Hugo Grrrl is a drag king, a doofus and an award-winning cabaret producer from Aotearoa New Zealand, creating joyful queer theater that’s bound to leave ya with a smile on your face and a bit of glitter in your hair. He co-created the world’s first drag musical for kids, The Glitter Garden, which was a multi-award winning smash.

He won Season 1 of House of Drag (NZ’s Drag Race), making him the first drag king and transgender man globally to ever compete in or win a drag reality show. By day, he works as a gender diversity educator, working passionately to increase rainbow literacy and acceptance in Aotearoa. Hugo’s Rainbow Show at Melbourne Fringe is his first solo children’s show.

Image credit: Auckland Live

Archer Magazine: Hello Hugo! Thanks for chatting to us. Tell us a bit about your upcoming Melbourne Fringe show, and how the idea for it came about.

Hugo Grrrl: Hugo’s Rainbow Show is an elevated rainbow reading experience.

It follows a child named Skyler searching for their friend Archie the Rainbow, and finding some wonderful weathery friends along the way. Each character has outrageous costumes, all lovingly designed and produced by myself! My team and I also made an original soundtrack to this magical, musical experience.

I love doing drag storytime and rainbow reading events. I collect queer children’s literature, as I’m really passionate about children’s entertainment that spreads diverse and inclusive messaging.

I also caught The Melbourne Fringe bug last year, so making a tourable solo Fringe show seemed like a great excuse to come back!

AM: Before this show, you co-created the world’s first drag musical for kids, The Glitter Garden. What initially drew you to this idea of blending drag, musical theatre and kid’s entertainment?

HG: Basically, I got strep throat and had a vision of a drag queen bumble bee, and the rest is history!

The Glitter Garden was a full cast production, and was a musical theatre piece about garden characters coming to life. It had a sold-out run in Wellington and won production of the year in 2021 at the Wellington Theatre Awards.

It came about because drag is a perfect medium for children. Eye-catching glamour, humour and campiness are aspects that children are naturally drawn to.

Plus, the cabaret format – shows broken into smaller segments for shorter attention spans – works really well for them.

Nothing about drag needs to be changed for it to be perfect for kids: it’s bright, it’s shiny and it’s engaging.

Image Credit: Polished Metal Photography, Fey Nally Illustration

AM: Drag storytime events are consistently hit with queerphobic and transphobic rhetoric; it seems like every week a new event is under attack by conservatives spouting hatred and misinformation. How has your experience been with your previous shows? Why do you think it’s so important to continue fighting for these events?

HG: Over the past few years, I’ve participated in many drag storytime events. Unfortunately, some libraries have had to cancel scheduled events due to external pressures, but I firmly believe that stepping back is not the answer. Now is the time to embrace and support these inclusive events.

The notion that drag storytime events are anything but positive, wholesome and uplifting is just rooted in fear and misinformation. It’s essential that we confront that narrative.

What I truly love about these events is the incredible role that librarians play. They’re often just organised, community-oriented and a joy to collaborate with.

I’ve done plenty of rainbow readings without any issues, and I hope that these events continue to thrive and become normalised and accepted.

AM: How do you think that drag as an artform can influence narratives around gender diversity and acceptance, especially for younger generations?

HG: Firstly, drag is very obvious; it’s all about wearing your queerness in a very loud way.

Drag increases the permissibility and visibility of gender diversity, by glamourising it and highlighting it as wonderful and special. It’s powerful when young queer and gender diverse people can see themselves represented or emphasised.

My show aims to highlight to kids that being different is awesome. I’m there looking fabulous and weird, hoping that it allows kids to feel like they have permission to be their weird and wonderful selves.

AM: You’re a gender diversity educator by day — how does this cross over into your involvement at drag storytime events?

HG: What my day job has taught me is that a lot of people’s literacy around gender diversity is really low.

I think we’re in a really scary era. The restrictions around how children can express themselves is unprecedently strict at the moment. It hasn’t always been this way.

My work bleeds into my drag, because I care deeply about providing messaging for children saying, “Who you are is cool!”

I try to make my shows as accessible as possible, particularly for neurodiverse young audiences. The shows are often gentle and relaxed, and the messaging around self-acceptance is beneficial for both queer and neurodiverse children.

AM: Since Hugo’s Rainbow Show is all about meteorology, what’s your ultimate forecast for the future of drag?

HG: We’re going to see drag blending with a whole bunch of other artforms.

We’re starting to see this more, as we accept that drag isn’t just lip syncing in a club anymore. It truly can be anything!

I want to see drag interact with every artform, so why not drag in children’s theatre?

Hugo’s Rainbow Show is on 19 & 20 October, 11:00am and 1:00pm at Grouse Melbourne. Tickets $10-20, learn more here.