New York nightlife legend and intrepid field reporter Gerry Visco gives a detailed account of her trip to Atlantic City for the dragtastic Miss’d America Pageant. Check out her story after the jump!
Writes Gerry:
I’ve travelled very little in this last few years due to lack of time and money. But I have been to Atlantic City a few times in the past few years and despite all the Jersey jokes, I’ve had lots of fun. Like last weekend when I attended the 23rd annual Miss’d America drag pageant held at Harrah’s Resort. I was picked up in a white stretch limo and stayed at the Claridge Hotel, a stately place built in 1930 that once had Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra staying there. Atlantic City is deemed tacky by some, but it’s a resort and all about hospitality so apart from the gambling in the casinos, no matter where you go there is music playing in every hotel 24/7, the Boardwalk is full of low cost massage places, and there are lots of restaurant deals.
Although the Miss’d America pageant was held on a Sunday night, we arrived Friday night just in time to catch Erasure’s show at the Music Box at the Borgata Hotel. They’ve got a new album called The Violet Flame. The show was smoking and lead singer Andy Bell is in his fifties but keeps it rocking with a badass light show and although the venue is seated, the audience was standing and dancing during every number. I was wearing a fabulous glittery outfit which mirrored what the performers were wearing and I was honored when Bell suddenly stopped the show, saying, “Look at that blonde woman dancing over there.” He was talking about me and asked me to come up the stage while the audience was rapt with attention. There was an after party in the Borgata later that he DJed.
During the entire weekend, the weather was glorious and summery and the parties were non-stop. Happening the same weekend was the DO AC Boardwalk Wine Promenade Atlantic City, a festival of wine tasting with more than 125 wines. Starting at then in the morning, people were dancing down the boardwalk, travelling from tent to tent tasting wine and champagne to the accompaniment of live music everywhere. The VIP participants who paid a flat rate were given a plastic glass emblazoned with the acronym DO AC that you carried from tent to tent. Atlantic City has been toying with the New Orleans inspired “to go cup” where you can bring the booze out on the beach and boardwalk as long as it’s in plastic and not glass. Great idea!
Atlantic City has been going through some tough times lately but it didn’t detract from the fun. The huge resort and casino Revel had closed the week before and there was a sign in front of The Trump Plaza Casino saying it was closed, the fourth casino closing this year, which has resulted in thousands of residents to lose their jobs. I’m no gambler so don’t care about the casinos although my friend who came with me donated five dollars to bet on the slot machines. I promptly lost it but then won it back and that was enough excitement for me.
There was a feeling of camaraderie and support for Atlantic City throughout the pageant, starting with the pre-party at Harrah’s. Miss’d America is sponsored by a consortium of casinos and hotels, media, and the Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance and over the years has raised more than a quarter million dollars for LGTB charities all across South Jersey. I’d attended Miss’d America in 2011 and 2012 and each time there was a score of parties, events, and fun. The first Miss’d America pageant originated 28 years ago as a parody of the Miss America Beauty Pageant and was held a day later. It was a drag show in which Miss’d was crowned with a paper Burger King tiara and given a bouquet of dead roses. It was a little different this time. The show has evolved into a three hour elaborate pageant attended by hundreds of people and a well-coordinated show with a swimsuit, performance, and evening gown competition by eight contestants. The host was the acerbic and witty Carson Kressley of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy who cracked jokes throughout the evening. The Village People performed their rousing version of “Macho Man”
Victoria “Porkchop” Park who’d won Miss’d America in 2013 was on hand to crown the winner. Victoria was part of the first and original RuPauls’ Drag Race but was eliminated in the first episode. The top three winners of the competition were all popular New York City drag stars. Sir Honey Davenport was first place winner and crowned Miss’d 2015. First runner up was Holly Dae and second runner up was FiFi DuBois. Davenport, a.k.a. James Heath-Clark, is originally from Philadelphia and moved to New York City in 2003 to attend the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA). She’s a regular at various clubs including Boots and Saddle on Monday and Saturday, Monster on Thursday and Saturday, DJing at The Cock and Westgay, and happy hour on Thursday at The Red Room. Her win didn’t surprise me. She was the only queen who sang in her natural voice, although only for part of the song — Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “Too Darn Hot.” All of the contestants were talented and full of personality — the show was especially strong in terms of dance routines. FiFi DuBois a.k.a, James Mullady is from Tampa, Florida and is a professional dancer. Holly Dae a.k.a. Trevor Efinger is from Boston, Massachusetts and came to New York to pursue a career in theater, inspired by the Hollywood glam of the 1940s and 1950s.
To be honest, I’m not really a devotee of pageants although I am a fan of beauty queens, whether they’re drag or women. One of the positive things about the Miss’d America pageant is there’s a spirit of fun and support and no bitchy competition. A lot of the evening and speeches were dedicated to celebrating Atlantic City and the LGBT population. The audience was an enthusiastic cheering squad and Carson Kressley was his usual acerbic witty self with a spirit of good humor. Despite an evening of positivity, this didn’t extend to the unpleasant security guards at Harrah’s. I didn’t get to attend the Miss’d after party held at the Harrah’s Pool After Dark. I’d forgotten that Harrah’s has an outmoded annoying rule that no one can enter with a camera, despite the fact that the place is loaded with guests who have cameras on their cellphones. Despite covering the event as a member of the media, they refused to let me in. In fact, winners Holly Dae and Honey Davenport were originally refused entry to their own after-party since they weren’t carrying their IDs that were packed away in their luggage in the hotel’s auditorium but they were eventually able to attend.
The good news is that Atlantic City now has a gay mayor, Mayor Donald A. Guardian and he was one of the guests of honor at Miss’d. Atlantic City is “gay friendly” and not conservative but there are few gay bars in town despite plenty of gays, male, female, and trans visiting who live in South Jersey, Philly, and New York City. Pro Bar in Resorts Hotel was one of the few gay bars that closed recently after only two years. As a casino hotel bar, it was chichi, so the drinks were expensive and held good events but didn’t survive despite efforts to bring a gay bar into a casino hotel. The gay hangout these days is Rainbow Room, a dive bar on an obscure side street in a somewhat sketchy part of town. West Side Bar and Lounge was a popular dive bar that unfortunately went straight a few years ago. Back in the 70s, Atlantic City was a gay paradise but a lot of the bars went out of business when the casinos began taking over. Perhaps one strategy to save Atlantic City is to bring back the gays, bring on the partying and promote the fine dining establishments and not worry so much about the casinos where people are losing their money. Doing Atlantic City is about having fun.
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