MIKE JEKNAVORIAN National Interviews

PENNY ARCADE

Penny Arcade, one of New York’s preeminent nightlife queens, and a Warhol alumni, stops by Miami on her 40-city international tour to perform her New York-centric one-woman show, Longing Lasts Longer

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVEN MENENDEZ

By Mike Jeknavorian

Where did you grow up?  In New Britain, Connecticut, in the 1950s, when it was known as the hardware capitol of the world.  When’s the last time you went back there?  On September 29th, 2018, for the 50th high school reunion, for high school years that I didn’t attend!  Do you miss anything about the town?  I miss what New Britain was before Paul Manafort Sr. destroyed the town with so-called “urban renewal.”  Of all the venues that are gone in NYC, which one do you miss the most?  The Bottom Line.  Who’s your favorite Warhol superstar?  It’s a tie between Taylor Mead and Ondine.  Since you’ve toured extensively in Europe, what’s your favorite place there?  The island of Formentera, Baleraric Islands, Spain.

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This is a faithful reprint of Taylor Mead On Amphetamine and In Europe: Excerpts from the Anonymous Diary of a New York Youth. Volume Three. Last printed in 1968. Taylor Mead Beat poet, Andy Warhol Superstar, artist and star of film and stage. This volume contains Taylor’s poetry, rantings and musings from the 1960’s.

What will you do with your down time when you’re in South Florida?  I intend to show my collaborator’s wife, Marina, all the sights.  It’s her first visit here.  Other than your own plays, what’s your favorite play?  Anything by Tennessee Williams.  Which one of your old jobs least prepared you for what you do now?  Being a social worker in back-woods Maine.  How did you come up with your name?  I named myself Penny Arcade coming down from LSD at age 17.  It stuck.  If God were to take you tomorrow, how would you like to be remembered?  For my kindness and action in compassion.  What do you want to live long enough to see?  For my 11 and 13-year-old friends, Gandan and Diesel, to grow up to be 21!

Will you ever retire?  Actresses like me never retire.  What’s the weirdest question that a fan’s asked you?  “What are you really like?”  What celebrity did you act like a “fan” around?  Liza Minnelli.  I was completely tongue-tied.  What’s the last thing that you looked at online?  An “enlarged heart portal.”  It came up on my chest x-ray.  What’s the best place that you’ve visited?  The best…?  Every place has something ‘best’ about it.  There is no best place.  What’s something that you learned in life only when you got older?  That the only approval that really matters is my own approval of myself.  What did you learn from your parents?  How to work hard.  What’s your current state-of-mind?  Enlightened.

What were you doing before we spoke?  Thinking of getting out of bed.  What’s your idea of perfect happiness?  Swimming in the clean, clear, beautiful ocean.  What’s your greatest fear?  Pain, sickness and immobility.  Living or dead, who’s the greatest political figure in America?  Vito Marcantonio, the first-born Italian-American representative from New York’s 18thdistrict, who put the word ‘service’ into public service.  Who’s your favorite performer?  Tammy Faye Starlight and Bina Sharif.  What’s your best characteristic?  Enthusiasm.  How do you enjoy spending your time?  Walking around.  I’m a flaneuse.  What celebrity do you have a crush on?  Hmm…?  I don’t have crushes on people that I do not personally know.

PHOTOGRAPH BY STEVEN MENENDEZ

Who do you admire?  Noam Chomski.  If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be?  James Baldwin.  Where would you go in a time machine?  To 1910.  I’d go to New York City and around the world.  What would your last meal be?  Sushi and an ice cream sundae with hot fudge.  What do you worry about?  Money, for old age, and for arthritis.  What are you afraid of?  Serial blood-lust murderers.  If you were a musical instrument, what would you be?  A viola.  Are you more like a sheep or a wolf?  A wolf.  Who depends on you?  People who no one else will help.  Who are you closest with?  Steve Zehentner, my best friend and collaborator of 26 years.  What would your autobiography be called?  The Broken Genius Girl Must Be Sacrificed.

What music do you listen to when you’re upset?  Old R&B, like Solomon Burke, old blues, and doo-wop.  What’s on your bucket list?  Singing a concert of my original songs and my favorite covers.  What’s your greatest regret in life?  That I didn’t honor my heart’s desires in my teens and 20s and 30s.  I thought that I needed ‘proof’ to follow them.  What’s something secretive about you that people don’t know?  Pretty much everything!  I only share what makes me the same as others, not what makes me different.  But, ok.  One thing is, I’m very timid.  Where can we see you?  My website has my schedule, and my Facebook page is totally open—I run it like a magazine or a diary.  You can also see me at the Live Arts Lab at Miami Dade College this Thursday to Saturday!

MIKE JEKNAVORIAN Local Interviews

VICKIE BENNETT

At over 35 years, Vickie Bennett is—by all accounts—the most-tenured female bartender in the gay bars in Broward County.  But it wasn’t always pretty.  She had to learn how to survive in the male-dominate world of them—a world which she saw ravished by AIDS.  

Where did you grow up?  In Akron, Ohio.  How long have you lived in South Florida?  Since 1978.  Why did you move here?  Well, it snows in Ohio, and I love palm trees much better than snow.  And I was young.  Me and my girlfriend-at-the-time were on our way to California.  She eventually went on to California, and I just stayed.  What part of South Florida do you live in?  In Davie.  What do you like most about living here?  I like the ocean and the palm trees.  I just like it—I don’t know.  What South Florida venue do you miss that’s gone?  Backstreet.  Where do you hang out in South Florida, and why?  I mostly stay at home with the puppies and my girlfriend.  But when I do go out, I go to a straight bar.  I want to go where no one knows my name and I can just be a fly on the wall.  What’s your claim–to–fame?  I’m the longest-running female bartender in the gay bars in Broward County.  That, and my cocktails—people tell me about them all the time.  They like to drink them because they don’t taste like pure alcohol.  What’s the first place that you worked at in South Florida?  Backstreet, in 1982.

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What’s the best place that you worked at in South Florida?  Once again, Backstreet.  It was in the space where Revolution is now.  It took up the whole block; it was a big venue.  It had a pool in the back, too.  The early eighties was a very magical time to grow up and be gay.  Particularly, in that club.  At first, I did everything there—bar backing, taking care of the entertainment, etc.  They eventually made me a bartender, but they put me on the second floor, in the back, figuring that I would quit.  But I ended up making more than the boys, so they moved me to the first floor.  Me and my girlfriend were the only female bartenders there.  I never made so much money in all my life.  What’s the biggest tip that you ever got?  Nine hundred dollars.  I only made one drink for this guy, and then he walked away.  He left nine $100 bills under the ashtray.  I tried to find him, in case he left the money by accident, but he was gone.  What do you think about the gay bars today?  Bars are getting more integrated, and young gays don’t give a fuck if you’re gay or not.  I can’t imagine that young bartenders have a following, because people don’t go out like they used to.  But I’m lucky because I’ve been here a long time, so I have a following.

What’s your best celebrity encounter?  Andy Warhol.  I was at the bar-area in Backstreet, and all these queens were like, “Who’s that ugly guy?”  None of them knew who he was, if you can believe that.  I had Warhol sign a napkin, and he drew a heart.  I still have it.  What celebrity are you closest with?  Grace Jones.  I used to hang around with her all the time.  She’s fucking wild.  I haven’t seen her for a while, though.  Who’s your best industry friend?  “Pooch.”  I’ve known him for years.  He’s a great guy.  He used to work at Scandals, but I’m not sure if he’s there anymore.  How would you like to be remembered?  I really don’t know.  I’ll leave that up to the public.  I’ve introduced people who are still together years later, and I run into so many who tell me that I made their first drink when they just turned 21, or when they just moved into town.  I feel like I’ve grown up with everyone here.  Will you ever retire?  Probably not.  What’s the last thing that you looked at online?  Probably Facebook.  What’s the best place that you’ve visited, and why?  The keys, but not Key West.  It’s not artsy there anymore, and it has too many cruise ships.  And working at The Copa for all those years in Key West kind-of ruined it for me.  What’s your favorite band?  The Pretenders.  And on a side note, Chrissie Hynde grew up in Dayton, too, and my aunt—who had a beauty salon—did her mother’s hair.

What are you superstitious about?  Black cats.  Do you believe in aliens?  Yes.  And I think I’ve met a few of them.  What’s something that you learned in life only when you got older?  To save more money.  What did you learn from your parents?  Not much.  I didn’t really have a childhood, because I had to bring up my brothers and sisters since I was 10 years old.  What’s your best characteristic?  I’m a good listener (laughs).  How do you enjoy spending your time?  Me and my girlfriend [of 28 years] go to Key Largo every-other weekend.  That’s my getaway.  What celebrity do you have a crush on?  I used to love Suzanne Pleshette.  Where would you go in a time machine, and why?  Back to the early 80s.  That was the best.  But it was bittersweet, because the late 80s and early 90s were a very sad time because of AIDS—it was horrible.  I mean, I would be serving someone, knowing that it would be their last drink.  I was losing friends and customers left and right, and every time you opened up David Magazine, you saw another friend’s obituary.  After a while, I got numb to it.  I just couldn’t go to anymore funerals.  And at that age, I had gone to more funerals than my parents ever did.

What would your last meal be?  Probably Jets Pizza.  The pizza is amazing—I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it.  What do you worry about?  Money, money, money.  If you were a musical instrument, what would you be, and why?  Probably a trumpet, so people would listen to me (laughs).  Are you more like a sheep or a wolf?  Most of the time, I’m a lamb.  But it depends on the day, because sometimes I have to be a wolf.  I’m a woman in a man’s world, so I always have—and had—to be better than the boys and the beautiful men just to stay alive.  Who depends on you?  My puppies… and my girlfriend.  Who are you closest with?  Tommy, my cook.  What would your autobiography be called?  Behind Bars.  What music do you listen to when you’re upset?  I don’t listen to that much music.  I listen to talk radio and sports radio to unwind.  What’s your greatest regret in life?  That I didn’t save more money.  I made millions, but we all did back then.  You always thought, “Oh, why bother saving?  I’m gonna make another $1,000 tonight.”  If we only knew…  Where can we see you?  At Beefcake’s on Wednesday and Thursday, from 3:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., and on Friday and Saturday, from 6:00 p.m. to close.

PHOTOGRAPHS 2, 3 AND 5 BY POMPANO BILL