Darcelle XVÂ Showplace
Night club · Chinatown ·
Legendary drag venue hosting energetic musical performances and cocktails
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72144109/1HeroCastFriday.0.jpg "Darcelle XV Showplace by Thom Hilton/Eater Portland")
Legendary drag venue hosting energetic musical performances and cocktails
"I can attend a performance at Darcelle XV in Portland, one of the country's longest‑running drag venues and a core part of the city's cultural identity." - Arati Menon, Megan Spurrell
"As one of the country's longest-running drag venues, Darcelle XV is emblematic of Portland’s enduring, eclectic cultural scene and remains a notable nightlife destination." - Arati Menon
"The late Darcelle, the world’s oldest living drag queen, died March 2023. Her showplace, now in the National Register of Historic Places, hosts the longest-running drag show on the West Coast. In her memory, the show is as energetic and vital as ever. The food is greasily delightful, the drinks are a thousand variations of sweet, and the brassy stable of queens effortlessly modulate their old-school pageantry for late-night crowds, bawdy brunches, and family matinees. A queer Stumptown staple since Stonewall (really! 1969!), this place is the best kind of time machine, and it’s a can’t-beat spot for out-of-towners. Celebrate Darcelle’s legacy with shows every Friday and Saturday night, brunches every Sunday, and pay attention for Catch a Rising Star showcases, which lift up new local drag talent." - Thom Hilton
"I noted that the drag club Darcelle XV Showplace has had a close call with closure in recent years." - Rebecca Roland
"I note that a beloved, longstanding Portland drag club, Darcelle XV Showplace, is at risk of shutting down due to poor attendance during its usual peak season. One of the club’s co-hosts and performers, Kevin Cook (who performs as Poison Waters), told reporters that summer is normally the busiest time of year but this season has been an outlier, and with fall approaching it's unclear how long the club can sustain itself as operational costs have skyrocketed; Eater reached out to the club for comment. The threat of closure comes a little over a year after the March 2023 death of Walter Cole (Darcelle XV), who at 92 was the oldest working drag queen in the United States and had owned the club since 1967; when she bought it it was a neglected bar called Demas Tavern in Old Town Portland that she transformed first into a popular lesbian bar and then into the home of the longest continuously running drag show in the country. On July 24 the club posted a plea on Instagram—“The time has come to make difficult decisions regarding the future of Darcelle XV Showplace... Please come support our club, attend our shows, plan your celebrations with us and help spread the word far and wide”—directing supporters to make reservations or simply come in for a show (no fundraiser has been set up), and fans pledged support and asked about donations; on July 26 a Facebook update thanked the community for an outpouring of love while reaffirming the ongoing need for support. In recent years other longstanding Portland queer bars have closed or nearly closed, including Crush Bar (which had a close call), Rebel Rebel, the Queen’s Head, and the Roxy." - Rebecca Roland
