By Chuck Darrow
The Miss’d America Pageant is packing up its wigs, stiletto heels and pantyhose and Vogueing down the Boardwalk to a new home.
Earlier this week, event organizers and Caesars Atlantic City officials announced that this year’s edition of the popular drag throwdown would be staged Sept. 14 at the midtown pleasure dome’s theater. As he has for years, “Queer Eye For the Straight Guy” star Carson Kressley will emcee the competition, which this year will have—unsurprisingly—an ancient-Rome theme dubbed “Bacchanal: A Roman Fantasy.”
At a Boardwalk press conference announcing the move (Miss’d America was previously held at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City), the pageant’s producer, long-time local LGBTQ+ activist Richard Helfant, said that the only change will be geographic in nature. Miss’d America, he offered, “Will always be a mirror of the Miss America Pageant,” with judging conducted in four categories: evening wear, swimwear, talent and question-and-answer.
Karen Worman, Caesars’ senior vice-president and general manager, noted that her property was a perfect fit for the boys-will-be-girls extravaganza given the all-in commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) on the part of corporate parent Caesars Entertainment Inc.
While providing an evening of fierce-and-fabulous fun is the ostensible goal of the annual cross-dressing spectacular, Gary Hill, who co-founded Miss’d America with his partner, John Schultz, emphasized the philanthropic work that underpins the bash. Hill pointed out that the pageant has raised some $400,000 for a variety of charities and causes including the South Jersey AIDS Alliance and Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance.
The Miss’d America Pageant—which reigning champion Freeda Kulo described as “a beacon for the queer community,” was first staged in 1993 at the old Studio Six nightclub as a spoof of, and goof on, the Miss America Pageant, which had been an Atlantic City institution since 1921. It was originally held on the Sunday night after the nationally televised Miss America final round was conducted the prior evening. Helfant recalled the first winner was “crowned with a Burger King paper crown,” and presented with a bouquet of dead roses.
Miss America’s move to Las Vegas in 2005 put a halt to Miss’d America in Atlantic City, but it was revived in 2010 and, bragged Helfant, it “took off with…magic and gusto.”
Tickets will be available to the public at a to-be-announced date.
Pride Month continues
Speaking of LGBTQ+/drag goings on, there are still a couple of Pride Month events scheduled at local gaming halls.
On June 22, Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa will conduct another session of “Pride Bingo.” Co-sponsored by Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ+ advocacy and education organization, the games will take place from 4 to 6 p.m.
Hosting will be Thorgy Thor of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” fame. Also performing will be Sandy Beach, Joy Marnier, Ginger Alley and Alexia Love, with music by DJ Nomad.
Prizes include Borgata overnight stays, spa treatments and dinner for two. General admission tickets cost $35; $150 gets you a meet-and-greet with Thor and a gift bag. All proceeds are earmarked for Garden State Equity.
For tickets, go to borgata.mgmresorts.com.
And on June 23, Ocean Casino Resort is staging a Sunday Tea Dance in The Cabanas, The soiree, which also benefits Garden State Equity, features Grammy-winning DJ Hex Hector and specialty cocktails. Admission is free to all 21 and older, with cabana and daybed rentals available.
For the brunch bunch
The peak-season months bring with them the institution of the Sunday Champagne Brunch at Council Oak Steaks and Seafood Restaurant at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Atlantic City.
The elegant smorgasbord appears to be doing its best to make sure guests are filled to the brim: For starters, when guests are seated, they are presented with cinnamon pull-apart sweet bread with warm Madagascar vanilla icing.
From there, it’s off to the Ice Sculpture Raw Bar featuring oysters, clams, and individual portions of tuna tartare or, perhaps, the carving station, which boasts
28-day, dry-aged New York strip steak and a Kessler pork rack with stone-ground mustard sauce.
For the more traditional all-you-can-eaters, the bill of fare includes a salad bar and such breakfast dishes as scrambled, cage-free eggs, butcher-cut applewood smoked bacon and Thuman’s sausage, home fries and French toast (albeit angel food cake French toast with banana custard and warm maple syrup). A la carte items, among them eggs Benedict are also available.
And, of course, there is plenty in the way of sweet stuff, including a selection of Viennese-style desserts and pastries created by acclaimed Hard Rock Executive Pastry Check Thaddeus DuBois.
As for adult beverages, guests can avail themselves of Council Oak’s inventory of more than 350 wines, specialty cocktails and top-shelf spirits.
The Sunday Champagne Brunch is served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The cost is $79.95 per person (alcoholic beverages not included). Reservations are recommended. Go to casino.hardrock.com/atlanticcity.
Chuck Darrow has spent more than 40 years writing about Atlantic City casinos.
