Drag queen Barbada De Barbades performed at Montreal’s Museum of Fine Arts for a “musical drag story hour” with music from the Metropolitan Orchestra on Sunday.
The performer, who goes by Barbada, took the audience through a spring-themed performance on the museum’s Bourgie Hall stage for the second installment of a three-part collaboration with the orchestra.
“Drag, story time, music — it can all come together for all ages — to bring something very spectacular, very beautiful,” said the performer.
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According to Bourgie Hall artistic director Olivier Godin, mixing these artforms is not new. “Bringing drag to our world is something that is absolutely natural to us,” he told Global.
These types of performances are “a very good way to hear an extract from the repertoire in a very funny way, in a story,” said Fabienne Voisin, CEO of the Metropolitan Orchestra. She added that the performance shows that classical music is accessible and can be fun.
After a few of Barbada’s events had to be cancelled due to security concerns, performing on such a prestigious stage is special. Barbada says she feels emotional seeing drag “in such an established event, in a museum, with such a great orchestra and with such amazing musicians.”
The response to the series has been positive, organizers say.
The third and last show will be on June 2.