Cape After Dark, Part 3: Karaoke, billiards and bars are all part of the Cape Girardeau nightlife

The worst karaoke singers, according to Tiny Morrison, sound like someone attempting to shove a cat into a blender.

But the best, he added, can make even a veteran emcee sit up and take notice. But a quality voice isn't the most important part of karaoke, Morrison said.

"As long as they are having fun, I don't care how they sound," Morrison said between singers at Club Moxy, 107 N. Main St.

Morrison, whose given name is Jeff but who everyone knows as Tiny, stands 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighs 360 pounds. He's at Club Moxy every Wednesday and Thursday, and at locations in Scott County on other nights. On a recent Thursday night, there were men in cowboy hats, women in jeans and a whole lot of singing.

Karaoke, Tiny said, is what he's all about. "If I die, my funeral is going to be a karaoke party."

CHUCK WU ~ cwu@semissourian.comChristian Steele performs on stage as "Mr. Black U.S. of A." at the Independence Place on Friday night November 7th 2008. Independence Place is a club that host Drag shows in Cape Girardeau.

Karaoke is a chance to be in the spotlight, a chance to relax with friends and, sometimes, a place to find a partner, if only for one song.

For LaDale Woods and Maggie Richardson, the place for karaoke is Broussard's, 120 N. Main St.

"I love singing country music and anything close to it is good," Richardson said after crooning a duet with Woods.

"I am at my place for karaoke," Woods said. "It is cathartic."

Club Moxy and Broussards aren't the only place for karaoke in Cape Girardeau. And when it comes time to decide how to spend an evening on the town, karaoke is only one of the choices that include both family fun and a chance to get away from the cares of the day in an 18-and-older-only environment.

Billiards and bowling, dance rhythms and rock bands, drag shows and quiet bars are all part of the Cape Girardeau scene after dark. Daytimer Lounge, 829 S. Kingshighway, pulses Friday night to dance music. Terry Eftink has been providing the sounds for 13 years with his Renegade Sound System.

"Some like '80s rock, some like new hip-hop and some like Top 20," Eftink said. He prepares a play list that incorporates all those tastes and leaves room for requests.

At Daytimer, he said, the crowd can get a little crazy. "They like to get up and dance on the speakers," he said.

He's been doing it so long, Eftink can point out the regulars. Some he doesn't know by name, while others are so noticeable they are easily remembered, like Junior Swift. He declined to give his real name, saying that no one would recognize him if it was used.

"I grew up with it and everybody knows me as Junior," he said between dances with two women who gave their names only as Cindy and Vanessa.

After 15 years in the U.S. Army, Swift, 35, spends his days as a student at Southeast Missouri State University. On Friday nights, he's at Daytimer.

"It's a fun place to go on a Friday night, they play everything from oldies and country to new rock," he said. "It is just a perfect place to go."

While the rhythms rock Daytimer, across town at Independence Place, 5 S. Henderson St., performers are styling their hair, applying eyelashes and fixing their dresses. It's time for the weekly drag show.

The second-floor bar is packed wall-to-wall. Show organizer Ryder Strong is at the microphone. And from behind the navy blue curtain divided by a sequined entrance, Passion Principle erupts onstage in a shining royal blue dress, lip-syncing and dancing across the stage and through the crowd.

For seven years, the transgendered native of East St. Louis, Ill., has been performing at drag shows across Missouri and Illinois. "It has always been in me," Passion Principle said.

From a little closer to home, Tyler Christianson, a first-grade teacher in Cape Girardeau, said he performs at Independence Place despite living in a town where some may consider his act taboo. "Once people understand it, they accept it," he said.

Almost every bar has a pool table. In more than a couple of bars, however, the pool tables are the attraction.

Ann Myers, originally from Ironton, Mo., has been bartending at Breakaway's Bar & Billiards for about 2 1/2 years. While the bar will occasionally book a band, pool and darts bring the crowds.

On the best nights, Myers said, she can take home as much as $300 in tips. But on those nights she earns her pay, as people stand two and three deep at the bar. Like any place alcohol is sold, occasionally a patron won't want to wait in line or gets upset when it seems the bartender has passed them by.

"I'll try to be nice for a certain amount of time, but if they are rude to me, I'll just tell 'em to p--- off," she said.

Caught at work on a slow night, Myers was asked where a bartender goes on her night off. She named the Pour House, 113 Broadway, for its drink specials, but said she usually finds her way back to Breakaway's.

If loud music, flashing lights and alcohol aren't on the agenda, crashing pins, hot snacks and a family night can be found at West Park Lanes at 354 S. Silver Springs Road. Night supervisor Sam Bell said he keeps rowdiness under control and makes sure family groups have a relaxing evening.

On Sunday night, that's what Lisa and Ellis Nesby of Mounds, Ill., were looking for with their three sons, Joshua, 12, Jonathan, 9, and Kameron, 5. The boys were boisterous, chiding each other with chants of "gutter ball" as Lisa and Ellis chuckled at their antics.

Taking a family out is expensive, but worth it, they said, adding that the night out is about a once-a-month event. On Sunday, the choice after a family dinner was movies or bowling, Lisa Nesby said.

"They have fun, we have fun," Lisa Nesby said. "Mainly it is about everybody enjoying themselves."

The fun doesn't stop when the last pin drops, Ellis Nesby said. "It gives the kids something to talk about at school when they see their friends," he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

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Cape After Dark

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