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| House of Laureen onstage at Cafe Cleopatra (Photo by Kinga Michalska) |
Montreal is one of the great drag capitals of the world, alongside New York, London, Vegas and Sydney. But the city hasn’t been home to a bonafide “house” since the House of Pride dominated the annual World Ball For Unity produced by Divers/Cité, the now-defunct queer Pride and arts festival that put Montreal on the international gay map in the 1990s.
The House of Laureen – named for Laureen Harper, wife of
former Canadian PM Stephen Harper – first wowed audiences with their 2015
Montreal Fringe Festival debut Laureen: Queen of the Tundra. The
production was so popular, the troup regrouped for their 2016 Fringe
sequel, House
of Laureen: Backdoor Queens – starring Anaconda LaSabrosa, Connie
Lingua, Dot Dot Dot, Uma Gahd and host Noah in a riveting backstage look at the
reality of drag, performance and politics – a show they will reprise as
part of the 20th annual Wildside Theatre
Festival which runs from Jan. 5 to 15 at the venerable Centaur Theatre in Old
Montreal.
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| House of Laureen: Backdoor Queens (Photo by Kinga Michalska) |
You can also see the House of Laureen
headline Montreal’s iconic Café Cleopatra on January 14 at 10 pm
(after their early evening performance at the Centaur).
In August 2016,
House of Laureen established their monthly residency at Café
Cleopatra, last remnant of Montreal’s fabled red-light district. There are
plenty of ghosts in this great old building – the Queen of the Main – which has
been a showbar since 1895, and where the House of Laureen follows in the footsteps
of such Montreal drag legends as Vicki Lane, Lady Brenda, Vicki Richard,
Twilight, Farrah, Black Emmanuel, Gerry Cyr, Michel Dorion and Cantelli.
On the eve of their Centaur Theatre debut, Three Dollar Bill
sat down with the girls from the House of Laureen for a brief Q&A about drag (their answers have been edited for brevity and clarity).
