MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — One of the preeminent drag shows in the region lost a significant portion of its talent bench last week, according to the show’s Facebook page.

The “Ladies of La Femme” show has been a mainstay at the Gay 90’s for decades. Last week, the show’s director Nina DiAngelo said that she and three other headliners were no longer going to be performing at the venue.

Among the performers who were also leaving the Gay 90’s were Bebe Zahara Benet, the winner of the first season of the popular reality TV series “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” as well as Monica West and Genevee Love, all of whom have been with the show for years. Two stage technicians also said they too were leaving the club, which is located at Hennepin and 4th avenues in downtown Minneapolis.

Prior to Friday night’s developments, performers Cee Cee Russell and Roxy Marquis also vacated the premises. DiAngelo, a 20-year veteran of “La Femme,” said that there were now just two drag performers remaining.

DiAngelo said that the girls were working on night-to-night contracts, and thus did not proffer a two-week notice. She cited “disrespect, lack of appreciation, and a general disregard for your entertainers, your employees, your patrons” as their reasons for leaving.

“It was a general feeling that’s slowly grown since the new owners took over,” DiAngelo told WCCO. “I think their ideas of what a good show is and what it means to be involved in the community were no longer in line with ours.”

With the popularity of drag as an art form reaching a crest in recent years, spurred in part by “Drag Race,” DiAngelo said that she feels “this city can handle a better show” in an upscale venue, possibly caberet-style.

“It was more of a growth thing. It was time to move onto bigger and better things,” she said.

In the meantime, some of the performers will be performing at Lush, Benet is booked at The Exchange, and DiAngelo said she will appear at The Saloon.

WCCO has reached out to the Gay 90’s for comment.