Back Stage and Key West records

Back Stage restaurant opened in 1974 under owners/chefs Peter Lamlein and William Alexander in a former seafood store at 614 South 4th Street (not to be confused with the non-queer owned Backstage bar at 1415 Locust Street). The restaurant was part of the South Street Renaissance coalition of small businesses and homeowners. In 1954, residents of South Street were issued notices of eminent domain from the city in preparation for construction of a crosstown expressway (part of a proposed ring road around Center City, including today’s I-95). The next ten years were marked by urban decline and decay, as banks redlined the district and property owners let their buildings fall into disrepair. By the time the city was ready to move forward with the expressway in 1970, cheap rents in the area had begun to reattract small businesses, artists, and students, and a vibrant community had taken shape. The South Street Renaissance was formed to push back against the proposed expressway, and led a series of actions and community events to sway the opinion of the public and city council in their favor. The South Street Parade, South Street Live music festival, and Easter Promenade are all continued annual traditions rooted in this effort.

Back Stage was praised early on for its distinctive Hollywood/Art Deco flair, friendly waitstaff, and inventive menu featuring dishes named after celebrities (highlights include the “Paté Lupone” and “Truman’s Compote”). The atmosphere was described as “theater whimsy” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, as diners enjoyed live piano music and sat in cloth directors chairs under the watchful gaze of framed posters of Twiggy, Judy Garland, and Marilyn Monroe. Their weekly Sunday brunch was a notable social staple among gay Philadelphians. In 1978, columnist Joe Venuti of the Philadelphia Gay News described it as “the place to eat, greet, and party on a Sunday afternoon”. In 1980, Lee Robbins (also of the Philadelphia Gay News) wrote “Brunch, like disco, is a gay institution [....] Though this restaurant typically caters to a mixed dinner crowd Mondays to Saturdays, I estimate the crowd to be 80 percent gay men plus another 10 percent who are their women friends”.

Back Stage hosted regular events, including anniversary dinners, costume and holiday parties, and movie pre-screenings. They sponsored queer events across Philadelphia, including the Vanguard Motorcycle Club’s annual Vanities show, Black Theater Festival in 1987 and 1988, the Cha-Cha AIDS benefit series from 1985-1987, and the 1987 Philadelphia AIDS Walk. By 1998, Back Stage had closed its doors.

Situated in an 1860s carriage house at 207 South Juniper Street, Key West was preceded by Mitchell’s Restaurant, a family-owned steakhouse that attracted a theater-going crowd of gay men before closing in the late 1970s. In 1982, the venue opened under new, gay ownership as a lunch and dinner joint named Your Place…or Mine. The restaurant lasted for a few months before being turned over to gay rights supporter and developer Mel Heifetz, who reopened it as Key West on December 22, 1982.

Inspired by the tropical Caribbean themed Monster disco in Key West, the bar featured a three story waterfall, a bar and disco on the second floor, and a dining room and cabaret on the first. The collection contains examples of the cabaret’s “Key Bill” publication detailing performances by local and national talent, including drag/cabaret performer Ruby Rims, Jewish lesbian comedian and musician Lynn Lavner, and the GOTHAM comedy trio —who performed the first openly gay act at both the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. in 1976 and Carnegie Hall, in New York City in 1978. Other performers included Big Ed, Amy Ryder, and Carol O’Shaughnessy.

Key West’s first manager was Richard McPeake, who was involved in the management of several Gayborhood clubs and who also wrote a column for Au Courant newspaper. From the late 1990s through 2008 when it closed, Key West was owned and operated by Chick Winn. With a sports bar, two pool tables, a second floor disco and a top floor Sky Lounge, clients and reviewers described it as one of the few mixed-crowd bars in the Gayborhood, attracting Philadelphians across the race and gender spectrum.