THUNDER BAY – It’s been nearly a year since Mz. Molly Poppinz has performed in front of a live audience.
The self-described premiere drag queen of Thunder Bay didn’t skip a beat on Saturday.
The 30-something, whose off-stage name is Felicia Crichton, and her fellow performer Amber Ail, also known as Jake Macscemchuk, just before the supper hour rolled up to a Dacre Street home where a small gathering of cheering supporters gathered to watch the show.
The performances were part of Drive-By-Drag, a Pride Month celebration started last year by Thunder Pride when COVID-19 restrictions shut down more traditional celebrations held by the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’m very, very, very excited to be back out on the road again, after a year,” Poppinz said. “It is absolutely the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s been a long year. We have moved the vast majority of our platforms online and virtual still means we can touch our audience, we can still reach out to them.
“But the look in their eyes cannot be replicated through a chat box. It just can’t and the energy and the passion we have for what we do comes so much from the people whose lives we touch and the audience members who go out of their way to come and see us.”
There’s a much bigger picture, she added.
“It’s not just for us, it’s not just for them, it’s for the entire city. It’s for the entire LGBTQ+ community and we’re just so happy to be out here doing what we love the way we love to do it. It’s not only a message of inclusion, especially at a moment like this, where the entire country is in a period of mourning. We need some kind of light at the end of the tunnel,” she said. “And I really think continuing the pursuit of pride events is one those ways we (do) that.”
Current River's Candace Shirk was the recipient of Saturday's first of eight Drive By Drag shows, and gathered her children and a small group of family and friends to watch the performance, the second straight year she’s taken part.
“I think it’s really important, especially in our community, to promote inclusiveness across the board. I’m trying raise my kids right and teach them that right off the hop,” she said.
“I think the important message is there are so many different people in this world and there are people who take part in different activities. My five-year-old and (I) have been participating in a number of different Pride activities over the last month.”
Those events include storytelling, put on by Thunder Bay Public Library, and a makeup night put on by local drag queens.
Performances are scheduled for Clarkson Street (5:30 p.m.), Prospect Avenue (6 p.m.) Ryerson Crescent (6:30 p.m.), Balmoral Street (7 p.m.) and Cumberland Street at the Red Lion at 7:30 p.m.
