Playhouse Gay Bar NYC
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Playhouse NYC gay bar review: Everything to know | Gay Bars Near Me 

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From ambiance to happy hour to events to location, here’s everything you need to know about Playhouse, the popular NYC gay bar

The Highlights:

Overview:

Playhouse is a relatively new addition to New York’s nightlife scene, but quickly garnered a reputation due to  the pure square footage of this decadent downstairs dancehall. 

Playhouse has a cinematic quality to it. You’ll hear music pumping as you descend the entryway steps into a bright red world of top 40 remixes. What sets Playhouse apart is the size compared to other Manhattan gay bars. Only Industry and Hush in Hell’s Kitchen can rival the size of their  dancefloor, and certainly has one of the largest (and therefore efficient) bathrooms… Kandy Muse from RuPaul’s Drag Race season 13 and All Stars 8 even praised the bar as a go-to spot to go #2.

As the sister bar to Pieces, Playhouse also boasts an impressive roster of queens like Lagoona Blu, Izzy Uncut, and Ruby Roo. While the drag is top-tier, Playhouse definitely bills itself as a hang spot more than a show spot. On weekends NYU students flock to this bar in masses, and is one of the most welcoming spaces for women especially. 

The standout evenings are Showtunes Sundays hosted by Bubbles Deboob and Bootsie Lefaris. This mainland reprisal of Bubbles’ weekly Fire Island spot encourages guests to get in on the fun. They can request songs from DJ Mike Barowski, and storm the stage lip syncing their favorite musical numbers. Casual musical theater fans be warned, this is an evening for harcore fans of the genre who know each and every word to a seemingly endless catalog of showtunes. It’s not an easy crowd to please.

Why go?

  • No Cover
  • Big Dancefloor
  • Great Music

Ambiance: 

Playhouse is a huge bar for Manhattan standards, and this fosters the ebb and flow of the dancefloor. Drag shows are often early enough in the evening that they don’t interrupt the high energy top 40’s sets spun by some of New York’s favorite queer DJs. The crowd screws young, and often includes those visiting from other countries. While it definitely caters to this youthful crowd, knowing which nights or which drag shows attract your preferred genre of patrons will help one better understand when to show up for an ideal night out.

Happy Hour: 2 pm – 8 pm 

Events (Subject to change – check out Pieces’ Instagram account for the latest events information)

Drag shows featuring Ruby Roo, Corma Kelley, and The Assassins as well as sing along Show Tunes with Bubbles D’boob and Bootsie Lefaris

If you like these other gay bars… you’ll like Playhouse:

Playhouse not your thing? Here are other gay bars nearby:

  • Monster Bar
  • The Stonewall Inn
  • Duplex

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