Star-studded Wigstock shows how drag culture is now mainstream
NEW YORK » Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, chef and actor David Burtka, fired up what they call New York’s “last summer blowout” — a six-hour, 50-act drag-queen spectacle staged Saturday on a glitzy Manhattan pier.
It was the revival of a 1980s festival called Wigstock — an impromptu creation of unruly patrons in drag who stumbled out of an East Village club at about 2 a.m. to improvise for homeless people in garbage-strewn, rat-infested Tompkins Square Park. It was free.
Saturday’s Manhattan show featured drag stars Lady Bunny, Bianca Del Rio and Latrice Royale. There were food, drinks and dancing on Pier 17 by the Brooklyn Bridge, with the audience wearing overthe-top attire for a shindig that kicked off with a cannon shooting out blue, orange and red wigs.
Backstage, performers powdered their noses and ran through costume changes.
Tickets started at $95 and topped at $1,000 for the well-heeled at a VIP after-party with performers. A limited number of passes sold for $18.95.
The last time Robert Nieves was at Wigstock was in 1995, when he was 18. On Saturday, at 41, he came with his husband, Ramon Nieves, whom he dubbed a “Wigstock virgin.”
“I wanted him to be able to experience it because this is such a monumental event for the community,” said Robert Nieves, wearing a short red wig. “You know, last time I was here I didn’t wear a wig.”
With Tony, Emmy and Oscar award winners involved in the production, the drag culture has gone mainstream. And Wigstock has come a long way from the wee hours one night in 1984 when Lady Bunny led the inebriated charge into the park.
“In those days, drag used to be very gritty and dirty, with real shock value and people saying, ‘I can’t believe I’m laughing at this sick club comedy,’” says Burtka. “The first Wigstock ended up being a party — the last summer blowout.”