Page 32 - 01-Jan-Feb-2025

ARTS
“I may
never wear
another
dress as
long as I
live, but I’ll always be
a queen.”
Darrin Hagen has given up his heels, but he’ll never give up the fight
Y
ou can say many
things about Darrin
Hagen and his long
career in the arts —
and over the years, many people have.
But one thing you can’t honestly say is
that he lacks confidence in who he is.
As fans and friends know well, Hagen is
one of the most self-assured people you’ll
meet — even for a drag queen.
But growing up in Rocky Mountain
House, it took some time for him to see
who he was reflected back to him.
“My mom’s wish book when I was
in Grade 1 — it says I wanted to be a
minister, but I think it was because they
were up in front of everybody wearing a
dress,” he laughs.
Like the priests he watched from the
pews, Hagen’s worn dresses on stages
for a while — often at Edmonton Fringe
Festival performances through Guys in
Disguise, the company he started with
husband Kevin Hendricks in 1987 (the
couple recently celebrated their 40th
anniversary). And he donned a dress
to play Fiona in Microwave Coven
(co-written and performed with Trevor
Schmidt) at last year’s Fringe. But Hagen
— who originally wanted to be a composer,
not a drag queen — says that could have
been his last performance in drag.
“I’ve been trying to leave drag be-
hind for decades,” he says. “I remember
10 years ago going, I’m not gonna be a
50-year-old drag queen at the Fringe. Well,
I was 60 this year…and I was on stage
in drag at the Fringe.” But 40 years after
moving to Edmonton as an 18-year-old,
and after decades of inhabiting his drag
persona, Gloria Hole, Hagen says “I may
never wear another dress as long as I
live, but I’ll always be a queen. Gloria is
no longer running the show, but she still
gives me advice.”
While he’s hung up his dress and given
his “ruined” feet a break from heels (for
now), Hagen says his Queer experience
is still the basis of all his storytelling.
“I could tell stories about Flashback
[Edmonton’s first gay bar, where Gloria
Hole reigned supreme] until everyone else
around me is dead from boredom, and I
would still have lots of material.”
Today, Hagen’s pared his professional
work all the way down to simply being a
prolific playwright/author, musician/
32 EDify. JANUARY • FEBRUARY.25