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Founding of Legendary Drag Cabaret Club, 82 Club
Legendary drag cabaret the 82 Club was located at 82 East 4th Street. Ty Bennett becomes the headliner and 'den mother'. By the 1960s and 70s, Club 82 became a popular hang out for celebrities and glam rockers like David Bowie, Lou Reed, Harvey Fierstein, and Blondie. -
Andy Warhol's "Boys to Adore Galore"
Andy Warhol rents the 150 seat Fortune Theater at 62 East Fourth Street (second floor), placing Gerard Malanga as manager and Jim Carroll as co-manager. Together the group put on a series of hardcore male porn films in what was called Andy Warhol's Theater: Boys to Adore Galore. -
Pyramid Club Founded
The nightclub Pyramid Club opens on Avenue A as a place for struggling artists, actors, and musicians to create their own scene in the East Village. It was a cornerstone of queer club culture. -
WOW Cafe Theater Formed
WOW started as an international women's theatre festival in October of 1980. Over the course of eleven days, 36 shows from 8 countries were performed for hungry New York lesbians. Within 18 months the group had a permanent space at 330 e. 11th street, where they began the monster that is WOW today: a year-round festival of women's and transgender peoples' performance. WOW now inhabits 59-61 E. 4th Street. -
Wigstock Kicks Off its Annual Drag Show in Tompkins Square Park
The "Lady" Bunny kicks off the world's most offbeat, sick-adelic (and only) outdoor drag festival with a jazzed-up version of "I Feel The Earth Move", wearing a black double-knit rhinestone-studded pants suit with chain belt and platform wedgies -- this in front of a crowd of a few hundred mostly unsuspecting onlookers. By the end of the day 1,000 or so people have gravitated to the bandshell in Tompkins Square to witness the spectacle. Check out more of the history here! -
WOW's Groundbreaking Second Season
Carmelita Tropicana’s Memorias de la Revolución opens WOW’s second season in the fourth-floor walkup and represents a groundbreaking work in WOW’s representational history. Moves on to a four-week run at P.S. 122 in the fall of 1987. -
THEM by Ishmael Houston Jones opens at PS 122
Ishmael Houston-Jones, whose intensely physical improvisations have been a staple of New York's contemporary dance scene for over three decades, sparked controversy in 1986 at Performance Space 122 with THEM. Made in collaboration with Dennis Cooper (text) and Chris Cochrane (music), this incendiary work addressed some of the many ways men could be with men. -
La MaMa Premier's "Ancient Boys"
"Ancient Boys," Jean-Claude van Itallie's play about a gay artist living with AIDS, premiered at LaMaMa Annex, February, 1991. "Van Itallie’s hero...a manic, mercurial artist, embodies everything that’s wonderful and horrible in New York’s gay male vie de boheme, downtown style...” – Michael Feingold, Village Voice. -
"Rent" Opens at New York Theater Workshop
Jonathan Larson's Rent began performances at NYTW. Rent had been developed intensively during two years of workshop activities. In a tragic turn, Jonathan Larson died the night before the first NYTW performance. His legacy, Rent, played a record-breaking engagement at NYTW, moved to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre and won the 1996 Tony Award for Best Musical as well as the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1998. -
The End of Meow Mix
Popular lesbain nightclub Meow Mix closes after a ten-year run. Despite its role in Kevin Smith's "Chasing Amy," Meow Mix managed to maintain its alterna-girl edge until the end. -
Pride Goes East Founded
Pride Goes East holds its first festival as a week-long celebration of special events and local deals during Pride Week in NYC. FAB theatres such as PS122, Dixon Place and La MaMa present LBGT performances, while local shops and restaurants offer hot deals and special events. It’s all in support of fundraising efforts for the Hetrick-Martin Institute, home of the Harvey Milk School.
