Latrice Royale and Lady Camden are going for gaiety this holiday season.
The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alums—appearing as part of SF Symphony’s annual “Holiday Gaiety” variety show, co-emceed by conductor Edwin Outwater and drag sensation Peaches Christ—are choosing cheer over fear in troubling times as they prepare to take the stage on Fri/13.
The decked-out Davies Symphony Hall event also features vocalist Alex Newell, mezzo-soprano and aerialist Nikola Printz, drag performers Sister Roma and Kylie Minono, and San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus—all backed by the San Francisco Symphony.
“I’m very spiritual and love astrology and numerology,” says Royale, who after winning Miss Congeniality on Season 4 of “Drag Race” went on to appear on a slew of TV shows, tour the world, and currently costars in her third Las Vegas residency with RuPaul’s Drag Race LIVE!. “I’m all about the stars, the moons, and the sun. So I know that 2025 is considered a nine-year of completion and new beginnings. That’s what I’m doing.”
For the “chunky yet funky” Floridian queen that means trading in toxicity for peace, opportunity, and success.
“Drag Race” season 14 runner-up, UK’s Lady Camden—who began her career as a professional dancer at Sacramento Ballet and SF’s SMUIN Contemporary Ballet before joining RuPaul’s drag competition series and touring with Werq the World—is ready to put herself first and leave her insecurities behind.
“My behavior is changing with a lot of therapy, and I’ve noticed my relationships shifting because of it,” she says. “I’m ready to shed any part of me that was a submissive victim in uncontrollable situations. I’m excited to move forward in this next year—after this election, especially—with a fierce attitude. To quote Latrice, to ‘Get up, look sickening, and make them eat it.’”
Both queens have already overcome tremendous turmoil in their decades around the sun.
Royale was arrested in Fort Lauderdale in 2001 on a drug offense, and after missing a mandatory probation meeting five years later was sentenced to 18 months in prison—a low point she opened up about on “Drag Race” and later, in her 2015 documentary, Gays in Prison.
“I was a fighter and loved myself enough to know I was worthy of greatness,” she says. “And I wanted people to know that your mistakes don’t have to dictate your future.”
In her “Drag Race” season and recent documentary, Lady Like, Camden reflected on the impact that her brother’s suicide had on her and her family. Amid all the grief and familial collapse, she found a much-needed oasis at London’s iconic Electric Ballroom, which her father managed.
As he worked in its back office, the Camden High Street club that over decades had hosted Paul McCartney, Frank Zappa, Echo & the Bunnymen, Talking Heads, B-52s, The Jesus and Mary Chain, and Oasis by night became an early practice space for the future drag performer during the day.
With the lights on and Top 40 music pumped in over the loudspeakers, Camden danced, sang, and escaped her troubles.
“I remember being a child, being playful, being as gay as I wanted to, and pretending to be a pop diva,” she says. “And it was like a little tiny sliver of space and time that was sparkly and fun. I try to cherish the happy little sparkly moments and move forward with them while creating my fun queer life in San Francisco.”
Camden, who’s lived in SF for almost a decade (other than a brief stint in Sacramento during the pandemic) says one of her biggest crosses to bear has been learning to love herself. This struggle came to a head during her time on “Drag Race,” when she admits to being riddled with self-doubt.
It helps to live in a city like San Francisco where, with the support of the Qmunity, she can truly be herself—warts and all.
“San Francisco has an undeniable LGBTQ+ history that has paved the way for so much more growth and history,” says Camden. “I’ve met so many people here who are survivors of the AIDS epidemic and have incredible stories, resilience, and character. There’s a strength to San Francisco that will never vanish.”
Royale, who’s been a huge proponent of same-sex marriage, and advocated for marriage equality throughout her Toast to Marriage tour, has since turned her activist efforts to protecting drag queens.
She is proud to have had the opportunity to speak out against anti-drag legislation on the steps of the Florida State Capitol at the 2023 Drag Queen March.
“History has proven that we’ve fought this fight before and won,” she says. “We will never go anywhere. We’ve always been here. The generations coming up are ready to fight to keep equality, freedom, and democracy alive. It’s scary but I’m here for the next four years. That’s all I can do. Either way, I’ll keep thriving because I’m a survivor, baby.”
“We all hope there’s going to be a day when we can live and work peacefully as drag queens,” adds Camden. “But the reality is that drag is courage. These fights are a nice reminder that pride was a protest and that we should continue to fight for our spaces to be safe and be who we are. Drag shouldn’t be vanilla and safe anyway, and this is giving us the next challenge.”
Royale, who previously appeared with Christ in 2013’s Legendary: A Celebration of ‘Paris Is Burning’ and 2016’s off-Broadway parody show Mister Act, is excited to reunite with San Francisco’s most beloved scare queen at “Holiday Gaiety” to sing three numbers.
Camden, working with Christ for the first time, will perform two ballet pieces inspired by The Nutcracker. Before that, she’ll be reviving her Naughty Nutcracker show at Oasis. A hectic season full of holigay events always thrills her.
“A lot of queer people harden up around the holidays,” she says. “It’s easy for many friends to say, ‘I hate the holidays. F Christmas.’ That comes from not wanting to look at the [trauma]. But it’s nice when someone messages, ‘Hey, babe, you’re welcome over to my house for Christmas drinks if you don’t have anything to do.’ When I get that text from a random friend, it’s the nicest thing ever.”
HOLIDAY GAIETY Fri/13. Davies Symphony Hall, SF. $39-$199. Tickets and more info here.
