Blue Star, the founder of BlueLaLa Entertainment and local mover and leg shaker, has found a new home for herself and her crew, following the demolition of their longtime home at The Venue in Ivanhoe Village last year.
The Venue, which served as a platform for countless drag, burlesque, and fringe theatrical productions, was knocked down in 2019 to make way for the second phase of The Yard at Ivanhoe development. Since then, Blue Star has been hard at work trying to find the perfect home for her troupe, and she says she’s found it in the defunct bar/restaurant Lion’s Pride (Website) in the Church Street District.
Orlando City-inspired Lion’s Pride opened for business in June 2017 at 123 W. Church Street [GMap] but had been shuttered throughout the pandemic, despite having a food license. Building owner Gustavo Fonseca told Bungalower back in May that he planned to reopen the venue as soon as events and sports were back downtown but apparently made the decision to shake things up instead.
Blue Star is headlining the push to transform the two-story venue into a new concept called Häos on Church, under the wing of local restaurateur, David Webley, who owns and operates Kres Chophouse (Website) just up the street.
“David is a genuine, caring person, who loves the LGBT community and is also really invested in helping to remake Church Street into something stronger than it is now.”
– Blue Star
Häos (Facebook | Instagram) will operate as a sister space to Kres, with Kres chef Michael McGonigle setting the new menu. The space downstairs will continue to operate as a restaurant and will be getting a stage installed as well, with the entire upstairs being converted into a new performance space for rotating productions.
Blue Star told us that they will be adding a four-hour brunch with shows both upstairs and downstairs. They will also be adding a dueling pianos night featuring Todd Kimbro and Nate Rodriguez.
Häos is expected to open in late October/early November with plans to operate under social distancing protocols and reduced capacity indoors during the pandemic.
