An Evening With Dina Martina at Re-Bar, Seattle, WA, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, January 5 - 28, 1996

This poster advertises a month of weekend performances by Dina Martina at Re-Bar, in Seattle’s Belltown, in January 1996. Martina is a drag performer, comedian, dancer, and singer. Martina, a self-described “tragic singer, horrible dancer, and surreal raconteur” known for her poorly applied red lipstick, has often been accompanied by pianist Chris Jeffries (b. unknown). West grew up in Las Vegas, Nevada, but has frequently returned to perform in the Northwest, and currently splits time between Seattle, Washington, and Provincetown, Massachusetts. 

Steve Wells and Patrick “Pit” Kwiecinski opened Re-Bar in January 1990 at 1114 Howell Street, which had long been a safe space for Seattle’s LGBTQ community. The Night Hawk Tavern (or Nite Hawk) opened in the 1930s, creating a center of gay nightlife featuring cabaret, followed by Thirsty’s in the 1970s, which then became Axel Rock, a dance-focused venue, in the 1980s, and finally Sparks Tavern, which added full-length stage plays, before Re-Bar moved in. Until 2020, when Re-Bar, like many venues, closed indefinitely during the COVID-19 pandemic, they hosted disco nights, art exhibits, theatre, drag, burlesque, and live bands, supporting generations of LGBTQ patrons and performers. KEXP’s Riz Rollins got his start as a DJ, becoming a big part of Seattle’s Black music scene, David Schmader put on his first three plays, and drag performer and comedian Dina Martina was born at Re-Bar. The venue also hosted one of the longest running poetry nights in the West, Seattle Poetry Slam, and a weekly Sunday dance night, Flammable. On September 13, 1991, Re-Bar also hosted the infamous release party for Nirvana’s second album, Nevermind.