DIVA heads down to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern for drag king extravaganza King Of Clubs: King Of Hearts
WORDS KATIE HALL, IMAGES MARITA UPENIECE
Frankie Sinatra’s drag king night Kings of Clubs has become a well-established must-attend cabaret night on the scene.
Borne from inspiration at the emergence of drag king talent, Frankie has created a welcome, inclusive event that showcases the best of the acts from around the world, old and new.
Starting with banging queer favourite tunes from Stav B, Frankie then steps suavely onto the stage to offer a warm welcome to the acts and audience alike.
Three open mic slots share the first Act and allow new performers or Kings, Prinxs or Things to try out new routines.
January’s event showcased Peter Frommage, from San Francisco – an excellent singer; Theo La Gy, a French Philosophising, love bearing Romeo; and Micera McCollins whose movement and dance surprise and delight in equal measure.
The dreamy middle Act brought poet Will Actually, with their subversive take on masculinity and poetry alike, comedy magic from Richard Mellanin III and the sweet vocals of Khristian Stanswick.
Photo by Marita Upeniece
With plenty of opportunity to buy drinks from the bar and chat to the mixed and full crowd in between the acts and joyful interludes from Frankie as host, the audience was fully hyped for the final set.
Photo by Marita Upeniece
Kallum offered us a humorously beautifully sung original number about the woes of poly-bi-dating; Prinx Silver danced a broody drag-burlesque tune; then headline act LoUis CYfer made their debut at Kings of Clubs and brought the house down.
Photo by Marita Upeniece
Channelling their trademark Rotherham humour, LoUis bantered and belted out some electric numbers which always come with their own gutter-minded double entendre, and had the whole audience on their feet in swaying cheer.
Frankie’s final hurrah to send us off reprised all nine acts on stage, before Stav B was charged with filling the venue with upbeat tunes on the decks. What fantastic value for money and an uplifting evening of entertainment and fun highlighting the expanding drag king talent from London and beyond.
With only five shows a year, make sure you catch the next bi-monthly extravaganza on 4 March at the RVT. Follow Frankie at facebook.com/FrankieIsKing and @kingfrankiesinatra.
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