Drag performer Gary Marion, portraying Sushi, is lowered in an oversized replica of a women’s red high heel at the Bourbon St. Pub Complex late Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022, in Key West, Fla. The Red Shoe Drop, now in its 25th year, was one of several warm-weather Florida Keys takeoffs on New York City’s Times Square ball drop marking the start of the 2023. Marion announced that the 2023 New Year’s Eve descent is to be his last time starring in the offbeat “drop” and he will pass the role on to a new drag performer. (Steve Panariello/Florida Keys News Bureau)
New Year's Eve revelers in subtropical Key West enjoyed several offbeat warmer-weather takeoffs on New York City's traditional Times Square "ball drop" -- including the 25th annual "drop" of a drag performer dubbed “Sushi” in a super-sized red high-heel shoe.
Thousands of people flocked to Key West's famed Duval Street outside the Bourbon St. Pub complex for the Red Shoe Drop that starred Gary Marion, portraying Sushi, perched in the giant ruby slipper.
The descent is likely to be Sushi’s last, since the legendary drag queen has announced that she plans to pass the starring role to a successor.
Dressed in a lavish “silver anniversary” ensemble befitting her 25th “drop” in the shoe, Sushi presided over festivities and live entertainment prior to being lowered from the complex’s balcony seconds before midnight.
Revelers in Key West also celebrated by watching a gigantic manmade conch shell, the symbol of the Florida Keys, descend to the flat roof of Sloppy Joe's Bar, a former hangout of author Ernest Hemingway.
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Other scheduled island city “drops” included those of a huge reproduction Key lime wedge, a “flight attendant” in a section of a replica aircraft, an imitation tuna and a woman dressed as a pirate wench who descended from atop a tall ship’s mast.
Elsewhere in the Florida Keys, waterfront fireworks displays and countdown parties welcomed 2023.
