A Eugene drag troupe is searching for a new home after local LGBTQ bar The Wayward Lamb closed almost three weeks ago.
Members of The Glamazons say bar owners, managers and event producers have reached out to them since the downtown gay bar closed Feb. 2. With The Wayward Lamb gone, the five-person group now finds itself without a weekly venue.
“It’s sad to not have a place where we can perform on a weekly basis and connect to our people,” says Curtis Wixey, also known as Monique La Faye. “Drag queens have always kind of been the gay clowns of the community and have always been there to glue it together.”
The group, which formed in 2010, performed at Luckey’s Club, at the now-defunct John Henry’s and at Diablo’s Downtown Lounge. At these venues the Glamazons headlined monthly GLAM parties — LBGTQ dances that ended in 2015.
Last year, Wixey says, the troupe was contacted by The Wayward Lamb’s former marketing manager, John O’Malley. He offered them a weekly hour-long show.
Every Friday night, the troupe lip-synced songs, and one of the performers, Diva Simone Slaughter, would perform a comedy monologue.
“Diva really went out of her way, at the beginning of the show and the intermission, to recognize people in the community, bring people up for birthdays. I’ve never seen that at a drag show,” says Ben Williams, a Northwest Christian University graduate student. “Their show was so people-oriented, not just towards drag and the art, but towards the audience and everyone having a good time.”
Williams says he has attended every show by The Glamazons for the past year and a half — unless he has been out of town.
The troupe has yet to perform since The Wayward Lamb closed. In the two weeks since, Cornel Hardiman, aka Karress Ann Slaughter, has been the only member performing in drag, hosting a bingo night every Tuesday at The Drake Bar.
Wixey says the group is in discussions with six venues. The Glamazons, he says, would prefer a place to perform every Friday again. In addition, Wixey says, the troupe hopes to put on an all-night dance party — much like they were doing before The Wayward Lamb, which was more of a cabaret style.
The Glamazons will perform at the University of Oregon’s Living Learning Center at 7:45 pm Thursday, Feb. 22. They will also be featured at the 19th annual Damsels, Divas & Dames drag show April 7 at the Hult Center.