Want to be a drag performer? There's a class for that at this Montreal college

Yahoo

21 hours ago

With sequins, big makeup and raunchy jokes, drag is an art form that has long been rooted in nightlife, the social heart of many 2SLGBTQ+ communities.
But in a time of growing visibility and political challenges, this rich, nocturnal culture has found another home: in a Montreal classroom.
At CÉGEP du Vieux Montréal in the city's Ville-Marie borough, a unique course is introducing students to the world of drag, turning a college studio into a safe space for creative expression.
CBC contributor Nadia Trudel attended courses, rehearsals and shadowed performers in the lead-up to their annual end-of-year showcase.
The project is the brainchild of Ian Gamache, a cultural animator at the CEGEP, who noticed the increasing democratization of drag and saw an opportunity.
"My goal was to make drag more accessible to CEGEP-level students. I think this kind of project is necessary," he said.
"CEGEP is a crucial step in personal development and this kind of project empowers students."
To bring his vision to life, Gamache reached out to Susie Richard, an old friend with a diverse background in improv, social work and drag, in 2022, wondering if she could picture a drag troupe at the school.
Navigating the CEGEP's winding stairways, Richard explains how her drag career started about nine years ago through Cabaret Mado's "Drag-Moi" competition series for newbies. Over the years, she honed her skills, first developing her drag queen character Daisy Wood, then creating her drag king persona Derek Wood.
Now, she's sharing her expertise with the new generation.
The CEGEP's drag troupe, which completed its third edition in May, boasts a more progressive approach to drag, which embraces not just the gay cisgender men who long dominated the field, but also cisgender women, trans, non-binary and genderqueer artists.
While registration for the class is first open to students, any remaining spots are open to the general public.
Over the course of the year, students dive into drag history and learn essential stage skills, from movement to crowd work. They also sharpen their lip sync technique and fine-tune their makeup and wig skills.
They also develop their drag personas, accompanied by names that, in true drag fashion, are often chosen for their explicit humour, theatricality or to reflect a character.
Among the troupe's members this year are performers like Casanova, a master of comedy and drama, who's become a prolific performer around Montreal, Glory (Comma) Whole, a dance-trained Y2K party girl, and Gatekeep Electra, debuting a suave drag king persona this year to complement their drag queen persona, Gaslight Electra.
"I'm bisexual and non-binary, so in my head there's a lesbian and a gay man fighting for their spot, but neither of them pays rent," they said.
Wig, makeup, lip sync curriculum
Richard explains that developing the curriculum for the drag course was "difficult on so many levels," because drag itself is complex.
"Every unit could have its own semester, but we have to touch on everything," she explains.
To support the students, Richard brings in guest instructors, including Lady Boum Boum of Canada's Drag Race, who has given makeup lessons. While her own start came from drag competition shows in Quebec City, she gushes about the benefits of the troupe.
"Most of the time when you're booked at a bar, you're not there to learn, you're there to deliver. The classes let students practise without any rush or stress," said Lady Boum Boum.
With a little over a month left before the end-of-year showcase, it's time for rehearsals. Here, there are no fake lashes or wigs — there's just talent and the comfort of a safe space. Richard compliments good use of stage and developed characters, recommends a "bigger" lip sync, asks for more eye contact and urges the perfectionists of the group to let go.
Beyond the curriculum, the class addresses the practicalities of drag. As it wraps up, students trade thrift store tips, share rhinestoning techniques and lend items to one another.
"There's mutual aid between students; they create a little community," Richard explained.
Like in the real world of drag, a spirit of scrappy creativity is essential to put together a look. But here, the CEGEP provides quality wigs and a trunk of makeup to help ease the usual financial burden of starting drag.
"When you start drag in your bedroom and you know nothing, it's difficult to know where to start, so we offer that first show and a first contact with the world of drag," Richard added.
It's showtime — and the mic holds power
The final class in early May is a sentimental affair. P'tit Méné describes the pride of inviting people to your "family's" drag show. Puck says that no matter what happens, everyone should be proud. When a member of the group breaks down after a recent personal tragedy, the entire troupe comes together for a group hug.
This sense of community feels especially urgent amid growing hostility toward the 2SLGBTQ+ community.
In interviews, some performers lamented the outrage around drag storytime events and the attacks on trans rights — including Alberta's ban on youth gender-affirming care (which is currently paused), library restrictions on books with 2SLGBTQ+ content and Quebec's new policy forcing trans inmates into prisons based on anatomical sex.
They emphasized drag is innocuous fun, and Richard explains it's "an art form like any other."
"A lot of people sexualize drag, because they sexualize gay people and women," she said.
It's now showtime, and the CEGEP's student-run Café L'Éxode is buzzing and packed to maximum occupancy.
Casanova's mom, sitting front row, rarely misses a performance and gushes about how much everyone has grown since last year.
Over the next hour and a half, the performances represent much of drag's diversity: the music ranges from the 80s to the 2020s, drama and seduction blend into comedy, there's choreography and improv, maximalism and minimalism, "old-school" and "new-school" drag co-exist. It's a showcase of drag's potential to play with gender and beauty. .
After running around the room during her performance of Blur's Girls and Boys, Puck is stripped down and breathless on the mic.
"It's a small revolution that I'm on this stage," she said, "and I hope that tonight you'll go home and have small revolutions. Wear clothes you were told you couldn't wear; feel sexy in a body that you were told you couldn't feel sexy in."
As the show comes to a close, Richard, in her drag king persona Derek Wood, meditates on the transformative power of drag. In a world where political dialogue often devolves into judgment and fear, she believes drag offers a different path forward.
"Sometimes the heart speaks louder than words," Richard said.
"I think drag has this power to educate people, not through words, but through the heart."