Historic drag venue Darcelle XV Showplace asks community for help because it might shut down

Darcelle XV Showplace, a much-beloved drag venue in Portland, Oregon, has asked for community support as they risk going out of business.

“An important message to our faithful supporters of 57 years: the time has come to make difficult decisions regarding the future of Darcelle XV Showplace,” the venue said on Facebook. “As our friend Darcelle and the legacy she’s left behind has been there for the greater Community for almost 6 decades, it’s time we ask for help in return. To ensure our doors remain open we NEED your help!”

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The club’s potential closing is in part due to former owner Walter Cole’s death at the age of 92 last March. He performed as the bar’s namesake, Darcelle.

Cole’s family still owns the venue, but the venue has drawn fewer crowds since his passing. “The issue is what we knew it would be,” a local performer, Kevin Cook, who performs under Poison Waters, said. “The show itself is fabulous, and the club is fabulous, but people want to see Darcelle. He is the star of the situation.”

The post told people that the best way to support the club was to “attend our shows, plan your celebrations with us, and help spread the word far and wide that our club is nearing the unfortunate moment so many other small businesses have recently.”

Cook also told KOIN 6 News that the area Darcelle XV Showplace is located in is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Between Darcelle passing and coming out of COVID, people are still hesitant to come to Old Town, so we’re doing our best to work with our neighbors to make sure Old Town is thriving. We started a brunch show and that’s our biggest seller. That’s a reflection that people prefer to come to Old Town in the daytime,” Cook said.

Darcelle XV Showplace is a monument in drag. When he was alive, the Guinness Book of World Records certified Cole as the oldest drag queen performer in 2016, with a career as an entertainer spanning 56 years at the time of his death. Darcelle XV Showplace’s Facebook states that the club has the longest consecutively running drag cabaret in the nation.

A more recent Facebook post from the club thanks its patrons and the Portland community. “We’re all so appreciative of the tremendous outpouring of love and support this week as we face our future with uncertainty….. we’re looking forward to entertaining you all weekend long starting tonight with our 8pm show! Hope to see you soon!!!”

Cook said the club is not in immediate danger of closing. But, although “it’s not as dire as tomorrow, but who knows what the following months the rest of the year will look like.”

“We just wanted to let people know the writing on the wall. So many small businesses close and we wanted to give folks the opportunity to help us now,” Cook said.

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