Drag Queens Lose Home

12/03/1998 at 12:00 AM EST

After 63 years of presenting the finest drag queens in the world, San Francisco's landmark cabaret Finocchio's is closing its doors, the victim of rent hikes. The final performance will take place Saturday night. "We all feel bad," says club owner Eve Finocchio. "It's like losing a friend." Although the line for shows still winds around the block, the club has lost the exotic appeal it cultivated since its 1936 opening in the city's red-light district along the edge of the Italian North Beach section. In its 1950s heyday, Finocchio's guest list included a Who's Who of stars: Lucille Ball, Lana Turner, Milton Berle, Jack Benny and Bette Davis.