A bevy of tall, glamorous beauties clad in sequined shifts prance into a spotlight and launch into a dance routine reminiscent of Motown girl groups. Audience members sitting at round tables with bottles of wine and plates of gourmet food set before them add to the retro atmosphere. Is this a dinner show in 1960s Las Vegas?
No, it’s an evening performance at Jiancheng Circle (建成圓環), a Taipei landmark that was nearly wiped off the map by a botched reconstruction project — and all the dancers are Thai kathoey, or “ladyboys,” who belong to a 10-member group called Pattaya.
Pattaya’s music tastes span the globe. During the revue, the performers lip-sync and dance to Nothing, a song by South Korean pop group Wonder Girls, One Night Only from the American musical Dreamgirls and Taiwanese Mando-pop classics like There’s Only You in My Heart, Not Him (我的心裡只有你沒有他) and Shaorouzong (燒肉粽). The show includes Vegas-style showgirl glamour, with dancers donning bejeweled headdresses and strutting about in snug evening gowns that show off their leggy figures, and moments of pure camp, such as when the voluptuous and pigtailed Bessie descends into the audience with two round pillows sewn to her bra.
Audience participation is a big part of the show — or at least Pattaya would like it to be. Last Monday, the performers tried to get men from the audience up on the stage for a playful lap dance, but all of their targets demurred, some even going so far as to run out the door.
Jessica, a slender and doe-eyed dancer who resembles Taiwan Discovery Channel host Janet Hsieh (謝怡芬), says that audiences in Thailand are blase about kathoey performances, but reactions vary when they tour to other countries. The group has performed in China, Japan and Australia. This is their first visit to Taiwan.
“Sometimes they have seen people like us on television or in the news, but they are still like ‘oh my God!’” she says. “In Thailand, we are just normal. Ladyboy is not a bad thing.”
But the point of Pattaya’s shows is not to confront phobias or bigotry against transgender and transsexual people, says Kate, the statuesque leader of the group. It’s just to have fun.
“We want everyone to be happy, we want them to come back again,” she says.
The new managers of Jiancheng Circle also want audience members to return. The roundabout at Nanjing West (南京西) and Chongqing North (重慶北) roads was once home to one of Taipei’s top night markets, with a bustling atmosphere that rivaled Shilin night market (士林夜市). But fires in 1993 and 1999 contributed to the market’s decline and business fell precipitously in 2003 after the Taipei City Government spent NT$200 million to turn the space into a cylindrical glass structure with a two-story food court and performing arts center. Vendors and customers alike shunned the new building and it closed in 2006.
After standing empty for three years, Jiancheng Circle reopened last June with Yuanhuan Lishui Chi (圓環流水席), the dinner theater, and a shabu-shabu restaurant on the second floor. Pattaya is the first group to perform at the newly repurposed entertainment center. Its managers hope that combining shows with traditional Taiwanese food will help attract customers. Groups slated to perform after Pattaya include singers from Russia and Taiwanese Aboriginal dancers.
“We want to combine cultural exchange with reviving [Jiancheng Circle]. It’s a very famous place and people feel a lot of nostalgia for it,” says Kevin Feng (馮精蔚), who brings performance groups over for the theater.
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