506-5619 or www.queenmaryshowlounge.com