Hidden away in a decorative, atmospheric, attic space echoing art deco cinema and 1920’s finery is Oscars bar. Look for a doorway to the right of the main entrance of to Funny Girls to find a new and utterly scintillating secret.
Head up some lamp-lit, mirrored stairs to arrive in a warm glowing space filled with multiple stages, performance platforms and spiral wrought iron staircases where brightly lit orbs float above your head. I came to enjoy ‘SHHHHH!’ – a midnight cabaret performance that transports guests to the late-night lounge bars of the jazz age or the speakeasies of prohibition-era New York. A cabaret, yes, but this immersive event and subsequent party is so much more, it’s a new and fresh experience like nothing else currently on offer in Blackpool.
SHHHHH! can be a welcome after show for those who watched the long established Funny Girls – or you can pop along from 10.30pm each Saturday night. You’ll meet an enchanting array of characters, ready to welcome you into their beautiful, colourful world of music and performance.
The bar filled up quickly with funk, house and disco and guests were greeted by the multi-talented and unbelievably engaging cast of performers, known as The Oscars Play Things. We cracked our glow sticks, put on our party hats, and sipped our cocktails as an array of queer and beautiful show people immersed themselves among us dressed as contemporary flappers, drag queens and jesters, vying for attention as they teetered on ledges and took to striking poses on tables.
Hosting the night and opening the main performance in full drag regalia is Ritzy Reynolds, a gender-bending drag artist, part Marlene Dietrich and part underground ring master. Ritzy enthusiastically welcomed the late-night-revellers and guided us through the experience, all complimented with an atmospheric soundtrack and the cast of quirky performers in the shape of live vocalists, break-dancers, acrobats, speciality acts and aerialists.
The evening is soundtracked by queer femme DJ, dance and drag collective Her House, who mix live a playlist of songs impossible not to bop to. They tout signs of encouragement to ‘sing’ and ‘clap’, and we did. A carefully curated series of happenings and interventions led the audience to look up at balconies and across to stages as we were treated to free shots and a money gun launched tokens for ‘cheeky’ free drink at the bar.
It was impossible not to feel joy as scantily led trapeze artists lowered themselves from an aerial hoop creating beautiful but risqué, close-up performances only experienced in truly diverse and underground settings like those you find in cities.
Ritzy Reynolds provided outstanding vocals throughout but throws the utmost respect and focus to who they describe to be the Headline Chanteuse of this party, the one and only Lady Sha Sha Sha whose stunning vocal performances leave the audience breathless with contemporary covers of knock-out songs by the likes of Radiohead and Queen.
Performers and beautiful people create gentle breezes with huge fans as they gesture for you to join them on the dance floor while Her House and the Play Things take you into the night, losing grasp of time and space. Before you know it, it’s 2am and you’ve had the most sensational experience.
Blackpool’s nightlife has long been stagnant – our bars and clubs are perhaps geared towards traditional drinking nights or hen and stag parties. If you want a night that is currently free, (but with its immediate success, who knows for how long?) then why not that yourself to something truly unique and underground? If this sounds like something you’d love to take part in, then listen as SHHHHH! calls you.
This opening night felt like the beginning of something truly wonderful and true to Blackpool’s queer culture. It is a night for artists, makers, movers and shakers. A safe space for gathering, dancing and making new friends. Perhaps the beginning of a new cultural twilight experience thoughtfully devised by some of the most innovative creatives currently working in Blackpool who described it as something they “hope to be a beautiful, new, vibey and uplifting event experience” for their hometown. Get there as soon as possible and be ready to dance, shimmy your sequins, and delight in the delectable debauchery of SHHHHH!
SHHHHH!is at Oscars above Funny Girls every Saturday night. Doors open at 10.30pm with preshow entertainment and live DJ Sets from Her House. The live floor show and late-night party starts at midnight. Images: Claire Griffiths
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