At 7:45 p.m. on a recent Thursday in August, the Red Pavilion, an Asian neo-noir cabaret and nightclub in Bushwick, Brooklyn, was thriving. Eighty-plus guests sat at round tables, swarmed the bar and occupied the banquettes and back booth of the 2,000-square-foot triangular space. Large lanterns, strung from the ceiling, pulsated with light. The room, intentionally painted a Chinese red, glowed, producing a feverlike dream state.
The club’s owner and founder, Shien Lee, 40, took center stage, singing a version of “Sway,” a bolero-mambo made popular by Dean Martin, that had been translated into her native Mandarin. The four-piece band perched onstage with her added a floaty musical accompaniment. It was a scene out of a David Lynch film — exactly what Ms. Lee, a huge fan of the late director, hoped to accomplish when she created the immersive performance space in March 2023.
“I love sharing and creating unexpected moods and moments with strangers,” said Ms. Lee, who lives in Bushwick with her 12-year-old son. “When those people leave, they’re not strangers anymore. We’ve shared a beautiful dream. That’s my drug.”
Ms. Lee grew up in Hawaii and Taiwan before moving to New York in 2007 to attend Columbia University. While juggling classes, she hosted costume parties and became part of the underground club scene — a scene she never left.
