Getting Personal

 
Holding things together at the biggest gay nightclub in New York is no easy feat, but superstar Splash promoter Dougie Meyer keeps things hopping on 17th Street every week. He oversees  Campus Thursdays, Twink Tuesdays and the circuit-party-style danceathon every Saturday, where he’s brought international talents like Manny Lehman, Hex Hector and Yinon Yahel into the booth. (He’s also produced Splash’s Sunday School party and events in London and Paris.) We pulled Dougie aside and got him to open up. —Dan Avery continue reading »

Sir Ari Gold (the title was bestowed by the Imperial Court of New York) has amassed a big gay and straight following with infectious dance-pop tracks like “Human” and “Love Will Take Over.” The out New Yorker cut his teeth in the business early (“I was discovered at my brother’s bar mitzvah when I was five,” he reveals) and has sung in major New York venues and toured with RuPaul and Chaka Khan. Now he’s getting into hosting  with a new talent competition, America’s Next Gay Icon, Wednesdays at Rockbar. We handed him a mic and got him to sing like a bird. —Dan Avery continue reading »

 
He might hail from Beaverton, Oregon, but actor/writer Jesse Archer is mainstay of gay cinema—writing and starring in A Four Letter Word and, most recently, Violet Tendencies, costarring Mindy Cohn (The Facts of Life‘s Natalie). Though his star is rising—he’ll be in the upcoming Arthur remake with Russell Brand (in a jail scene, of course)—Archer can still be found at the hottest New York parties. Currently he’s working on Half-Share, a web series set on Fire Island, and wrapping the feature Going Down in LA-LA Land. We promised Archer a spot on Glee and got him to open up. —Dan Avery continue reading »

Logan Hardcore came to the Big Apple just four years ago, but she hit the ground running.  “I got started doing drag the night I came here and moved in with Epiphany,” she says.  “I went out in a skirt and danced the night away—that’s the day the small-town boy became a city girl.”  Currently, Hardcore is something of an island girl, with sets in Fire Island on Saturday, Sundays and Tuesdays—as well as weekly gigs at Urge (Wednesday) and Vlada (Fridays) here on the mainland.  We swiped her drink tickets and got Logan to share her secrets. —Dan Avery continue reading »

 
If you’re a bear—or just a Goldilocks who likes hangin’ with a hairy harem—then you’ve probably know Joe Fiore. He’s the mastermind behind the Drenched pool parties, Woof!, Dance 208, Rockbear Sundays at Rockbar, and the recent Howl party at Cherry Grove’s Ice Palace. On August 7, he’s bringing back the flavor of legendary DJ Lary Levan and the Paradise Garage with Dance: 208 Garage Classics at the LGBT Center. “I was a DJ wannabe and volunteered at the Center Dances to get experience,” Fiore says of his nightlife origins.  “When the head of the dance committee left they asked me to run it. Honestly I just wanted to dance but I found out I liked running the party, too.”  We threatened Joe with a bottle of Nair and got him to spill his guts. —Dan Avery continue reading »

Lee Chappell doesn’t just throw parties. His events—from Saturday-night throwdowns at the Roxy to the Dr!p pool bashes, the Foreign Affairs cabaret, and the recent Desire masquerade ball—are the stuff of gay legend. “My start in nightlife came from the creative need to be my own person and look the way I wanted,” Chappell explains. “The punk, New Wave and goth aesthetics run rampant through my blood. When the late-’70s and ’80s hit, so did I!” Chappell says he’s planning on reviving both Dr!p (as a series of one-offs) and Foreign Affairs (as a Fashion Week event at Barneys). We hid his eyeliner and got Lee to open up. —Dan Avery continue reading »

New York personality Marti Gould Cummings doesn’t do drag per se. He’s more of an androgynous gender-bender with a hard-on for the Great White Way. In Take the Mic at Dixon Place he scouts for fresh talent, while his online series, Broadway Speaks Out!, sees stars like Liza Minnelli and Gavin Creel talking about LGBT equality. On July 18, Gould turns his birthday party at Vig 27 into a benefit show for Broadway in South Africa, with stage talents like Kate Shindle and Adam Kantor. We hid his chandelier earrings and got Cummings to come forth. —Dan Avery continue reading »