Tuesday nights don’t have to be boring anymore!

Lips, which aptly describes itself as a “Drag Queen Show Palace Restaurant and Bar”, has been an iconic New York City hotspot for 25 years, serving as a unique combination of dining and campy entertainment.  On Tuesday, October 28th, Lips was the place to be for entertainment guru Scott Barbarino’s Barbarino’s Big Nite Out!  Hosted by the incredibly charismatic Joshua “Chachi” Cruz, this “live”-ly night of live entertainment really puts the “variety” in “variety show”.  It was music, burlesque, drag, comedy, magic, mentalism (I actually had to look up what that was.), and… some acts that blurred the lines of classification.  This night was actually the one year anniversary of Barbarino’s Big Night Out!  Being a Halloween themed night, of course the playlist included such numbers as the eternal holiday fave Monster Mash and, in a moment of pop culture nirvana, an unearthed Halloween musical gem: Headless Horseman (from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow), sung to campy perfection by the lovely Vivienne LaBarbera.  In addition, some of the wardrobe choices of the artists drifted away from the unofficial “usual” cabaret dress codes. (As Cabaret For a Brave New World, drag artist Avant Garbage has a new superfan!)  As you may have figured out by now, there was no shortage of “tricks”: There was magic by Magic Brian and mentalism [I had to look that word up again…] by Matt Bailey, and a seemingly infinite amount of “treats”, musical and otherwise.  The performers of the night included Darnell White, Dylan Berkshire, Zach Carter, Liz Davies, Vivienne LaBarbera, Summer Rona, George Winters, Seth Sikes, Michele Balan, and The Big Nite Out! Band.

One of the first tunes heard in Barbarino’s Big Nite Out! was Spanish Flea from Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass , which many remember from the kitschy game show The Dating Game. To me, this was an instantly recognizable cue for the night of transgenerational entertainment that lay ahead. Of course, as the head honcho of this shindig, Scott got to have his own musical moment, choosing Dean Martin’s Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.  Barbarino’s vocals were bolstered by piano by JD Smurthwaite, The other musicians of the night included Alex Nguyen on trumpet, Ian Jesse on bass, and Drew Bastien on percussion. It was pure pleasure… and that was just the beginning. He was followed by Anna Anderson, also backed by Smurthwaite.  Her choice of song was The Shirelles’ timeless classic Will You Love Me Tomorrow.  I’ve always believed that the song was one of the most feverishly romantic songs ever written… and her version not only confirmed my belief, but it was also playful and sassy as well.  No matter what “take” Anna was going for in the song, it worked superbly with her personality.  Speaking about “worked superbly”: The same can be said for the high-energy duo of Zach Carter and Liz Davies, who worked VERY well together for Lady Gaga’s should-be Halloween classic Zombieboy!  Davies is a truly gifted singer, as evidenced by when she went solo for a lush rendition Gaga’s Happy Mistake. Whoa! There can never be too much Gaga… (Put a pin in that.)

So, about that “mentalist”: “Mind reader/mental illusionist/psychological entertainer” (and music journalist!) Matt Bailey pulled in some lucky members of the audience for his moment of mind-bending.  As cliched as it may sound, he definitely left the audience asking the question “How did he do that?”  I won’t give too much away, but you can take that Gaga pin out now…
Next up was BNO (Big Nite Out!) resident performer George Winters, who in the words of host Chachi Cruz, puts the “sin” in “Cincinnati”!  Like Vivienne LaBarbera’s choice of The Headless Horseman, Mr. Winters unearthed another macabre bauble: The Irish Ballad by Tom Lehrer.  The lyrics of this one have to be heard to be believed, and Winter gave the, total justice.  

 So, to continue that aforementioned  (cliched) question “How did he do that?”, next up was Magic Brian.  

No doubt the hardest working guy in showbiz, Brian the magician worked dangerously closely with a REAL nail and screwdrivers, swallowed razor blades, and even bit the head off a rubber chicken which really bled… but that wasn’t even the most jaw-dropping part of the act.  Again, I won’t give too much away… but I will say that his delightfully “cock” sure attitude was perfectly suited for his act!  The question went from “How did he do that?” to “How many organs did those razor blades pierce on the way down?!”  Comedian Michele Balan was next.  A fan of her sarcastic style of humor since the early 2000’s, I appreciated the way her style of humor changed from Sex and the City to And Just Like That.  (“They tell me, ‘You should have won Last Comic Standing!’  Maybe I would have, but my fans were so old they couldn’t make that many calls from a rotary phone. Maybe if the number was connected to Life Alert, I would have been a winner!”)  In other words, it’s humor made for those of us who know who Elvis… Sammy Davis Jr…. Debbie Gibson is… The truly lovely Summer Rona was next, with I Put a Spell on You.  How did this songstress know that this is one of my favorite songs ever? A fine singer, she also puts the “class” back into classic burlesque.  It was sexy, seductive, and very “spell”-binding as she segued into an all-out take on Olivia Rodrigo’s Vampire.  Next up was another “chanteuse”: Seth Sikes.  Sikes proved yet again that Judy Garland can STILL please a crowd even as we see the dawn of 2026.  He updated the classic Judy song with a Halloween-esque take: “Rock-a-BOO your rock-a-boo baby with a SPOOKY mel-o-DEEEEE!”  Judy fans will understand!  When Sikes and Chachi Cruz joined their talents for a duet– the legendary Judy/Barbra medley Hooray for Love— it was truly a transcendent moment.  

Even in a city like New York where there are an infinite amount of things to do every night (Yes, even on a Tuesday…), Barbarino’s Big Nite Out! is truly the hottest ticket in town.  A lot of the credit goes to Host Joshua “Chachi” Cruz. He’s funny, energetic, and, shall we say, ” easy on the eyes”.  Any host who would come out in an inflatable hamster outfit could do no wrong by me.  Although Cruz joked about how “ridiculous” he looked, I thought that he looked rad as hell.

I won’t give away the big finale of the show, but I will say that it made the audience all ready for the premiere of Wicked For Good on November 21st. Speaking of November, the next Barbarino’s Big Nite Out! is Tuesday, November 25th at Lips, a venue where, in Barbarino’s words, “Anything could happen, and already has!” Lips is located at 227 E. 56th St., NYC.  Check out  Barbarino’s Big Nite Out! on Instagram at @bbno.nyc to stay updated!