Bearded Ladies Cabaret returns to Philly’s Wanamaker Building to close out its fall series

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While the former Macy’s department store in Philadelphia closed last spring, the Wanamaker Building’s holiday vibe has returned with a light show, a vendor market and the “Dickens Village” Christmas tableau.

Off the beaten path is Greek Hall on the third floor, a room formerly inaccessible to the public. There, Rose Jarboe stands dressed as a troll, beckoning people into her Island of Misfits.

“Please, misfits of the island and people who lost their way out of Dickens Village, join me,” pleads Jarboe as host of “It’s Giving,” a series of five unique cabaret performances running Wednesday through Sunday.

The queer-centered holiday cabaret series begins with a sing-along as Jarboe guides the audience through familiar songs with altered lyrics. The spiritual “This Little Light of Mine” has been tweaked for seasonal depression disorder; the popular carol “Silver Bells” becomes “Silver Bears” (“They Ubered in from the Main Line”); and Jarboe sings “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year” in a doom-laden tone worthy of the Grinch.

“There’s a bridge in the holidays between the giving of thanks and the mass of Christ,” she said. “We’re on that bridge being, like, ‘It’s okay. We’ll get you from that one problematic dinner to that second problematic dinner that’s the same problematic people with different decor.”

“It’s Giving” is the return of the Bearded Ladies Cabaret to the Wanamaker. The performance company’s previous cabaret series in September, “The Layaway,” was forced to close early when the Wanamaker fell out of compliance with building codes.

The collapse of “The Layaway” came several months after the Bearded Ladies’ Beardmobile, a truck that had been converted into a mobile stage, had been stolen.

Jarboe describes 2025 as a “dumpster fire,” a feeling she believes is shared by others.

“I think the key word for these times is the word resilient,” she said. “You can steal our truck. You can kick us out of the space. But we will come back queerer and more abundant and more joyful.”

“It’s Giving” gets its name from a popular drag ball culture phrase for describing a vibe or a feeling. The cabaret closes out a fall performance intervention at the Wanamaker Building called “Pipe Up!” coordinated by Opera Philadelphia in order to activate the empty building with cultural programming as its new owner, TF Cornerstone, works out its redevelopment plans.

A plan recently submitted to the city would create individual street-level retail spaces and retain Wanamaker’s original Grand Court and pipe organ.

Opera Philadelphia Director Anthony Roth Costanzo said the series exceeded expectations, with every show selling out or nearly selling out.

“I’m really proud that we were able to pull that off,” he said, “To really prove to the city and the developer that this space is Philadelphia’s living room.”

There are many underused buildings in Philadelphia’s downtown area, as the amount of vacant office space continues to be unusually high. Jarboe hopes the success of the “Pipe Up!” series will make more owners and developers consider offering space to artists and cultural organizations.

“Developers need to be incentivized by the city to work with artists and open their spaces to artists. They’re not incentivized for short-term leases,” she said. “We need a home. We need a safe space to do risky work right now.”

Jarboe wants to bring a queer vibe to the Wanamaker Building, which has a long history with Philadelphia’s gay culture.

Bob Skiba, an archivist and curator at the William Way LGBT Community Center, points to a landmark 1962 article “A Furtive Fraternity” in Philadelphia Magazine, where author Gaeton Fonzi reported that the bathrooms of Wanamaker’s Department Store were known as a cruising spot where gay men would seek casual sex.

The five cabaret performances of “It’s Giving” will each be unique, with different drag performers programming shows on different themes. The opening sing-along performance is a mixture of songs that are both uplifting and acknowledge hard times, including drinking songs, songs that are little more than invitations to scream, and Madonna’s “Material Girl” re-written as “Dystopian World” (“We are living in a dystopian world/And I am a dystopian girl.”

“We are in the darkest time of the year, and a lot comes up for people. So we are trying to fill you up with good queer calories,” Jarboe said. “That’s really what it’s about, to resource you at a time that can actually be quite sad and lonely for people. Get those quick calories.”