May 2003 - Great
overview of Market Street Cinema from Stevi Secret, porn star and frequent
featured dancer at MSC.
Market Street Cinema is an old revamped movie theatre. It was originally opened
in the 1920s as UA Theatre (Charlie Chaplin was at the grand opening). It
remained a movie house for many years before becoming a strip club in the 1980s.
There have been several different ownerships the most recent being the Bijou
group which owns it in conjunction with Deja Vu. DejaVu in fact, owns all but a
handful of the clubs in SF, acquiring them in bankruptcy court (the result of a
dancer suit over tip outs won by the dancers) I believe I am essentially correct
on this information but certainly if anyone more familiar wishes to add/correct
anything, please do so.
MSC is located on Market St (Main St SF)in a rundown area known as the mid
Market area (more on that later). It has a large marquee listing the stars
appearing each week. Above the marquee and on signs gaudily posted in the
entrance, you will see the club's slogan "See The Beauty, Touch The Magic"
proudly proclaimed. Entrance occurs through a long, brightly lit entry way with
nearly naked promo pictures of the stars and other dancers (viewable to passers
by on the street). Once inside the doorway, you will come upon a booth
containing the DJ/Manager of the shift. Admission is $20. The first section of
the club (which your 20 bucks gets you into)is known as the main stage area. The
actual main stage is in the back of the room, with a large number of very old
theatre style seats facing it. There is a short runway that goes out into the
crowd. In the back, are several rows of lap dancing booths for those not
interested in watching the stage shows. The lighting varies but generally it is
kept fairly dark in this room.
On the main stage, shows begin at 11 am and go to the wee hours of the morning.
There is usually one or more features who perform 4 times daily on stage plus
select housegirls. Those at the stage hold up tips for the dancers. Depending on
the girl, many will leave the stage for a mini lap dance often times allowing
the customer to touch their breasts and buttocks while dancing. Around the room
a wide variety of housgirls (different ages, body types, ethnicities etc)will
"hustle" customers for lap dances or a trip to "Sin City".
Entrance to "Sin City" (found at the side of the main stage) requires another
fee (it has varied a bit but anywhere from $10-$20). Sin City has several rooms
including the "Cinema Stage" (a small theatre where girls will lap dance while
the customer watches pornos), The "Bangkok Room" a very nicely annointed stage
area with comfortable seats (unfortunately there are rarely any performances)
and the "PLayland Stage", a small, intimate stage room with comfortable seating
designed for dancers to come down for mini laps and touching for tips. There are
also throughout "Sin City" numerous private booths (special ones for the stars)
where customers can recieve private shows with the dancer of their choice. Rates
and services are negotiable but generally on the inexpensive side. The
atmosphere is decidedly laissez faire with a huge discrepancy of opinion on the
quality of the service.
San Francisco has a long tradition of non enforcement of prostitution laws
(behind closed doors) and the club has certainly taken advantage of that. Just
before my last trip there, MSC recieved a scare in this regard. Down the street,
the ownership group owned the Strand Theatre, a big old movie house showing XXX
features. The Strand had fallen into decay becoming a den of crack dealers and
whores. After an investigation by SFPD The Strand was closed down and in an even
more uncharacteristic move a dancer was busted for prostitution at MSC. For
several weeks there were no "extras" offered at MSC although by the time of my
visit last week things seemed to be back to normal. Although no outsider knows
for sure, there is a movement in The City to redevelop the area of Market Street
where MSC is located. Some feel that ultimately The Cinema may be targeted for
closure.
Before (and if) all this occurs, anyone who can should consider a trip to SF and
a visit to The Market Street Cinema. It's old (some feel rundown) but there is
no denying it's uniqueness in the American strip club scene. It's one of the few
places anywhere combining the highly charged atmosphere of strippers with open
promotion of favors. There are other SF clubs where extras can also be obtained
(most notably Mitchell Bros and New Century)in a more upscale (and in Mitchell's
case equally but different unique style)atmosphere but none has the "love it or
hate it" feel of The Cinema.
Stevi Secret
http://www.stevisecret.com