(Credit: Andrew Werner)

We noticed early on that yesterday’s Broadway Bares: Solo Strips didn’t really have a unifying theme. And we couldn’t have cared less!

This year’s 23rd edition of the smaller, more intimate preview show (directed by Tony Spinosa) took place at XL Nightclub, drawing a huge crowd and selling out the VIP section! The ten dancers starring in the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit made sure the night’s festivities ranked among the sexiest fundraisers of the year.

Bares founder Jerry Mitchell explained to us that this weekend’s main event evolved from the Solo Strips show. “Back in 1992, I was in Will Rogers. I got six guys; we did a solo each at Splash on 17th St. We made $8000… Then I put together a huge show, which evolved after about three years, and that’s how the big event was born. This year we’ll have about 250 dancers at Roseland!” And for you history buffs (wink), you can actually make a donation and receive your own copy of Jerry’s 1992 Solo Strip debut on DVD!

A few of our favorite moments from the show:

• the business man in the TSA line stripping down to his leather harness and boots at the metal detector.

• the graphic of the fasten-seatbelt sign as the pilot un-buckled his belt.

• an amazing “My Heart Belongs to (Leather) Daddy” number.

• Peewee’s Playhouse Pornhouse.

• the birthday boy making each butt cheek bounce on a chair.

• the birthday boy licking the icing off of his fully extended leg (of course Rihanna was playing!).

• the birthday boy’s momentary misplacement of his party hat at the end of the number.

• the 1920s boxer rubbing his shirt inside of his shorts and tossing it onto a front-row donor’s head (those VIP tickets were worth every penny, honey!)

And the best moment of all: watching the general-admission queens stampede the VIP seating for the Rotation finale (where attendees have the opportunity to approach the stage and personally tip their favorite performers as an additional donation).

If the Solo Strips are any indication of what to expect at Broadway Bares next month, we’ll be there with (just) bells on!

(Get on your bikes and ride! On May 5 New Yorkers take a 40-mile, bike-only tour of all five boroughs of the city during the Five Boro Bike Tour, while next weekend, on May 10, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio star in the much-anticipated release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Image by James L. Barry.)

From a weekend celebration of bear culture to tons of Cinco de Mayo parties, there’s plenty to do around gay New York this weekend. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for…

Now get This Weekend in your inbox every Friday. Click here to subscribe.

Hit the roof! The launch of Sky High and the return of Michael Cohen’s (second from right) seasonal party Summer Camp this Sunday mark the unofficial beginning of what we like to think of as rooftop season: that time of year when the city’s hottest promoters and venues move their parties to higher ground. More info.

Ring in Spring with fellow bears. All weekend, Robert Valin’s (left) Urban Bear Weekend takes over the city. “The event keeps growing every year,” he says of his annual four-day extravaganza. “People are looking for an excuse to get off their computers.” So we’ve set up a timeline of the events that should keep the furry fellas busy day and night. Woof! More info.

Go completely gaga for Stevie Nicks. The annual Night of a Thousand Stevies is Friday. More info.

Guzzle margaritas all over town. Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday. More info.

Party with RuPaul Contestants. Season 5′s top five perform at Escuelita. More info.

(Get on your bikes and ride! On May 5 New Yorkers take a 40-mile, bike-only tour of all five boroughs of the city during the Five Boro Bike Tour, while next weekend, on May 10, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio star in the much-anticipated release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Image by James L. Barry.)

From a weekend celebration of bear culture to tons of Cinco de Mayo parties, there’s plenty to do around gay New York this weekend. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for…

Now get This Weekend in your inbox every Friday. Click here to subscribe.

Hit the roof! The launch of Sky High and the return of Michael Cohen’s (second from right) seasonal party Summer Camp this Sunday mark the unofficial beginning of what we like to think of as rooftop season: that time of year when the city’s hottest promoters and venues move their parties to higher ground. More info.

Ring in Spring with fellow bears. All weekend, Robert Valin’s (left) Urban Bear Weekend takes over the city. “The event keeps growing every year,” he says of his annual four-day extravaganza. “People are looking for an excuse to get off their computers.” So we’ve set up a timeline of the events that should keep the furry fellas busy day and night. Woof! More info.

Go completely gaga for Stevie Nicks. The annual Night of a Thousand Stevies is Friday. More info.

Guzzle margaritas all over town. Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday. More info.

Party with RuPaul Contestants. Season 5′s top five perform at Escuelita. More info.

(Get on your bikes and ride! On May 5 New Yorkers take a 40-mile, bike-only tour of all five boroughs of the city during the Five Boro Bike Tour, while next weekend, on May 10, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio star in the much-anticipated release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Image by James L. Barry.)

From a weekend celebration of bear culture to tons of Cinco de Mayo parties, there’s plenty to do around gay New York this weekend. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for…

Now get This Weekend in your inbox every Friday. Click here to subscribe.

Hit the roof! The launch of Sky High and the return of Michael Cohen’s (second from right) seasonal party Summer Camp this Sunday mark the unofficial beginning of what we like to think of as rooftop season: that time of year when the city’s hottest promoters and venues move their parties to higher ground. More info.

Ring in Spring with fellow bears. All weekend, Robert Valin’s (left) Urban Bear Weekend takes over the city. “The event keeps growing every year,” he says of his annual four-day extravaganza. “People are looking for an excuse to get off their computers.” So we’ve set up a timeline of the events that should keep the furry fellas busy day and night. Woof! More info.

Go completely gaga for Stevie Nicks. The annual Night of a Thousand Stevies is Friday. More info.

Guzzle margaritas all over town. Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday. More info.

Party with RuPaul Contestants. Season 5′s top five perform at Escuelita. More info.

(Get on your bikes and ride! On May 5 New Yorkers take a 40-mile, bike-only tour of all five boroughs of the city during the Five Boro Bike Tour, while next weekend, on May 10, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan and Leonardo DiCaprio star in the much-anticipated release of Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Image by James L. Barry.)

From a weekend celebration of bear culture to tons of Cinco de Mayo parties, there’s plenty to do around gay New York this weekend. It all depends on what you’re in the mood for…

Now get This Weekend in your inbox every Friday. Click here to subscribe.

Hit the roof! The launch of Sky High and the return of Michael Cohen’s (second from right) seasonal party Summer Camp this Sunday mark the unofficial beginning of what we like to think of as rooftop season: that time of year when the city’s hottest promoters and venues move their parties to higher ground. More info.

Ring in Spring with fellow bears. All weekend, Robert Valin’s (left) Urban Bear Weekend takes over the city. “The event keeps growing every year,” he says of his annual four-day extravaganza. “People are looking for an excuse to get off their computers.” So we’ve set up a timeline of the events that should keep the furry fellas busy day and night. Woof! More info.

Go completely gaga for Stevie Nicks. The annual Night of a Thousand Stevies is Friday. More info.

Guzzle margaritas all over town. Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday. More info.

Party with RuPaul Contestants. Season 5′s top five perform at Escuelita. More info.

“You’re so skinny. I hate you!” That’s a “compliment” I get all the time. People expect me to appreciate the observation, smile and say thank you, as if being thin makes me automatically free of any body issues. The truth is, I am proud of my slender body, but that pride hasn’t always been what I’ve felt. I’ve been thin my whole life, and it does come with some perks:  I’ve never had to worry about how much I eat; I get a lot of hand me down clothes when friends grow out of theirs; and I look pretty snatch in a dress. But that doesn’t mean I haven’t struggled with my weight.  

When I first moved to the city, looking around the clubs and bars at the gym bodies made me feel insecure. I felt like my body made it hard for me to find a boyfriend, or even get laid. I joined a gym and became even more aware of all the “perfect” bodies New York seems to breed. I started working out, but, frustratingly, I only seemed to manage to get toned, and not add any mass. So, I hired a trainer, and got on a nutrition plan that involved protein powder (yuck!) and eating extra meals. Slowly but surely I did add some weight (I’m 5’11’’ and I got up a whopping 136lbs!). I expected to get more play when I went out, but my game was about the same. I still didn’t look like the muscle guys that seemed to be hooking up with each other, and it was hard for me to imagine a healthy and practical way to ever reach that body type.

(The Battle of amfAR)

1) Obviously this is all just party of Jesus’ plan for Tim Tebow.

2) Does everyone really like lesbians more than gays dudes?

3) The devil’s not the only one who wears Prada. Marc Jacobs and Anna Wintour showed up at the Great Gatsby premiere in the same coat!

4) Kinky Boots leads the Tony Awards with a lucky 13 nominations.

5) Yeah, we know we owe you single gays for that whole Wedding Issue. So: cats that are more single than you!

6) Jonathan Adler sale!

(Tora Dress, Coco D’Ball and Tara Miso Rice)

To paraphrase Cyndi Lauper, when the werking day is done, oh, gurls just wanna have fun. And that’s what they were there to do at the launch of AntiTwink.com’s new party, Werkplace, at Lucky Cheng’s Friday night.

Of course, we use the term “gurls” purposefully broadly. There were the gurls in wigs, like hosts Misty Meaner and Jeff Poulin and Cheng’s regulars like Tora Dress, Coco D’Ball and Tara Miso Rice. And there were the birthday girls and bachelorette types who’d come for Lucky Cheng’s dinner show and stuck around to party with DJs Ernie Cote and Mikey Pop.

As sexy barman Miguel Angel Cruz slung drinks and a couple of cute gay boys made out on the bar’s plush little settees, we decided to get to know some of the ladies of the evening. We found Robin and her friend Dawn propped up against the bar, giggling with a gentleman friend. What brought them to Werkplace tonight, we asked: “The fun, the excitement, the food, the show,” Robin told us. Lucky Cheng’s hostess JJ was her favorite performer of then night, she said. “So welcoming and nice and friendly. I had a fabulous time.”

“Lucky Cheng’s is…my favorite place to party it up!” Dawn explained.

So she’d been here before?

“I have not.”

But it’s her favorite nightspot now?

“It’s a kind of a place I came toooooo…Key West?”

Yeah?

“Awesome…place ‘a party… I like the party. I think the party needs ‘a be about the people…who are talented more than, uh, company they keep!”

Dawn, ladies and gentlemen.

Out on the dance floor, we met another Robin. She’d come for her friend Christina’s birthday dinner, which, in her words was, “Fucking fantastic!” What was her favorite part of the show? “Um…the short ribs and, I would say, Sister Mary Helen!”

We asked birthday girl Christina what had brought her out to Lucky Cheng’s for here birthday. “I don’t know,” she told us, and glanced at Robin. “Why did I choose here for my birthday?” The two dissolved into giggle and, as if to answer their own question, dashed back to the dance floor, where they danced the night away. 

(Diana Dobos, Macy Rodman Ariel)

[GALLERY]

If there was any doubt remaining that Brooklyn’s queer subculture was on the rise, it was laid to rest at this weekend’s Mr(s) Williamsburg Pageant finale. The two month-long competition put the spotlight on the borough’s emerging drag scene, which has virtually exploded in the past year. Eight weeks of performances and eliminations at Williamsburg’s gay bars culminated in Friday night’s crowning at Sugarland, where the three finalists—Mr(s) This N That Macy Rodman; Mr(s) Metropolitan Amber Alert; Mr(s) Sugarland Lady Simon—gave it their all for the top title.

“I am secretly rooting for my favorite,” emcee Merrie Cherry told us, “but everyone that performed tonight has really boiled over to all that they can give, and I really appreciate that. The person that wins, I have to say, that’s the person to watch for in 2014.”

The competition’s organizer, Alotta McGriddles couldn’t even fathom the difficult task judges Krystal Something Something and Laricious had to undertake. “I could not have done what they did. It was very hard for me to even watch as a host, because all of our contestants, throughout the whole entire competition, have been so different and so unique and so talented and creative that I couldn’t possibly have decided who would win and who would lose.”

Her goal in organizing Mr(s) Williamsburg, Alotta explained, “was to get Brooklyn some notoriety. It’s like the unsung hero of performance and drag. People should just respect it for what it is and not put it down. Brooklyn drag is just as worthy of notoriety as anywhere else.” And while Brooklyn is hardly the far-flung wilderness some Manhattanites still insist it is, there is a unique sense of lawlessness that infused the pageant’s drag performances.

“It’s more of a welcoming atmosphere,” Alotta said. “You don’t need to follow any rules, there are no boundaries. Gender law non-existent, and as long as you have fun with it, you’ll be welcomed in Brooklyn.”

“I don’t have a favorite,” performance artist Paul Leopold, a.k.a. Boy Wolf, told us, “but Macy [Rodman] and Lady Simon are both friends of mine. I think they’re both fabulous.”

If he’d been a betting man, Leopold would have had good odds; by night’s end Macy Rodman stood on stage, before a crowd that included Misty Meaner, Mocha Lite, BPro, Horrorchata, Gage of the Boone, B.J. Dini, and Lady Havokk, munching on a giant bouquet of roses with the leather Mr(s) Williamsburg sash draped across her shoulders.

“I’ve been sort of floating around this scene that all the queens are sort of a part of for a while,” Macy told us, “and this is really the only thing that’s forced us all to step up our game and elevate what we’ve been doing. It means a lot to me to be part of that.”

With its virgin competition coming to a close, Alotta promised the Mr(s) Williamsburg Pageant would be back this fall. “We’re gonna get bigger and better. I hope to see all of our contestants back, because all of them deserve a title at some point.”