Puerto Vallarta drag queens and entertaining drag shows have been a part of Puerto Vallarta’s gay scene for more than 25 years.
Puerto Vallarta Drag Queens: History
Puerto Vallarta drag queens and entertaining drag shows have been a part of Puerto Vallarta’s gay scene for more than 25 years.
Since 1999, Mark Rome and The Palm Cabaret and Bar is mostly responsible for putting Puerto Vallarta on the cabaret scene. Mark was responsible for booking original performers like Ida Slapter, Carrie Chesnutt, Kim Kuzma, and Amy Armstrong and Freddy. Since then Puerto Vallarta has seen many popular drag superstars performers at one time or another.
Such international stars as Lady Bunny, Jackie Beat, the late Cashetta, Coco Peru, Miss Ritchfield 1981, Hedda Lettuce, Mama Tits, Sutton Lee Seymour, Miss Conception, Marla Jean Merman, Chi Chi Rones, and Joanna are just a few who have performed in PV. Some other famous non drag personalities who have performed in our destination include Kim Kuzma, Amy Armstrong and Freddy, Leslie Jordan, Steve Grand, Well Strung, Lorna Luft, Levi Kreis, Tonny Kenneth, and many others.
These performers visit our city and all made possible by our great cabaret venues: Act2PV, The Palm Cabaret, La Catrina Cantina, the new Coco Cabaret, Nacho Daddy and formerly Incanto PV.
Puerto Vallarta Drag Queens: Venues, Season and Tipping: Gay Bars and Cabaret Theatres
Going to a drag show is a very entertaining fun night out on the town. For the most part, Puerto Vallarta drag queens performing in the gay bars in PV lip sync to your favorite American and Spanish favorites. They are very entertaining performances and have been some of Puerto Vallarta’s most favorite entertainers since the 1990’s. The drag shows in the gay bars are normally featured all year long with some exceptions July to August.
For purposes of this article La Catrina Cantina is considered a gay bar not a cabaret venue only due to the fact of La Catrina does not charge a cover or is ticketed for every show as the cabaret venues are.
The Cabaret Theatres (Act2PV, The Palm Cabaret, and Coco Theatre) feature Puerto Vallarta drag queens using their own vocals in a ticketed show. Several performers like Mama Tits, Miss Conception, and Hedda Lettuce live in Puerto Vallarta or have a residence here. Hence they have annual shows during the cabaret season November to May.
These months you will normally find the cabaret theatres in full swing with two or three shows every night of the week. Most of the cabaret venues have a 2 drink mimimum per show.
Don’t be afraid to make a special request when you are at a drag show. The costumes and makeup are very expensive so show your appreciation for this hard work and dedication by giving a nice gratuity to each performer when you visit them in action, especially in the gay bars as most do not have a cover for the drag shows.
A tip is also customary and very much appreciated in the cabaret theatres in addition to the cover and drink minimum. Puerto Vallarta drag queens and their dancers deserve and appreciate your gratuities.
Puerto Vallarta Drag Queens The local Diva Super Stars
Such local PV sensations as Diva Divine, AngieStarPV, Kassandra Kastro, Super Wendy, and Carla Fifi have entertained and thrilled audiences both gay and straight.
Diva Divine
Diva Divine was part of the Orginal Dirty Bitches that performed on the rooftop of Blue Chairs Gay Hotel in 2000. The original Dirty Bitches were Diva Divine, Kassandra Castro and Angie Starr with Ida Slapter hosting. In 2001, Diva Divine began performing in Puerto Vallarta in a club named NYPV, where currently the HEVA condo building V399 is located. She eventually became part of Club Manana’s drag star weekly line up in 2003-2004ish.
Angelica AngieStarPV
AngieStar is originally from Puerto Vallarta and began performing in Paco Paco in 1996 at the amateur night called Que Huevos. She was also part of the original Dirty Bitches Show at Blue Chairs from 2000 until it ended in 2009.
Super Wendy
Super Wendy arrived to Puerto Vallarta from Tepic, Nayarit in 2007. Her first job was performing in amateur shows at Paco Pacos. In 2008 she began performing in beauty contests at Club Manana learning how to perform which she considered very valuable to her early career. She also worked as a porter at Blue Chairs Hotel where she did some shows to further gain show experience.
Super Wendy worked at a bar called Lady doing shows in between washing glasses and as a waiter in a cowboy outfit at Friends bar. The owner of Friends bar did not want to do shows but I convinced the owner doing daily shows would be a good idea for his bar.
Soon Super Wendy started going to the gay beach on playa Los Muertos in the Super Wendy costume to promote her show. Her next job was for several years at the bar La Fiesta which was next to La Noche. There she really developed the Super Wendy show. Once La Noche added drag shows the Super Wendy show moved to La Noche for very successful 7 years.
Due to the success of her drag shows and lots of hard work and dedication, she now has Super Wendy spa and a swimsuit and drag queen accessories store. In 2023 Super Wendy experienced a career highlight going to Europe to several pride events and in gay bars promoting Puerto Vallarta gay scene.
Upon returning to Puerto Vallarta another career highlight was reached by the opening of Super Wendy Cabaret in 2024.
Carla FiFi
Carla FiFi (above) began her claim to fame y Rooftop bars at Blue Chairs Rooftop.
Supermana
Puerto Vallarta Drag Queens The International Performers
Mama Tits (Brian Peters) since 2014 Mama Tits has been packing shows in Puerto Vallarta night after night and for good reason. She combines humor, irony, current affairs, song and a bit of dance into a surefire professional performance comparable to experience anywhere in the world.
Hedda Lettuce known as New York City’s premiere comic queen since 1985, she has quickly become one of Vallarta’s performers with her unique look. She is truly a queen of green in Vallarta.
Miss Conception celebrates 20 years of performing in 2020 and in PV since 2011. This zany mistress of disguise is a queen of costume changes. Unique creativity that goes into each of Miss Conception’s shows is impressive! Creative costumes, original themes, parodies, singing, drama and over-the-top comedy are all a recipe for a spectacular entertainment experience.
Sutton Lee Seymour Known as “Robin Williams of Drag,” Sutton Lee Seymour is New York City’s campiest live singing queen of stage and screen, now touring her best selling shows from coast to coast in the United States, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, Brazil, Europe, and also the seven seas with Atlantis Events!
JoAnna (Joe Perry) has been a headline performer in Puerto Vallarta since 2006 starting at Club Manana. She began in New York City winning numerous awards, including “The Best Patsy Cline Singer” at the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Since 2013 JoAnna has been performing with Emmy award winner Chi Chi Rones in a famous drag show “Dueling Drag Divas.”
The show was going to be called “Dairy Queen and Taco Belle” as Jo Anna hails from Wisconsin on a goat farm…while Chi Chi (aka Peter Garcia) loves Taco Bell. Ultimately they changed their title to Dueling Drag Divas and it stuck!
The Kinsey Sicks In July 1994, the Kinsey Sicks drew a large and enthusiastic crowd at their first public performance on a street corner in San Francisco’s Castro District. Since then, Kinsey Sicks have produced and performed full-length theatrical productions around the country and in Puerto Vallarta at Club Manana (2007), Blue Chairs, Act 2 and The Palm.
Miss Coco Peru (aka Clinton Leupp) has been a household name in the LGBT community for over 25 years. She got her start in the early 90’s as a downtown favorite in the cabaret world of New York after she wrote, produced, directed, and starred in her first show, Miss Coco Peru in My Goddamn Cabaret, and has since enjoyed an expansive career, ranging from intimate cabaret stages in New York, LA, and Puerto Vallarta.
Miss Richfield 1981 What makes Miss Richfield unique is a combination of midwestern sensibilities with an off-the-page humor, stemming from her creator Russ King. A former journalist and Minnesota native, King created a character with a rich history that begins with her life-long goal of being crowned beauty queen of her first-ring suburb of Minneapolis.
Varla Jean Merman aka Jeffery Roberson has filled cabarets and concert halls across the world including Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, New York Public Theater, London’s Soho Theatre and LA’s Renberg Theatre and Puerto Vallarta Mexico. Jeffery wrote and starred in Improve Your History with Varla Jean: Stonewall, for launch of MTV’s television network Logo and was also seen in their One Night Standup: Dragtastic Special.
Gouda Gabor The legendary Gouda Gabor has done TV, stage… and probably a few of your husbands. She has been visiting Puerto Vallarta since the Malecon was just a “Mal”, but now she makes her home here and looks forward to sharing her observations of what’s on the stage and what’s on the streets of Vallarta.
Puerto Vallarta would have seen a solo return of Jackie Beat with Sherry Vine in “Battle of the Bitches” drag show in 2020 at Act 2 entertainment. However due to COVID-19 pandemic their shows were cancelled.
Puerto Vallarta Drag Queens: Super Stars Gone But Not Forgotten
Kassandra Kastro
Kassandra Kastro (above) originally from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Kassandra was one of the original Puerto Vallarta drag queens and was a local legend for many years . She began performing at the orginal Balcones in 2001 and performed at virtually every bar and hosted many events. Unfortunately Kassandra passed away in 2020 in Puerto Vallarta.
Cashetta
The Queen of magic was born Scott Weston in Paterson, New Jersey. Growing up near Manhattan, and attending summer camp at Stage Door Manor in Loch Sheldrake, NY has was bullied beyond belief through grammer and high school years.
Always interested in magic, H/She had a lifelong desire to have a stand up and magician act. Scott spent a summer in Las Vegas working as a makeup artist and attending magic shows and studying the magicians. When he returned to New York he began studying magic himself, and three months later landed a gig at the Fez jazz club in NYC as a drag magician.
Living and working in New York and Florida at various times, Cashetta was also a regular in Provincetown, Mass. She eventually moved to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware and became a regular at the Blue Moon.
The amazing Cashetta was booked for magic and stand up shows in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico from December 2014- January 2015 at Act2PV. After her shows were over, she fell in love with the thriving cabaret scene and what became her second cabaret family in Puerto Vallarta. Mexico. See our video tribute to Cashetta here.
For the Puerto Vallarta cabaret show schedules visit the GAYPV cabaret event calendar.