Tanner Ritchie and Fletcher Kasell are more likely to be found on weekends upstate antiquing than downtown fist-pumping at a nightclub, so when Pride Month rolled around, they opted to celebrate with an old-school classic: dinner and a show.
Held at So & So’s piano bar and restaurant in the Hell’s Kitchen “gayborhood,” Wednesday night’s event unfurled cabaret-style with the couple, and co-designers behind Tanner Fletcher, playing hosts.
“We could have had some sexy dance party, but that’s not really us. We were always like the gay theater kids growing up,” Ritchie said. Kasell added that after staging a gay wedding at New York Bridal Fashion Week in April, the format aligned with how the pair are growing their gender-inclusive label beyond selling fashion and the occasional knick-knack.
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Ritchie and Kasell are championing experiences, inviting the queer community to immerse themselves in- and ultimately reclaim- aesthetics from bygone eras when they would’ve been outcast or even directly targeted. It’s a nostalgic, camp-filled universe and they’re building it with “more entertainment, more theatrics, more hospitality.”
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All three were certainly delivered Wednesday. A Dolly Parton impersonator opened, shimmying through the banquet while chanting “9 to 5.” Audience members were encouraged to “drink up” and that they did, in between bites of Caesar salad, steak au poivre and molten brownie sundaes.
Countess Luann of “Real Housewives” fame came out next to deliver her hit, “Money Can’t Buy You Class,” joking, “but it can buy you this fabulous number,” and pointing down at her explosive tulle ball dress with a corseted bodice in signature TF toile de jouy.
Additional acts included tap and vocal styling by rising stars on Broadway Izaiah Montaque Harris and Nichelle Lewis as well as “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” alum Bosco who stripped down during a burlesque number before proceeding into a comedy routine.
Fletcher and Kassel, wearing ruffled Mâitre D aprons, later served limoncello shots, toasting “to pride, to authenticity and to being yourself.”
Sponsored by Cash App, the digital wallet system added a charitable component to the evening via QR codes for guests to receive $30 in credit, which was donated to the Ali Forney Center for LGBTQIA+ homeless youth services.
As the grand finale, “Dolly” came back as Liza Minelli, belting out “New York, New York” and inviting Ritchie and Kassel up to the stage for a chorus line. As the lyrics go: “If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.”
“And they made it here,” she proclaimed.