“Oasis Lives” The Future of SF’s Iconic Queer Nightlife Venue (KALW)

The Oasis family comes to KALW for a live community conversation about the future of the Bay’s iconic queer nightlife institution.

KALW welcomes Oasis founder D’Arcy Drollinger and Princess producer Tito Soto for a conversation moderated by reporter Stafford Hemmer.

For more than a decade, Oasis has been a creative home, a refuge, a stage for self-expression, and a place where friendships, chosen families, and communities have flourished. The iconic San Francisco venue was slated to close this year, but was rescued by a major donation from a Bay Area philanthropic group. Join us to reflect on the relationships, creativity, and collective care that transformed Oasis into a cherished institution and made its preservation possible. Learn how the community rallied to keep this space alive and learn about what comes next.

Featuring

D’Arcy Drollinger is an actor, writer, director, choreographer, producer and entrepreneur. D’Arcy is the owner and artistic director of OASIS, voted San Francisco’s best nightclub/cabaret. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Drollinger created Meals On Heels, which employed out-of-work drag artists who delivered food, cocktails and socially-distanced lip-synch performances to give a little “sparkle” for the community during shelter in place.

D’Arcy has written over a dozen original works, including: Bitch Slap, Temple of Poon and Disastrous, as well as the web series Hot Trash. Drollinger’s first feature film, Shit & Champagne, became an instant cult classic and is now streaming on Hulu. Drollinger is the producer, director and co-star of the long running Bay Area holiday tradition, The Golden Girls Live.

D’Arcy is the executive director of San Francisco-based nonprofit, Oasis Arts, dedicated to providing access and resources to LGBTQIA+ artists. Other credits include: The Producers (first Broadway production), and Hairspray the Musical (first Broadway production). Drollinger is the creator of Sexitude™, the body-positive, age-positive, sex-positive dance experience based in San Francisco.

In 2023, D’Arcy was appointed San Francisco Drag Laureate, first Drag Laureate ever in the world.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, creatively birthed in Downtown LA, and now living in San Francisco, Tito Soto is the drag prince of the West Coast. Inspired by legends like Freddie Mercury, KISS, and Elton John, Tito delivers one-of-a-kind high production performances, and is also the producer of queer events such as PRINCESS at Oasis Nightclub every Saturday! Tito tells stories through shows with props, stunts, lighting, and by interacting with carefully designed, intricate projection mapping.

In discussion with

Stafford Hemmer is a native of Washington DC, but has called San Francisco home since 1994. He is a graduate of Georgetown University (School of Foreign Service) and he attended the Diplomatic Academy (Vienna, Austria). His work experience includes the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Georgetown University, Bank of America, and GateCapital, LLC. However, he became a self-employed German-English translator/language services provider (LSP) in 2001. He served on the Board of the Northern California Translators Association and was frequent contributor to their newsletters and those of the American Translators Association (ATA). A listener of KALW since 1994, Stafford is an avid and dedicated volunteer for KALW’s 220 Live Events space. He was a competitive swimmer for 20+ years, and also enjoyed rowing, Muay thai, boxing, running, bodybuilding, and cycling. He is an active volunteer with the Castro Country Club and the Leather Cultural and Historic District.

There is a $10 – $20 sliding scale suggested donation for this event. Nobody will be turned away for lack of funds.

Please become a KALW member today and receive your first drink on us at all 220 Montgomery events.

220 Montgomery St., San Francisco, 2 blocks from BART/MUNI

Reception doors open at 6:30

️ Program begins at 7:00

🆓 The event is free with an RSVP — and you are welcome to donate what you want

Please note:

• The event space is just to the left of the main entrance to the Mills Building at 220 Montgomery Street
• We recommend taking BART/MUNI, exiting at Montgomery, and walking two blocks north
• Ride-shares can drop off and pick up directly in front of the venue
• If you drive, there are several garages within two blocks of the event location