The glamour and glitz
An inside look at Cardiff instituition Minsky’s
TUCKED away under the remaining Brutalist architecture Cardiff planners once boasted was the future of the Welsh capital is a decades-old bar full of personality and colour that’s the complete opposite of its dreary, 1960s surroundings – not least because of its gold sparkly sign.
Minsky’s has been so called for the past quarter of a century – before that it was Stage Door – and has been entertaining, well, anyone who comes in, since 1994.
It’s the type of place that harks back to when the ice rink and Oxford Arcade were in that part of town and serves as a reminder of when Cardiff looked a certain way.
But once through the doors a warm welcome, plenty of shots and sparkle and some light teasing from the drag queens will make you forget where you are.
Many who walk past Minsky’s during the day might not realise it’s there and others might express their surprise that it’s “still going” – and luckily for its faithful clientele, it is.
Now co-owned by Owen Sendell, an undertaker by day, and his business partner, Nathan Barker, Minksy’s is a traditional cabaret bar that opens just two nights a week – Friday and Saturday – and has a book of regular drag queens, and a few new faces, who hold court on the stage that’s situated right in the middle of the bar.
Owen and Nathan were left to run the club after previous owner Andy Jones passed away in June 2018.
It’s for Andy that Owen says he keeps the club going.
“I definitely took it on for him,” said Owen, 56. “When I did take over I was quiet at first, not so much the shock, but it was not knowing what was going to happen.
“It was hard because of my proper job, and looking after Andy, I had to arrange his funeral, it was hard as he was a real good friend but I had to be professional.”
Owen first came to Minsky’s as a punter for almost two decades and came to love the place.
He said: “I’d always heard of Minsky’s and a lot of the gangs from the Valleys would come down and sometimes I’d come with them, we had a whale of a time. I was straight when I first came here, married with three kids.”
Owen continued going to Minsky’s with his husband, Tim.
“I know nothing has changed, it’s how it’s been from day one, but that’s how it has to be, it can’t change.
“The only thing that’s changed is the colour. And the girls here work damn hard and they’re damn good singers and put on a fantastic show.”
Minsky’s host and DJ Gavin Wilson, aka Opal Fruits, has his theory on why it’s still open, and it’s pretty straightforward – because people like it there.
“There’s nowhere else like Minsky’s,” says Gavin.
“There’s something for everyone in Cardiff.”
Though Gavin does get asked, with an element of surprise, if it’s still open.
“I say, ‘Oh, I work in Minsky’s’ and they say ‘oh, is that still going?’
“By talking to people then they know it’s still open and they come back and find it’s the same as they remember.”
So why is it still there? “We’re still here because the community, not just the LGBT community but the straight community – a majority of our customers are straight,” said Gavin.
“We get a lot of hen parties, office parties, birthdays, divorce parties, we have all sorts, and then when someone is organising a party they will be told that they had a really good night here and they’ll rebook and come again.
“A couple of weeks ago we had some people come to Cardiff all the way from Hong Kong to come to Minsky’s. They’d had friends who came here and went back and told them about it.
“The first night they tried to come in and we were fully booked and they were really disappointed, they had to come back a week later.”
That sense of community is so important to Gavin and the rest of the LGBTQ+ scene in Cardiff and during the past decade the drag community has gone from strength to strength.
“Cardiff does very well for the LGBT society,” said Gavin. “We all look after each other and if there’s somewhere new, we say hello and if people come here and ask where else they can go and we’ll get in touch to say they’re coming over. Even if you’re out on your own you’re not really on your own.”
He recalls a day out to London as Opal last year for Pride that perhaps marks how society as a whole sees drag queens.
“Last year for Pride I went on a train from Cardiff to London, walked round London, having photos, collecting for charity, then got back on the train.
“We were walking up and down the train, having photos, chatting to everyone. No-one was like ‘oh my God, what is this?’
“People engaged with us. I think it’s a lot more accepted now,” Gavin said.
“Some of the queens get ready at home with their make-up, get dressed here. It’s a lot more accepted now, in Cardiff especially, to be who you want.
“Drag is for everyone, not a set community. The audiences you get here, one night it’s full of stag or hens, the next it’s full of lesbians.
“We’ve never had any trouble here, touch wood. The clientele is very mixed and all mix together.
“At the start of the night you’ll get a party here and one over there, separate, but by the end of the night they are all dancing together, they’re all just here to have a good time.”
The popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race has definitely heightened the appeal of drag shows, but at Minsky’s
you’ll find no lip-synching, the girls sing live and the comedy is off the cuff.
“The cabaret and everything we do is so good,” said Gavin, who first came to the club as a customer at the age of 19.
“We don’t lip-sync, have live singers, the comedy we do is all unscripted – sometimes not for the easily offended but that’s what you get when you see a drag show.
“It’s traditional British comedy, British drag show. If you get offended that’s your choice but I think that’s why people love the place.”
One of Minsky’s regular drag queens is Miss Kitty, pictured right.
“I never know how long I’ve been doing it, I always joke and say I’ve been doing it 150 years – I’m like Cher!” she laughs. “I do feel right at home at Minsky’s. It’s a great product and I think it’s still working.
“It’s never changed its name, it’s always had a good rep and people go away and talk. It’s been word of mouth, which is a great thing. Obviously town has changed so much and built up around it. It’s hidden Minksy’s away but we’re still going and that’s the main thing.”
Getting the crowd interacting and buzzing is Miss Kitty’s MO and she does it well.
From singalong tunes like That’s Amore, Big Spender and her classic opener, Man I Feel Like A Woman, getting the audience doing leg kicks, linking arms and up on stage will give them a night out that they’ll look back on with a big smile on their face.
“I like to get the crowd involved and make them feel like they are having a good time,” she adds. “Linking arms and kicking their legs. If they’re all doing that it’s great and it’s great for the atmosphere.
“There’s nothing else like it in town and I do the pubs and clubs but there’s nothing else like it. I hope it lasts forever.”
One thing that gets the Minksy’s team going is talking about the club’s 25th anniversary, for which they threw a big party last year.
Gavin says: “We had all the queens we have working here and others that hadn’t been here for a while and customers returning who hadn’t been here since it opened came too. People who enjoy and celebrate what we do.”
And so, with a club full of fun amid the concrete grey of the back of Debenhams, would Andy be proud of his two pals who are keeping the good times going?
Owen said: “At the end of the day, it’s only open on Friday and Saturday.
“It’s got to take enough money to cover the rest of the week. When I came into the business I had to put nearly £10,000 into it to keep it afloat.
“In six to eight months we’d pulled everything back and paid any debts off and we were on a roll then, anything we took was ours, then we could pay our bills straightaway.
“He’d definitely be proud. We had to keep it going for him. I don’t take a penny of it.
“I do it for the love of it and I do it for Andy.”