Queer bars and clubs have historically been one of the few spaces where the LGBTQ community is able to gather safely. That’s how you build equity.”Ī gogo dancer performs at Supernova. It’s a seat at the table from the beginning, not just pulling up a chair later. And that’s what’s powerful about our partnership with Supernova. “We didn’t have to redefine a space,” Frugé says.
Character actors, drag queens, go-gos, aerialists, and more often appear on a typical night - Supernova is also the only nightclub in the world to exclusively offer drag queen bottle service. Together, Levine and BeautyBoiz created an entertainment atmosphere that goes above and beyond what is traditionally offered at Seattle queer clubs. The collective was included in many of the club’s decisions, such as around staffing, music, and nightlife aesthetic. To champion the ultimate nightlife experience, Supernova continued its partnership with BeautyBoiz. Inside, they enter through the mirrored hallway that acts as a “portal to another dimension” and find themselves lost in what Levine calls a “360-degree” art piece with a secret photo booth, a sculpture of a unicorn suspended above the dancefloor, and a Verner Panton-inspired artist lounge. “We want this to be an arts and entertainment experience.”Īttendees are immediately greeted by two colorful and massive murals as they pull up to the nightclub. “We don’t want this to be just a nightclub,” Levine says. Levine saw the new building as a “blank canvas,” and with every space - outside and in - filled with colorful and interactive art, Supernova emulates the new immersive nightlife that Levine envisioned. Finally, on June 30, 2021, Supernova hosted its grand opening in a SoDo warehouse. Set to open in 2020, COVID-19 interrupted Supernova’s launch and Levine spent the next year refining financial and venue details. The origin of Supernova began with three years of raising funds and scouting venues.
Irene Dubois, a local drag queen, poses in the entrance to Supernova. The event quickly outgrew the diner’s 1100-square-foot space, and Levine was soon searching for ways to expand. The event was a hit soon, Levine and Frugé became close friends and business partners.Įvery Saturday, Stayin’ Alive tapped into the soul of disco and brought out invigorating entertainment - drag queen hosts, a glitter station, live saxophone players, and bongos. Stayin’ Alive and BeautyBoiz had their first collaboration at the Seattle bar Monkey Loft in 2018. “And he was throwing a disco party, there’s nothing more gay than disco.” “That was what Zac was creating,” BeautyBoiz co-founder Wesley Frugé says. BeautyBoiz advocates for the queer community to have a claim on what beauty looks like and encourages expression, no matter how different or wild it manifests. Interested in finding partners to continue a dynamic nightlife experience, Levine approached BeautyBoiz, a Seattle collective of queer producers and artists that curates events and media for the LGBTQ community.
#MONKEY BONGO SERIES#
Inside SoDo’s Orient Express Chinese restaurant, a series of renovated train cars formerly called Andy’s Diner, Levine launched Stayin’ Alive Disco. Supernova patrons pose for a photo in the entrance hallway to the venue. “I got tired of the lack of atmosphere and engagement.
“I got tired of four walls and a DJ booth,” Levine says. In 2016, Levine left his job producing concerts and events at Seattle nightclubs to create something of his own.
#MONKEY BONGO FOR FREE#
What started out as handing out flyers as a way to get into concerts for free later evolved into a focus on building community through creative nightlife entertainment. Supernova founder Zac Levine has worked in the Seattle entertainment scene since he was 14 years old. The club has tackled Seattle’s lack of artistic and escapist venues with its otherworldly installations and fulfilled its goal of becoming a safe space for all identities and orientations, making Supernova a home base for LGBTQ groups such as BeautyBoiz, a group that curates events for the queer community. Pictures of the venue made waves through social media tweets discussed the inevitable entrance line weaving around the block. Part Studio 54, part arthouse, Supernova has made a splash in Seattle’s nightlife and LGBTQ scene since opening last year. With aerialists and drag queens spinning above you, the room pulses. There, a DJ mixes music, foregrounded by a 10-foot-tall disco ball on the stage. When you first walk up to Supernova, a nightclub in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood that opened in 2021, a bouncer waves you through the doors and a go-go dancer ushers you through a mirrored hallway that filters onto a dancefloor.
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