RuPaul lives a very different life than he did 20 years ago. When not filming Drag Race in L.A., he still loves NYC and keeps an apartment in the West Village as his base. Yesterday he joined Samantha Bee and other guest speakers at OZY Fest 2017, an all-day mixture of music, comedy, talks in Central Park. Here, he tells the New York Post about his ideal New York weekend,
“I get up super early, and around 5:30 a.m. I get on my bike and ride all over town. I’ll ride to Battery Park, the East Village — it’s like I have the whole town to myself. It’s the complete opposite of when I was a kid. I used to go home at 7 a.m., in drag, as people were going to work. But that stopped for me about 20 years ago!
I like to grab lunch early, too, usually around 11 a.m. It’s my way of avoiding the crowds. I don’t believe in waiting on food — it’s not that important to me. One of my favorite spots is Elephant & Castle in Greenwich Village, where it’s so unpretentious, but the food is so good. It’s probably my favorite restaurant in New York.
I like going on TodayTix.com and [looking] for a matinee in the afternoon. I saw ‘[The] Government Inspector’ at the [Duke on 42nd] recently. But I swear to you that in 1984, in the very same building, I saw a sex show where a man was laying on a chaise lounge, asleep, while a pregnant woman tried to arouse his flaccid manhood. It’s been burned in my brain ever since. So to see such a respectable play in the exact same place all these years later was quite something.
For nightlife, I like the Monster [in the West Village]. They have old-fashioned discos and drag shows there. In fact, I saw Bob the Drag Queen emceeing a show there before he even auditioned for ‘Drag Race.’ It’s a little throwback to the old days and, to be honest, I don’t really want to know what the new clubs are. A lot of the time when I’m at clubs, the kids are just looking at their phones. I’m like,
‘What the fuck is that? Take your ass home!‘”
Speaking of NYC nightlife RuPaul will DEFINITELY be in NYC in September! RuPaul’s DragCon NYC is coming to the Javitt’s Center, September 9 & 10, and it has two official parties too.
Nine From 9
Friday, September 8th at Town Hall with hosts: Bob The Drag Queen & Lady Bunny
with performances by Aja, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, Farrah Moan, Jaymes Mansfield, Kimora Blac, Nina Bo’Nina Brown, Sasha Velour, Shea Couleé, Tammie Brown & Trinity Taylor
Battle On The Runway!
Saturday, September 9th at Stage 48 with host Shangela and DJ Jodie Harsh.
The drag battle will feature performances by Derrick Barry, Detox, DiDa Ritz, Kim Chi, Laganja Estranja, Raja Gemini, Sharon Needles, Tyra Sanchez, Violet Chachki, and Vivacious!
Tickets for DragCon NYC and the parties are on sale now and you can get them all here.
(Photo, PCN; Instagram; via New York Post)
