NYC LGBT

NYC LGBT

"Making friends as an adult is hard. Especially if you're looking for friends who share your identity, interests and general proximity. So what are the odds that I found myself on a very rainy New York night (the restaurant was literally leaking), seated at a booth with two strangers around my age, also lesbians, who shared a love of musical theater, can't drive and all wanted salads with protein for dinner?"

While trying to find a way to realize his dream of becoming a nightclub singer, he worked as a waiter, writer, retoucher, actor, SAT tutor and as a personal assistant to the truly psychotic wife of an aging writer whom I revered, but still wasn't earning enough. Then, he was offered a deal that seemed too good to refuse: $20,000 to write a book about the edgy scene that he had immersed himself in.

"Being a Black LGBT person, there often weren't many spaces that I felt seen or accepted," King says. "I'm from Texas. Coming from a much more restricted state and then being at Columbia, obviously I wasn't necessarily represented there either. So coming into the Kiki scene has just given me a way to be around people that are actually like me."

"My vision for Club Cumming has always been to create the ethos of old New York nightlife: A place for all ages, all genders, all colors, all sexualities, where kindness is all and anything can happen," Cumming said. "It's a cabaret club but also a dance club, a drag club, an art club, a community center, a safe space - it's whatever the LGBTQ+ community needs and wants it to be. I'm so happy that World of Wonder and WOW Presents Plus is making this show about our Club Cumming tribe and showcasing the talents and the stories and the lives of these queer icons of tomorrow."

Located at 196 North 10th Street between the Bedford Avenue L train stop and McCarren Park, Oberon features spacious retro seating and tables, mirrors, industrial windows, and walls adorned with vibrant art by Gerrard Deecey. The latter includes one piece depicting the Stonewall Uprising and other ones paying tribute to historic LGBTQ icons like the late trans activist Marsha P. Johnson and the late Brooklyn-born gay DJ Larry Levan.