Monday, January 14, 2019

Lips - A Drag Queen Dinner-Theater Concept - Building Out Space in Motor Row

A reader sent us the following picture from Motor Row:

We weren't aware of this but dig some digging and found the following article on Chicago Tribune from October 2018:
Drag queens are coming to Motor Row. And they will be serving you dinner.
Lips, a for-profit, dinner-theater concept that has lasted 22 years in New York, is expected to open in March in the row of historic buildings, formerly known for its auto dealerships, on Michigan Avenue on Chicago’s Near South Side.

Lips Atlanta
Ed LaFaye is the co-owner of Lips, which also has locations in Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and San Diego. In an interview Tuesday, he said his upscale Chicago attraction will offer “a full ‘La Cage’ experience with crushed velvet drapes, four huge crystal chandeliers, 25-foot tin ceilings and legs coming out of the wall.”

Presumably without a torso attached. Still, subtlety is not on the menu.

“The idea behind our decor,” says LaFaye, “is that a drag queen’s jewelry box has just exploded all over the place.”

Behind Lips is where Southern Gothic is set to open (which we wrote about in October):
In the space right behind Lips (at 2229 S. Michigan Ave.), Chicago’s nonprofit Windy City Playhouse is to open what its artistic director, Amy Rubenstein, describes as “a satellite location.”

The first show, likely opening in January, will be “Southern Gothic,” a transfer of the long-running, interactive production by Leslie Liautaud from the main Windy City Playhouse on Irving Park Road, where the show has been running since February.

Looks like some entertainment is actually coming to the Motor Row Entertainment District.

(Hat tip: ASR!)

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