On Friday July 17, Oasis hosted an event its fans and admirers never thought would happen. The Big Reveal, as it was called, was the legendary San Francisco drag venue’s grand reopening after its near-death experience last year. The club and performance space, founded by D’Arcy Drollinger and the late Heklina in 2015, was supposed to close at the end of 2025, only to make one of the most unlikely comebacks of the city’s arts and culture scene.
It was almost one year ago to the day when Oasis owner Drollinger hosted a memorial for Heklina (who died in London in April 2023) and announced that financial difficulties were forcing the club to close after one last New Year’s party in December.
Drollinger, then the city’s inaugural drag laureate, prepared to go out with a bang before locking the doors. Mere days before the New Year’s finale, philanthropists Mark and Mary Stevens, whose son Sky is an Oasis regular, came through with the funds to keep the club alive. Since that time, Drollinger and executive director Greg Sottolano set about creating a long-term financial plan to make Oasis sustainable and keep its doors open.
Appropriately, The Big Reveal (so named to show off the renovations made to the club over the past half-year) opened with performer Tila Pia dressed as a golden phoenix dancing to Lady Gaga’s “Garden of Eden.” Although the song blared full-volume from the newly-updated sound system, it was no match for the thunderous roars from the audience.The sold out event featured current drag laureate Per Sia and members of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence gracing the reconstructed stage with a newly-installed illuminated runway. That, plus expanded walkways, a fresh coat of paint, and a cheeky new mural resembling giant glory holes in the gender-neutral restrooms. The rooftop lounge, bar, and balcony all look new, save for the old-fashioned salon chairs with ashtrays.
Returning regulars set the scene, whether dressed down in jeans or up with jealousy-inducing full gowns. The joy in the room was palpable.
Among the attendees was Sonja Ohldag, who moved to the city from Germany in 1999. “Oasis is for people who believe in the cause and the community,” Ohldag told Gazetteer SF. “It’s a nightclub, it’s a gay bar, it’s a drag bar; it’s also sort of a community center for people to gain their strength back. We really need this to move on and keep going during these rather challenging times, so that we all don’t give up.”
Late last month, Congressional candidate Scott Wiener tried to use the Trans March for a photo op before being heckled by attendees as part of a longstanding “no politicians” policy. That same night, a trans rally was broken up by SFPD.
As Ohldag explained, the rush to place blame on the trans community was disingenuous. “People at the Trans March were very sincere people, but something always happens; but that doesn’t mean the trans community has an issue. [San Francisco] is for everybody.”
Although Wiener appeared alongside Drollinger in early May for the reopening of the Barbary Stage, the State Senator wasn’t at The Big Reveal. However, his Congressional opponent, District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan was. For her, the political and financial challenges facing venues like Oasis are indicative of the flawed system she wants to correct.
“San Francisco needs more of this, not less,” Chan told Gazetteer. “We need to make an investment not only in the venue, but in the community, and arts and culture, in the Leather District, in the Transgender District, all throughout the city.”
During a colorful ribbon-cutting ceremony, director of the Office of Transgender Initiatives and RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Honey Mahogany lavish high praise on the pink-gowned Drollinger. “She should never be underestimated, because she’s a Capricorn, she’s a drag queen, and she’s a native San Franciscan.”
Addressing the crowd, Drollinger seemed amazed that she’s able to be the proprietor of an independent arts venue in one of the most expensive cities in the world. “Not only can we create, we can own it!”
