 | |
| Former names | 82 Club |
|---|---|
| Address | 82 East 4th Street New York, New York |
| Coordinates | 40°43′34″N73°59′24″W / 40.7262°N 73.9899°W |
| Owner | Anna Genovese |
| Type | Nightclub |
| Genre(s) | Female impersonation |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1926 |
| Opened | 1953 |
| Closed | 1973 |
| Architect | Charles B. Meyers |
Club 82, also known as the 82 Club, was a nightclub in Manhattan, New York City that employed female impersonators as entertainers. The nightclub had a second life as a music venue, but was eventually closed.
The 181 Club was a predecessor to Club 82, and was named for its address at 181 Second Avenue. [1] The club operated from 1945 to 1953, featuring male impersonators as waitstaff, and female impersonators as entertainers. [1] The 181 Club lost its liquor license after being labelled a "hangout for perverts of both sexes". [1]
Club 82 was connected to the Genovese crime family and the Costello crime syndicate. While mobster Vito Genovese was in hiding abroad, his wife Anna Genovese became hostess of Club 82. [2] The club's tagline was "Who's No Lady," and its drag revues featured both male and female impersonators.
Kitt Russell, dubbed "America's top femme mimic" by Walter Winchell, [3] hosted many of the shows, and countless acts performed in them, such as female impersonators Sonne Teal, [4] Kim Christy, [5] and Mel Michaels. [6] Revues were long and elaborate, [3] [7] [8] replete with sets and costumes, [9] [10] and with titles like Sincapades of 1954, [11] A Vacation in Color, [12] Fun-Fair for '57, [13] and Time Out for Fun. [14]
In 1953, Club 82 came under police investigation with a potential loss of its liquor license, allegedly orchestrated by vindictive Vito to spite Anna. [15] In testifying against her own clubs, Anna stated that the Club 82 was gang-owned. [15] Her testimony ostensibly served to shift the blame from solely herself to her husband Vito's associates who had presided over, and allegedly monitored her activities running the club, while Vito was in exile in Italy.
The State Liquor Authority had previously revoked Club 82's liquor license on account of "disorderly conduct," [15] which was code at the time for infractions involving things like serving alcohol to gay people, or people suspected of being gay. [16] [17]
Although the entertainers were mostly gay, Club 82 catered primarily to heterosexuals. [18]
Entertainers were reportedly overworked, and the club was frequented by wealthy celebrities: [18]
Management had inhuman expectations of the cast, which performed three Broadway-level productions every night, in glamorous gowns from designer John Wong. Orchestra leader Johnny Wilson and Carnegie-trained show director Kit Russel didn't allow anyone to miss even one beat. Liberace, Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Tennessee Williams and other celebrities behaved badly. It was the type of place where a drunken Errol Flynn might play the piano—with his male member—onstage at two o'clock in the morning.
A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and have been a part of gay culture.
Vito Genovese was an Italian-born American mobster who mainly operated in the United States. Genovese rose to power during Prohibition as an enforcer in the American Mafia. A long-time associate and childhood friend of Lucky Luciano, Genovese took part in the Castellammarese War and helped shape the rise of the Mafia and organized crime in the United States. He would later lead Luciano's crime family, which was renamed the Genovese crime family in his honor.
Eight Is Enough is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC from March 15, 1977 to May 23, 1981. The show was modeled on the life of syndicated newspaper columnist Tom Braden, a real-life parent with eight children, who wrote a book by the same title.
Russell Craig Eadie, better known by his stage name Craig Russell, was a Canadian female impersonator and actor.
A drag show is a form of entertainment performed by drag artists impersonating men or women, typically in a bar or nightclub. Shows can range from burlesque-style, adult themed nightclub acts to all-ages events with sing-alongs and story times.
Gene Malin, also known by stage names Jean Malin and Imogene Wilson, was an American actor, emcee, and drag performer during the Jazz Age. He was one of the first openly gay performers in Prohibition-era Speakeasy culture.
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Finocchio'sClub was a former nightclub and bar in operation from 1936 to 1999 in North Beach, San Francisco, California. The club started as a speakeasy called the 201 Club in 1929, located at 406 Stockton Street. In 1933, with the repeal of prohibition, the club moved upstairs and started to offer female impersonation acts; after police raids in 1936 the club relocated to the larger 506 Broadway location. Finocchio's night club opened June 15, 1936 and was located in San Francisco, California, above Enrico's Cafe at 506 Broadway Street in North Beach.
Michael Greer was an American actor, comedian and cabaret performer. He is best known for his appearances in the films The Gay Deceivers and Fortune and Men's Eyes, and for being one of the first openly gay actors to appear in major Hollywood films.
Mona's 440 Club was the first lesbian bar to open in San Francisco, California in 1936. It continued to draw a lesbian clientele into the 1950s. Mona's and the gay bars of that era were an important part of the history of LGBT culture in San Francisco.
Antwan Mason Lee, better known by the stage name Asia O'Hara, is an American drag queen, reality television personality, and costume designer. She is most well known for competing on the tenth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, in which she placed fourth. Since her season aired in 2018, O'Hara has been a staple of several domestic and international tours that feature Drag Race contestants, including Werq the World, Christmas Queens and Drive 'N Drag. She has also appeared on a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, including Can Do Queens, which she co-hosts with Kameron Michaels. In June 2018, she released "Queen for Tonight", her debut single. Her second single, "Crown Up", was released on May 20, 2019, along with an accompanying music video. Since January 2020, she has been a staple cast member of RuPaul's Drag Race Live!, a residency show in Las Vegas, and also stars in the accompanying VH1 miniseries RuPaul's Drag Race: Vegas Revue.
Nina West is the stage name of Andrew Robert Levitt, who is an American drag queen, queer activist, actor, and singer-songwriter based in Columbus, Ohio. He rose to national prominence with his appearance on the eleventh season of RuPaul's Drag Race, where he placed sixth and won Miss Congeniality. He was named the Top Local Artist of 2019 by Columbus Underground. Levitt has also created three EPs—Drag Is Magic, John Goodman, and The West Christmas Ever, which were all released in 2019.
Anna Genovese was an Italian-American businesswoman in the Italian mob and the second wife of mobster Vito Genovese of the Genovese crime family and the Costello crime syndicate. She played a key role in Manhattan's drag bar scene in the middle of the 20th century.
Mel "Angie Stardust" Michaels was a singer, actress, and drag artist of the 1950s and 1960s and the first black star of New York's Club 82. She was also the manager of Hamburg, Germany's first all-male strip club, Crazy Boys, and was the founder and proprietor of Angie's Nightclub in Schmidts Tivoli Theatre.
Tony Midnite was a female impersonator, costume designer, activist, and book reviewer.
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