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“I used to play bingo in Palm Springs every year because my family would go there on spring break,” says Peachy Springs, Portland’s self-proclaimed Bingo Queen.”I even named myself after the city.”
Indeed, in the dressing room where her day begins, Peachy’s Palm Springs influence drips from the walls; this is the boudoir of a joyful and boisterous hostess. “That’s the aesthetic,” Springs explains as she leafs through a few of her favorite pieces—mostly technicolor ’70s-era party frocks—“a retiree, but when she was young and hot. The housewife who didn’t have to do anything. A kind of Palm Springs lady of leisure.”
Despite the leisurely influence, Springs’ hosting schedule is quite bustling. Fresh off a three-month, post-inaugural hiatus (“I couldn’t smile through the first hundred days,” she says, “so I went all over New Zealand for a hundred days”), she’s back and reclaiming her Bingo Queen crown—this time pivoting from near-nightly bar gigs to a weekly PAM CUT Tomorrow Theater residency that begins Wednesday, May 14, through July 2, which has Springs delighted for reasons more practical than prestige alone.
“I get to bring the drag back to it,” she explains. “That was missing as the bars got more crowded. There would be so many people that I couldn’t move through the crowd, and my hair had to stay a certain height because there’s pendant lighting in all these fucking bars. I had to keep the drag really small. Now I get to sort of rebalance it—and remake it as a better version of what exists.”
Springs’ bingo residency will maintain all the charm of her bar shows while shifting to a more sustainable prize model. “We’re playing for prizes,” she says, “because the cash pots were getting so fucking big. Now, it’s a collaboration with the community—things like Portland spa days or time on a yacht tub with a bottle of champagne. And tiered prizes, like a $20 gift card to each of my bars with a little list of what I drink there, and packages with local crafts.”
Whether you’re a drag or bingo novice, Springs’ show is well worth the buy-in. She’s the type of host with a quick quip for every bingo number she calls, a nickname for every guest who snags a card—a camp queen with a foul mouth and a heart of gold.
Here’s how Peachy Springs spends a day in Portland:
Show Prep
“I usually don’t set an alarm—I just let myself wake up because it’s a night show anyway, and I want to be as rested as I can,” says Springs, who, when doing bar bingo nights, would prioritize setting up first thing. “Depending on the bar, I set up as soon as they’re open.”
Tonight, she’s performing a dress rehearsal at Mayfly (8350 N Fenwick Ave., mayflypdx.com) for an exclusive group of guests and fans, but her residency at the Tomorrow Theater will require less from Springs stagehandwise. “I’m usually prepping the bar shows beforehand, like my own little AV girl, but now there will be less of that because I’m in the theater.”
Once the bar is set up—sound, space and components—Springs returns to her St. Johns HQ to finish prep. “I get everything sort of packed, prep the outfits. I have six or seven wigs I’ll pick from. Pick the dress, pick the songs I will perform, then I paint my nails.”
Then it’s time to relax on her sunny patio. “That’s my nice little break—sitting on the patio for 15, 20 minutes, zoned out. At that point, it’ll be time for lunch.”
Preshow Sushi
“Maybe I’m superstitious at this point, but it hasn’t done me wrong, so that’s why I eat it every show,” Springs says of the Eden vegetarian roll she orders from Mikasa (877 N Lombard St., mikasapdx.com) “I eat the same thing every day because I know my stomach can handle it. It’s the one thing that I know I’ll get full on and not shit my tights—I’m wearing too many tights for a bathroom emergency.”
Springs shrugs and admits she doesn’t even like fish. “Which is ironic for someone who eats sushi four times a week,” she laughs. “If I’m really hungry, I’ll order two, or I’ll get the gyozas on the side, depending on what kind of breakfast I ate that day. I also like the fact that it’s a little healthy, I guess, because I usually end up in a drive-thru on my way home from the show.”
Get in Drag, Grab a Shot, and Head to the Show
“I play calm music,” Springs says of her beauty routine. “It’s such a high-energy job that usually I put on like Simon & Garfunkel or Crosby, Stills & Nash. A lot of slow albums, calmer music, because I’m about to go out and scream for an hour.
“And also, if I’m doing makeup to a beat, I start to get really scared of the beat. Like, I start to follow the beat instead of focusing on what I’m doing. I get jittery.”
Despite its complexity, Springs’ face card is dialed in. “It’s like a two-hour window from shaving my face to showing up at the bar, but when I’m really in the zone, it takes about 45 minutes to an hour on the makeup—and then an extra 20 for lashes, hair and lips.”
Once Springs’ look is complete, she either heads out to the venue or, on rare occasions, pops into her local watering hole, Marie’s (8727 N Lombard St.), for a single shot of Ketel One vodka to soothe any jangling preshow nerves.
“I’m a little nervous about the new show, which is also fun. I’m just so, so excited to be able to focus on the performance side of things again. Because that’s why I started. It was really hard to do a lip sync where I couldn’t move through a patio. Whereas this—everyone’s seated. Everyone can see me. I can also see everybody. So I’m just excited to be in a space that’s meant for performing.”
At her dress rehearsal Mayfly Bingo night, Springs bounced and bobbed between all the patrons, sharing laughs, sauntering from table to table in between spinning her golden cage, calling numbers and cracking inside jokes. It’s a tightly controlled, but also splendidly vulgar, vintage and glamorous show. As far as previews are concerned, this amuse bouche had us salivating for the extravaganza Springs’ Bingo is sure to bring to the Tomorrow Theater.
SEE IT: Peachy Springs at Tomorrow Theater, 3530 SE Division St., 503-221-1156, tomorrowtheater.org . 7 pm every Wednesday, May 14–July 2. $25.