The Flamingo Resort in South St. Petersburg is a popular but often hectic hangout. For those of you unfamiliar, think Shepard's on Clearwater Beach, LGBT-fied.
When we got news that one of our favorite cabaret acts — Scott & Patti, the mother-son duo starring Scott Daniel and Matthew McGee in drag — is hosting the resort's Kamikaze Karaoke on Tuesday nights, we were just tickled pink. But we also wondered how a stage mother with fragile nerves and her spoiled but talented son would handle the culture shock. They're used to more prim and proper venues, like American Stage and freeFall.
McGee offered up a list of the best and worst things about working the Flamingo.
The Best
1) The pool (so many men in there!)
2) The staff
3) The dressing room (it's huge)
4) Scott and Patti Tuesdays
5) The onion rings
The Worst
6) The pool (so many men in there)
7) Getting hogtied at Code
8) Scott always disappears halfway through the show (hogtied at Code!)
9) Vent in doorway to pool blows Patti's wig this way and that
10) No swimwear/adult lingerie for middle-aged women (like Patti!)
Karaoke nights are 8 p.m. at the hotel's main bar on Tuesdays. Patrons can decide if they want to play Kamikaze Karaoke — you sing what's given you even if you don't know the song — or play it safe with just a tune from the Flamingo's catalogue, which features a ton of hits.
The Flamingo Resort is at 4601 34th St. S., St. Petersburg. Call 727-321-5000 or flamingofla.com.
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2015.