[15] At the Pagoda Palace Theatre in San Francisco's North Beach neighborhood, impresario Sebastian (real name Milton Miron)[15] let the Cockettes perform as part of his Nocturnal Dream Show,[16] a showcase of underground films, in exchange for free admission.
[18] The Futurama Costume Gala, a science-fiction themed New Year's Eve bash held by the Nocturnal Dream Show creators, drew a rowdy audience of around 600 people.
Show titles included Gone With the Showboat to Oklahoma, Tinsel Tarts In A Hot Coma, Journey to the Center of Uranus, Smacky & Our Gang, Hollywood Babylon and Pearls Over Shanghai.
After local press coverage and sightings of celebrities like fashion designer and socialite Gloria Vanderbilt and author Truman Capote,[19][page needed] the Cockettes gained attention from culture and lifestyle publications such as Rolling Stone and Esquire and general interest magazines such as Look and Life.
Using clothing and accessories from past eras found at flea markets and thrift shops, they incorporated these various disparate elements into a look that was unique and timeless, exploring their own personal fantasies by the use of the assemblage method, creating outfits that are now considered iconic within the Wearable Art movement.
On the stage their performances were initially ad hoc, unscripted and improvised, preferring an experimental and experiential approach to theatre where the outcome was unknown, reaching for a sense of Magic as a result.
Once Hibiscus had left the group some of the members saw the departure as an opportunity to capitalize on the media attention from articles in Rolling Stone and Maureen Orth's pieces in the Village Voice as well as Rex Reed's nationally syndicated column.
[23] Although rock-promoter Bill Graham passed on the opportunity for a New York show he did connect the group with Harry Zerler, "a wealthy talent scout for Columbia Records", and booked Sylvester as the opening act.
According to accounts of the time, "Everybody who was anybody" came to the Cockettes' New York opening, including such celebrities as John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Liza Minnelli, Allen Ginsberg, Anthony Perkins, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, and Angela Lansbury.
Divine, star of films by noted filmmaker John Waters, joined the group in Journey to the Center of Uranus, thus making her San Francisco debut.
[21] In 1970 Tomata duPlenty, inspired by early Cockette shows, went on to create a spin-off group in Seattle, Washington called Ze Whiz Kidz.
John Rothermel, who was often cast in a lead role due to his excellent singing voice and knowledge of 1920s/1930s music, had a successful cabaret career in San Francisco.
In the fall of 1972 Fayette Hauser, Tomata du Plenty, Link Martin, John Flowers, and Sweet Pam moved to New York City to perform in underground theatre.
They lived on the Bowery and performed at the Cafe Cino, The Bouwerie Lane Theatre in the Palm Casino Revue, Club 82 and CBGB's with other groups such as the Ramones and Blondie.
In 1975 Tomata du Plenty and Fayette Hauser moved to Los Angeles and continued to perform in small theatre venues like the Anti-Club and Al's bar.
Sylvester's solo renditions of standard torch songs by artists including Etta James, Shirley Bassey, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, and Lena Horne, led to him becoming one of the most prolific singers of the disco era.
Numerous performers and performing groups spun off from the Cockettes, including the Seattle Ze Whiz Kidz (including actors Tomato Du Plenty and Screaming Orchids; the first Whiz Kidz show was a musical based on the life of Yma Súmac), The San Francisco Angels of Light, The New York Angels of Light, the Assorted Nuts, among others.
A 2009 revival of Pearls Over Shanghai (the libretto was originally written by Link Martin) in San Francisco included the participation of Rumi Missabu and piano accompaniment by composer Scrumbly Koldewyn, with Tahara one of the costume collaborators.