Ziegfeld's
Ziegfeld's/Secrets is a dual bar located in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest and most respected drag bars in the world.
The original bar, at 1345 Half Street SE, was circular and divided by a wall with a bar in the middle and doors on either side.
The Ziegfeld's side of the venue featured a large stage adorned on either side by a giant silver high heeled shoe. Each weekend on Friday and Saturday drag queen Ella Fitzgerald (née Donnell Robinson), who has worked at the venue for nearly 20 years, hosted her "Ladies of Illusion" for two performances a night (one on Sundays.) The shows lasted approximately an hour and feature five drag queens doing a variety of performances for packed crowds.
On the Secrets side of the venue there were fully nude male dancers (catering to a mostly gay male crowd). It was one of the few venues in the United States where male strippers are allowed to dance fully nude.
The bar was considered an important landmark in gay culture for the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. In 2006 it the property was seized by the District of Columbia via eminent domain and torn down (along with a chain of gay-oriented businesses) to make room for Nationals Park, a new baseball stadium.
