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Everyone loves a queen: Drag scene at Bob & Barbara's is about more than pageantry

An attitude of respect, equality, and appreciation brings an audience from all walks of life.

A painted sign at the bar of Bob and Barbara's Lounge on South Street reads, "Respect Our Queens." The walls are covered in Pabst Blue Ribbon memorabilia like something straight out of a 99-cent store. It's 11:15 p.m. exactly and the DJ launches the opening track for the show. Most drag shows start late. Not this one.

Among tables covered with crushed beer cans and used shot glasses, a woman in a simple long, elegant black dress that leaves nothing to the imagination ascends from the basement stairs and onto the small stage. Her back to the audience, the eager crowd finally quiets as Beyoncé's "I Was Here" begins to play. The woman who rules this stage spins around, lip syncing the first lyrics.

I wanna leave my footprints on the sands of time. Know there was something that meant something that I left behind.

Ian Morrison, better known as queen Brittany Lynn, says the show's diverse audience is part of its allure. "Lisa's show has been successful because Bob and Barbara's crosses all demographics," Morrison said. "You have the college boys, the straight girls, the gay guys, the lesbians. It's a noncritical space. When there is noncritical space and the girls are guaranteed pay, there is no fear of competition. There is no fear of doing badly. There is no boxing you in there."

One of those straight girls is Bonnie Captis from South Philadelphia, a regular since 2007. "Thursdays are my night. Miss Lisa and her girls give me so much life," she said outside the bar on a cigarette break. "My week can be so monotonous, but when I see them, you just feel so uplifted. "

Wearing a knit cardigan and jeans as she sits before the show at her favorite Center City coffee spot, Chapterhouse, Thompson reflects on her career with customary candor.

"Renee Cockateau was the original host. The first night I performed at Bob and Barbara's was only because another performer had to cancel," said Thompson, who has canceled only three times in her 20 years at Bob and Barbara's. "Renee asked me to fill in that spot. They were originally wary of bringing a transsexual to perform.

"It was different because I was the first trans woman doing a show there. They thought that transsexuals attracted a different kind of crowd. It was proven wrong, of course, because at the end of the day, we are all performers. They saw I was just there to do a professional show. I did 'I'm Every Woman.' I had this Pocahontas outfit on. I will never forget it."

Thompson began coordinating the shows soon after, but had to overcome her own stage fright before she began hosting. "I finally said to myself, 'I have to come out of my shell.' "

A year later, she was comfortably at the mic, performing the show behind the bar. "The bartender would just stand there while we performed." Thompson convinced owner Jack Prince to expand to the building he owned next door as well. And a real show room was born.

Performance is hardly new to Thompson. By day, she's a music educator for the city of Philadelphia. Originally from Stamford, Conn., Thompson came to Philadelphia in 1986 to attend the University of the Arts, where she majored in voice and opera. She then began working with the city coordinating after-school programs and the summer Young Performers Theatre Camp introducing hundreds of young people over the years to the arts she loves. This year, she says with pride, the students will perform Aida.

"All of my teachers in school were my role models. And, of course, my parents. They were very supportive of me," said Thompson. "My mom was an excellent singer and a teacher, as well. I still look up to them to this day."

But despite being a trained vocalist, Thompson doesn't sing live during her drag shows. "My professional life has nothing to do with my fun thing."

And making sure her audience has fun brings her to talking about her approach to her drag show, which starts with respect.

"You have to treat everyone with respect," she said. "Everybody who comes into Bob and Barbara's is treated equally. Straight, gay, trans, bisexual. Whatever. Everyone is equal here. We just want people to come in and have a good time. You let them have fun and you don't make them feel uncomfortable. Ever."

Bonnie Captis can attest to that. She recalls bringing one of her straight male friends, who was picked from the crowd to go onstage.

"Miss Lisa took a timid straight man up onto a drag stage and the next thing you know, he was in his element," she laughs. "After we broke up, that boy called me and said, 'I know the drag show is your thing, but can I still go once and a while?' I consider that a triumph."

As for owner Jack Prince, Thompson's impact on his bar's success is not lost on him.

"Definitely one thing I have learned is to never underestimate diversity " said Prince. "There are lots of different types of people who come to Bob and Barbara's. We are not just a jazz bar, a drag bar, a white bar or a black bar. We are an everyone bar."