A photo of Katie Purdy who is organizing an upcoming drag show.
Katie Purdy. Credit: Katie Purdy. Credit: Katie Purdy.

The COVID lockdown of 2020 meant everyone had a lot more time on their hands. Katie Purdy (She/Her, They/Them) used that time to not only learn more about themself, but to watch every season of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

“I’ve never had a coming out as being queer. I’ve always just added layers on as I’ve gotten older and learned more about myself,” Purdy told rabble.ca during an interview.

While watching the first season of Canada’s Drag Race, Purdy became actively vested in the show. That was when they realized that despite never having gone to a drag show, it was really cool to know that this was happening so close to home.

“It made me feel more connected to it because these people were from Toronto or Montreal and Vancouver. It’s not just strictly in the U.S. where these people are making their careers off of doing drag and what they love,” said Purdy.

The Oakville native grew up taking music, singing and dance lessons as well as participating in theatre productions. As an adult, Purdy discovered cosplay – think of it as Halloween whenever you want – where they say it’s almost impossible to find someone who doesn’t identify as 2SLGBTQIA+. That helped Purdy learn much more about what being queer means for them.

Looking back, becoming a drag performer just made sense because it was the marriage of everything Purdy loves.

Drag Race does have its limitations. Most of the contestants are AMAB (assigned male at birth) and there has yet to be a Drag King, but it is slowly evolving. Alternative Drag, aka androgynous, does appear on the show, but it’s still mainly cis-gendered gay men and some trans-women who found their transition through drag.

While Purdy loved drag, they didn’t realize there was room for AFAB (assigned female at birth) artists in that world. That is, until they went to work as an administrative assistant for the talent agency Vision Drag Artists.

That started Purdy wondering how do you break into drag? How do you start performing and promoting yourself? How do you develop your persona?

LISTEN: Capt. Danny Bailey, a new face in Ontario’s drag scene

Purdy began following drag performers on Instagram and studying what different drag artists do. Then, in July they took the plunge and started immersing themselves in the drag community including going to open stage events.

In August, Purdy did her first open stage. It was such a fabulous experience that Purdy started establishing themselves as a drag performer and is making 2023 the year of Danny Bailey – their stage persona.

Purdy finds that the clubs and bars in major cities tend to cater to more traditional Drag Queens.

“There aren’t a lot of Drag Kings or alternative artists getting booked at well established bars in the Village. It’s starting to change a little bit just because there’s such an influx of Drag Kings and people like myself, drag artists who don’t really feel like they have to label it,” observed Purdy who identifies as pansexual.

They admit that there is more of a scene developing in Hamilton where The Well has started weekly open stage events. But essentially, between Toronto and Hamilton it’s a drag desert.

That’s what prompted Purdy to start playing small town venues like Seasons Brasserie in their hometown of Oakville, Ont.

Purdy’s vision includes introducing Oakville to Pride. “It’s an amazing community [the queer community] and I feel very fortunate to have gotten involved,” shared Purdy. “We have the rainbow crosswalk in Oakville, but we don’t have a Pride celebration. And there aren’t regular drag shows. So, we gotta start somewhere.”

Drag Queen Adrianna Exposée, another Oakville native who now calls Ottawa home, Drag King Krēme Inakuchi and Drag Queen Tash Riot from Toronto will be performing at Take Me to the Drag Show on February 18.

Purdy will host the event as well as performing a couple of numbers as Danny Bailey.

Purdy is a huge Elton John fan and as they dove deeper into his discography they noticed Dan, Daniel, and Danny used in several different songs and pulled from The Ballad of Danny Bailey and Dan Dare Pilot of the Future to create their drag name.

It also doesn’t hurt that their father’s name is Daniel and her middle name is Danielle.

While Captain Danny Bailey – the more formal version of their persona – does generally have a more masculine appearance, Purdy doesn’t like to put limits on what drag can be.

“I prefer to refer to myself as a drag artist rather than a Drag King or Queen, simply because maybe today I want to dress as a man for a performance and tomorrow I’ll want to dress hyper-femininely. I’m simply using it as an art form and a way to express myself and perform songs I really love,” shared Purdy.

Purdy explained that because of the space that they work in, and acknowledging the potential for protests, backlash, or even rejection, they chose a performance space run by younger people with whom they made an instant connection.

As for the Oakville community in general, Purdy says, “as a white female, privileged person growing up I Oakville, I saw a very open and respectful community. Generally, I have found people don’t tend to be very aggressive or super anti-anything necessarily.”

Purdy pointed out that Oakville Public Library held drag story times during the past year without experiencing protests or backlash.

Take Me to the Drag Show is Purdy’s first production of the year and if all goes well, she hopes to make this a regular event so people in Oakville, and the broader Halton community, don’t have to go all the way to Toronto for some queer entertainment.

Take Me to the Drag Show February 18 at Seasons Brasserie.

Tickets are $33.28 and limited to 18+.

Beverages and select menu available for purchase during the event.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Show begins at 8 p.m.

Doreen Nicoll

Doreen Nicoll is weary of the perpetual misinformation and skewed facts that continue to concentrate wealth, power and decision making in the hands of a few to the detriment of the many. As a freelance...