Dancing queen
Once a safe haven for drag performers and the location of a beloved AUSTRALIAN MOVIE CLASSIC, this inner Sydney pub has finally had the glamazonworthy makeover it deserves.
In the memorable opening moments of The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, actor Hugo Weaving, frocked-up in sequins and blonde wig, lip-syncs to Charlene’s 1982 hit, ‘I’ve Never Been To Me’, while a rowdy crowd in an inner Sydney hotel jeer him on.
The pub is The Imperial Erskineville, a 1940s classic corner landmark that, since the 1980s, has regularly hosted drag performances on a special stage in a back room. The curvaceous old hotel, a prime example of what is known as interwar functionalist style, designed by Virgil Cizzio, underwent a cultural transformation when it was purchased in 1983 by legendary entrepreneur Dawn O’Donnell, who also owned the famous Patchs and Capriccios nightclubs on Oxford Street. The former butcher turned it into a safe haven for the LGBTQI community, at a time when transsexuality was barely spoken about. O’Donnell died in 2007 but before that The Imperial had changed hands several times. Even as Erskineville gentrified, the pub was notoriously sleazy, with an illegal sex club operating in the basement. The Imperial was finally shut down in 2015 after drug busts and license breaches. Hoteliers Fraser Short and Scott Leach snapped it up soon after for $6.5 million and invested millions more into tarting up the grand old dame. The reconceived front bar and a new restaurant, Priscilla’s, opened earlier this year. The remaining three stages of the renovation, which include an open-air trattoria, a cocktail lounge and Australia’s first same-sex wedding chapel on the roof, are rolling out over the next few months. Principal architect Sophie Harris and designer Jeremy Bull of Alexander & Co were charged with bringing the pub back to life. It’s a responsibility the team didn’t take lightly. “Respect has to be paid to its importance in the gay community,” Bull says. “We had to find what was once glorious about it again.” He saw it as a kind of “lost palace”, reimagining the cultural icon into a place of fantasy — outrageous, inclusive and fantastic while reflecting the gravity of its legacy. ››
“RESPECT has to be paid to The Imperial’s importance in the gay community. We had to find what was once GLORIOUS about it again” jeremy bull, designer
‹‹ When patrons enter the front bar they know they’re not in Kansas anymore. The ceiling is wallpapered with a “gay version of the Sistine Chapel”, where high-heeled warriors and naked classical maidens frolic. The original stage has been knocked out and turned into a glasshouse and courtyard — an extension of Priscilla’s veg-friendly restaurant. With a further nod to the hotel’s history, the cocktail list includes a drink named for Cindy Pastel, the drag performer whose life story became the basis for Hugo Weaving’s Priscilla character. In the evening, an alcove in the dining room turns into a stage for Drag ’n’ Dine shows seven nights a week.
Throughout the hotel, some original pub surfaces and tiles have been left raw and broken. New carpets, tiling and rendering have been designed to look as if they’ve been uncovered rather than added. Speciality furniture and lighting, such as the 70s-looking CES casino stools in the bar, have been made by local manufacturers to original designs. Fringing and ruffles, mainstays of drag costuming, have been added to lamps shades and mirrors. Even costumes abandoned in the wardrobe room upstairs have been reclaimed — the occasional stiletto can be found casually lying on a bar or side table. “It had to feel fun and quirky and weird, but not twee,” Bull says. Rest assured, The Imperial is anything but.
Fringing and RUFFLES, mainstays of DRAG costuming, have been ADDED to lamps shades and mirrors. Even ABANDONED COSTUMES have been reclaimed