Long Live The Queen: Priscilla Returns to Campus

Fear no more, fellow Xaverians! Priscilla: Queen of the Highlands lives on. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Chris Frazer has been working diligently with X-Pride to ensure that the beloved Priscilla will grace the StFX stage for its sixteenth consecutive year. Having grown its fan base and interest significantly since the first show back in February 2005, which hosted an audience of only 100 people, the show has been known to sell-out the Mackay Room of the Students’ Union Building, hosting around four-hundred viewers from across the province.

This widespread show of support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in our small, rural town began as the entertainment portion of a workshop titled “Centering the Periphery: The Experience of Rural Life for LGBTQ Youth,” which was hosted on the StFX campus in 2005. The workshop was organized by Dr. Frazer (History) in tandem with Dr. Nancy Forestell (Women and Gender Studies) and Claire Fawcett (Anthropology). Dr. Frazer had recently been appointed as faculty advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ students following a number of homophobic assaults on the University’s campus. In an effort to support Dr. Frazer’s new role, and following the success of the first-of-many Priscilla shows, X-Pride decided to continue producing the show on an annual basis.

Photo by Addy Strickland

On Friday, February 20, we will all be able to enjoy a socially distanced show featuring many favourite local and regional performers. Dr. Frazer notes that among this year’s performers, we can expect fan favourite Rouge Fatale from Halifax, who will host the show. Other performers will include Elle Noir, more local Kings, and Dr. Frazer’s own Joni Cash and C. Leah Cruise, along with some other Halifax regulars. Viewers can expect dynamic performances which will include a range of queens, kings, genderf*ck, and non-binary performers. The show will be hosted on Zoom, and tickets will be sold online. More information will be released closer to the show.

To stay up to date as more information becomes available, follow @xpridesociety and @xgsdsa on Facebook and Instagram!