Man! I Feel like a woman: Drag shows deliver kickin' time for bachelorette parties
By Heather V. Eng
Tuesday, April 12, 2005

A little after 10:30 on a recent Saturday night, Destiny took the stage at Jacques Cabaret in Boston. In a figure-hugging outfit, the drop-dead gorgeous singer launched into a medley of Janey Jackson's greatest hits.

Destiny is a man. Jacques is a renowned gay bar. So why was the cheering, dancing audience packed with straight women?

"On Saturday night, there's not a man in the house - except for us," said Kris Knievil, one of the performers.

Jacques has featured drag shows for the past 25 years, and the Theater District bar has long been known as a place where all people, regardless of secual orientation, could be themselves.

"Jacques if for everyone: gay, straight, transsexual, indifferent," said Jacques manager Kris Turilli.

During the past three years, the bar has seen its straight female clientele grow as Jacques' reputation as a bachelorette party hot spot exploded. Modern Bride magazine cited Jacques in an article about Boston bachelorette parties, and word of mouth brought in more brides-to-be. This year, every Friday and Saturday night from now through June is booked with groups of girlfriends saying au revior to the single life. Hopefuls who did not make reservations on time can put their names on a waiting list.

With Norell Gardner and His Cast of Miss-Leading Ladies working the stage, the club seems like one big girls' night out. The performes exude glitz and glamour in their high heels, dramatic makeup and skin-tight flashy outfits. Girl-power pop anthems fill the hour-and-a-half set as performers lip sync to songs that display their personalities: Mizery showed off his signature high kicks as dance tracks filled the space; Norell worked the room to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive"; and Knievil drew screams of approval with raunchy crowd-pleasers and the night's closer, Shania Twain's "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!"

All the while, audience members, including young women, mothers, aunts and even the occasional grandmother, dance with the drg queens and stuff dollar bills down their shirts. Bachelorettes receive special attention.

"Usually they're wearing some sort of marking: a veil, a hat or a boa, always something with a penis," Knievil said. "We'll all sing to her or dance with her, play with her. (Her friends) will usually wave money over her so we'll know who to embarrass."

He cited Jacques' accepting, unpretentious atmosphere as its main appeal for bachelorette parties.

"It's a safe place where no one is going to get hurt," Knievil said. "You can drink, have fun, get up and dance, sing along. You can let yourself go. No one is going to judge you. You're not going to have gross guys hitting on you or trying to get in your pants."

Bachelorette party atendees enjoyed the freedome that allowed girls to be girls.

"Instead of those sleazy places on Lansdowne, this si so much better. I went to a bunch of them (bachelorette parties) last summer and this is the best, best one," said Priscilla O'Shea. "All of us are wearing low-cut shirts. The girls can get drunk and have fun."

Jacques also hosts bachelor parties, though not as frequently.

"(The men) get into it," Knievil said. "I'm sure at times they forget (we're men). With destiny and Maya, they just don't believe it's a boy to begin with. They've gottent a little confused at times."