BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Barracuda--the innovative gay lounge on West 22nd Street whose brand of drag entertainment spawned countless imitators–is closing its doors after three successful decades. As of March 23, it joins the ranks of other belated local watering holes (including Splash, Rawhide, and Champs) whose combined presence made Chelsea the go-to, bar-hopping gayborhood of its day.

Fitting tributes have benn flooding social media since word of the closure came via a March 17 Facebook posting from co-founder Bob Pontarelli.

“Thirty years ago,” wrote Pontarelli, “the late Stephen Heighton and I opened Barracuda. Stephen was a business partner, a ‘brother,’ an inspiration, and a force of nature. We never, in our wildest dreams, could have imagined the success Barracuda would become; a success measured not financially, but primarily by it’s place in the community, the lives it touched and the impact on the culture of LGBTQ+ nightlife.”

Chelsea Community News columnist and legendary nightife chronicler Michael Musto echoed that sentiment in his own March 17 Facebook posting, rememberiing Barracuda as the place where “drag queens were given their own nights well before they got their own TV shows. And I got to interview offbeat celebrities onstage there from Tonya Harding to Eartha Kitt. Even as HK started eclipsing Chelsea… I knew I could always swagger into ‘Cuda and find some fun drunks and a nutty drag performer. The memories live forever.”

One-time longtime NYC-based drag queen Sherry Vine, as nutty a drag performer as ever there was, noted “the end of an era” in her own Facebook posting, recalling, “Jackie Beat and I were the first Wed night there with Game Night, starting in 1995. I continued working there on Sundays when I moved back from Berlin. I worked for Bob Pontarelli and the team for 35 years! First Crowbar then Cuda then Industry. I helped organize and produce 2 epic reunion events celebrating 20 and 25 years. I have sooooo many amazing memories and made many lasting friendships with staff and customers and other performers over the years.”

Jackie Beat, another onetime staple of the NYC drag scene (now based in LA along with frequent creative collaborator Vine) took to Facebook as well, writing, “Ugh! Another one bites the dust… The end of an era. Legendary queer venue @barracudaloungenyc is closing. This sucks. Boo. But I hope owner @bobpontarelli enjoys the well-earned peace & quiet! (Drag queens are A LOT!)”

To read Chelsea Community News’ 2021 preview of that 25-year celebration, click here–and below, see Pontarelli’s March 17 message in its entirety.

—Via Facebook: March 17, 2:04pm—

Dear Friends,

Thirty years is a very long time.

In the past few months, a major demolition of the buildings surrounding Barracuda was undertaken. This included the movie theater that shares our entire East wall and apartments on 23rd street that share our stage. This demolition is the first step of a huge condo project. The damage from the construction has significantly affected the interior and overall operation of the bar.

30 years ago, the late Stephen Heighton and I opened Barracuda. Stephen was a business partner, a “brother,” an inspiration, and a force of nature. We never, in our wildest dreams, could have imagined the success Barracuda would become; a success measured not financially, but primarily by it’s place in the community, the lives it touched and the impact on the culture of LGBTQ+ nightlife.

It was at our 25th anniversary party, where it became clear to me that Barracuda meant so much to so many: the place they snuck in to have their first gay bar experience, where they met their boyfriend or husband, or made an indelible memory of one outrageous night or another.

In the early 90s, “gay bars” were primarily “stand and meet” places. In 1995 Barracuda was very different as it introduced a funky living- room environment created mostly from furniture we picked up at flea markets…thus inventing the ‘gay lounge’ bar. 

Fueled by the success of our first bar, Crowbar, in the East Village, Barracuda also launched a brand new concept of nightly drag entertainment— and hosted the original weekly drag competition, Star Search, headlined by the great, late Mona Foot. The much copied “Star Search” still runs today.

Barracuda was the home to countless drag icons and introduced many of them for the first time. Huge careers were born on that tiny stage.. 

It was the home to such artists as, Candice Cayne, Sherry Vine, Lina, Jackie Beat, Shequida, Flotilla de Barge, PepperMint, Sweetie, Shasta Cola, Honey Dijon, Hedda Lettuce and so many others. Years later the tradition continued with Bob, Monet Exchange, Bianca del Rio, Pixie, Dallas, Miz Cracker, Tina Burner. etc etc …. Unfortunately leaving the too many great artists out here for lack of space.

Over the years, Barracuda broke new ground by hosting a vast list of in-person celebrities like Jennifer Coolidge, Tonya Harding, Tammy Faye Baker, Eartha Kit, Bebe Neurwirth, Thelma Houston, Helen Mirren, Rue McClanahan, Delta Burke, Christina Applegate, Joan Jet, the Jackass Boys, Charo, on and on….that would secure it a definitive place in nightlife history.

This somewhat accidental recipe for success would later be adopted by LGBTQ+ bars throughout New York and around the world.

Now, with the impact of the construction and the structural effects, I have had to make a heartbreaking decision.

Sadly, after 30 years, Barracuda will close its doors on Sunday, March 23.

It is with the most profound gratitude that I thank all of the performers, managers, bartenders, DJs, coatchecks, bar backs, and the literally hundreds of thousands of guests that have come through our doors and partied with us. It has been a true joy.

Words will never be able to express what these past 30 years have meant to me and I know, if my dearest friend and ‘brother’ Stephen Heighton was still with us he would feel exactly the same.

Thank you. Thank you.

It’s 4AM somewhere….good night and stay safe.

BONUS READING MATERIAL BELOW

BUT FIRST: Noted Pontarelli regarding Barracuda’s pending closure, “Even more important are the businesses that are still around!  We just did a major re-rehab at Elmo… A Chelsea institution for now 23 years. Come over and take a look. It’s pretty.”

–The Heyday of Chelsea’s Eighth Avenue: http://www.kennethinthe212.com/2015/06/the-heyday-of-chelseas-8th-avenue.html

–The Advocate, on Barracuda’s 20th Anniversary: https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/2015/10/16/oral-history-nycs-legendary-barracuda-lounge

–Early Gay Activism in Chelsea: http://8th-14th.northwestern.edu/chelsea/Gay%208th%20Ave/gay_history.htm 

—END—