New drag venue to open in Five Points South

 1664678309 
1744646112

Noelle Annonen, WBHM

The Opulence Drag Lounge and Taqueria will bring Birmingham’s Five Points South neighborhood both dine-and-go taco cuisine and performance this summer. The new business is planned for the former Hush Lounge location which closed after a mass shooting last year.

At Opulence, tacos come first. 

“For part of the day, part of the restaurant, we’re just a taco place,” Co-owner Scott Charby said. “My partner  is from Texas so he loves himself a taco.” 

Then comes drag. Opulence will host drag performances four nights a week and drag brunches on the weekends. Charby and his partner, Wade Brooks, were inspired to combine taco and performance concepts after moving to Birmingham from Las Vegas six months ago. Charby said most drag venues offer meals along with the show. 

“It is very different here,” Charby noted.

Not only does Birmingham have fewer established places for drag, Charby said he and Brooks noticed that queer spaces in Birmingham, like the Quest Club and the Our Place Lounge, were closing down.

“There’s just less and less queer spaces available for folks in Birmingham,” Charby said.  

With Opulence, they hope to fill that gap. Charby said shows will feature Birmingham-based queens and maybe even burlesque shows. 

“As long as it works and it’s respectful, we’re 100 percent going to make a space for them,” Charby said. 

Supporting drag artists is the priority for Charby and Brooks. 

“The art of drag is coming under attack,” Charby said. “As long as we can pay the bills, I don’t even particularly care if we’re really super successful. It’s more about the safe space for everybody.”

Charby and his partner feel like this is a good time to open a business in Five Points South and added that other businesses have responded in kind. Some have even reached out offering to volunteer to help get the place up and running. 

“I’m like ;Oh my gosh, like that’s insane to me,’” Charby said. “I love it. The city has reached out with both arms and I couldn’t have asked for more.”

Charby hopes Opulence will open in June, just in time for Pride month.

 

Pope Leo XIV says ‘inhuman treatment of immigrants’ in the U.S. isn’t ‘pro-life’

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country's immigration policy is "inhuman."

A new documentary about a dastardly worm and a heroic effort by Jimmy Carter

"The President and the Dragon,' premiering today, looks at Carter's momentous decision to try and wipe out a devastating and neglected disease. We spoke to writer and co-director Waleed Eltayeb.

Activists say Israel’s navy has begun intercepting a Gaza-bound aid flotilla

The Global Sumud Flotilla, with Greta Thunberg, Nelson Mandela's grandson and European lawmakers aboard, includes some 50 boats and 500 activists and is carrying a symbolic amount of humanitarian aid.

Colombia: The birthplace of cumbia

One of the most listened-to genres in the Americas, photographers and storytellers Karla Gachet and Ivan Kashinsky document cumbia in Colombia, Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina and the United States.

Jane Goodall, legendary primatologist, has died at age 91

Jane Goodall, primatologist who transformed our understanding of the lives of apes, has died, according to an announcement from the Jane Goodall Institute.

Trump freezes $18 billion in funding for NYC, home to key Democratic leaders

On the first day of the federal government shutdown, the Trump administration froze "roughly $18 billion" in infrastructure projects for New York City, home to two of Trump's Democratic congressional opponents. It's not the first time Trump has threatened city funding over politics.

More Arts and Culture Coverage