The Pansy Cabaret

The Pansy Cabaret is absolutely unforgettable. I saw it twice because once just did not feel like enough, and each time I was blown away by how important and moving this show is. Lilith Fair brings queer vaudeville history back to life with brilliance, balancing comedy, sorrow, hope, and joy in a way that feels effortless and deeply human.

The intimate space made the connection between Lilith and the audience even more powerful. You could feel the history, humour, and heart resonate through the room. It is both a celebration and a remembrance, and it reminded me how vital it is to keep these queer stories alive while creating new ones.

This show is more than a performance, it is a gift.

As a gay reviewer, I am perhaps a little biased toward drag entertainment. Supporting Queer art in Alberta in 2025 is important to me, and sitting in a full house at the Grindstone listening to century-old pansy tunes really filled my community cup.

The venue is hot, though – perhaps the hottest of the festival. I was sweating next to other sweaty people, and our queen – the incomparable Lilith Fair - was melting and dripping before our very eyes. She made a real meal of it though, as she sucked the salty nectar from her upper lip with comic enthusiasm. Lilith really brings the bits. (wink wink)

As much as I loved the show’s musical content (shout out to the fabulous Daniel Belland on keys!), I found the sound levels to be excruciatingly loud. Lilith has the energy of a firehose, so perhaps she didn’t always need to be amplified (though I know the cabaret art form begs for a microphone). I wonder if the venue technicians ought to ride the fader a little harder in such a wee little venue. There was also a rapid sequence of vaudevillian punchlines with snare drum/splash cymbal stings, so my nervous system took those hits quite harshly and I had the impulse to leave the room.

That said, I think Queer resistance is more important than my personal comfort, so I still say: dress lightly, bring some earplugs, and soak up some gay at The Pansy Cabaret.

“The Pansy Cabaret” by the ultra-talented Lilith Fair. I’ve seen the show a few years back when it was performed in a much bigger stage. This year, it’s at a very intimate space at the Grindstone Theatre, and it made it n-times more impactful. Part of “The Lavender Song” describes it best “PROUD and UNAFRAID”. It’s a great reminder of how the queer community had their voice during the Pansy Craze, and how that voice was taken away at the end of prohibition, and how with the current state of the world, that voice is in peril again. Highly entertaining and yet thought-provoking, this is a show that I would love seeing again and again.

The Pansy Cabaret - A Revolutionary Act of Queer Joy By Augustus Williams

Canadian drag superstar Lilith Fair takes the stage in The Pansy Cabaret again this year - but to anyone who’s seen it before, don’t think it’s the same show. Lilith is an incredible performer; full to the brim with stage presence and armed with an incredible voice, she knows how to command a theatre. Accompanied by the incredible Daniel Belland on keys and occasionally on mic, the two have created a fabulous cabaret alongside writer and director Darrin Hagen. The show explores the rich history of the LGBTQ community’s relationship with the entertainment industry during the prohibition era, roughly a century ago. Broadway and vaudeville were once deeply populated with queer performers, but that time came to an abrupt end with the start of the second world war and the rise of fascism. However, as Lilith says during the performance, this piece which once felt like a celebration of the lives of those who paved the way to the vibrant world we live in, now feels instead like a cruel reflection of just how much our present is mirroring that time, almost one hundred years ago. Lilith Fair’s show-stopping performance is beautiful, sexual, powerful, and heartbreaking. If you are in Edmonton and you are part of the queer community, or even more if you’re a straight ally, I urge you to see this show and to remember - the performance Lilith gives, and any other show involving LGBTQ artists, is not just a performance; it's an act of revolution.