It’s World Pride 2023 and the queer globe is converging on Sydney Australia to celebrate diversity, inclusion, community and fabulousness!

To mark this momentous event the STAGES podcast is saluting the cast of captivating drag divas and personalities who have been featured on the podcast during the past 5 seasons.

They are artists who have appeared on national and global stages; thrilling audiences, making a difference, healing community and expressing unique and wondrous talents.

We spotlight these episodes so you can savour a second listen - or so you can sample the delights of these entertainers for the very first time.

A Diva a day for each day of World Pride!

Monique Kelly is one of Australia’s greatest drag artists. Equally adept at glamorous, torch-song, and comic turns; she commands the stage with a comprehensive appreciation of stagecraft, savvy and seduction.

Monique first stepped on stage at Gilligans, Bondi Beach in 1972 and has never diverted her desire to please an audience.

In 1973 she took up residence in Kings Cross and was a featured performer at the Carousel Cabaret and an original cast member of the long-running revue Les Girls, touring Australia and New Zealand.

It’s at this time that Monique Kelly created the Golden Girls and staged crowd pleasing shows at the Unicorn Hotel, The Flinders Hotel and the Taxi Club. Her cheeky pantos at the Taxi Club set new levels of production and fabulously outrageous costuming for a cast of three.

Monique Kelly has headlined at almost every gay hotel and club on Sydney’s golden mile. Iconic venues from a time passed, all of which offered a joyous celebration of the art of Drag; the Unicorn, Patches, Capriccios, Tropicana, Flo’s Place, Paddington Green Hotel, the Albury and Annie’s Bar.

In the early nineties Monique joined the original cast of the famous ‘Carlotta and her Beautiful Boys’ revue as its comedienne. This production show travelled for several years to every major town and city across the entire country playing to packed audiences who would be transported and delighted by the seductive illusions before them.

In 2002 she made a triumphant return to our spotlights starring in her own show at The Venus Room, bringing the kind of original performance, not seen on other stages.

Monique has been involved with, and worked tirelessly fund raising for all of the major charities related to HIV/AIDS for many years, especially the Luncheon Club. She has appeared in and compered the Luncheon Club’s World AIDS Day picnic in the park, as well as the Carols in the Park at Christmas time.

In 2002 she was inducted into the DIVA Hall of Fame - an acknowledgement of her generosity, skill and fabulousness as a performer, and Sydney icon.

The STAGES podcast is available from Apple podcasts, Spotify and from where you find your favourite podcasts. Tune in daily for a history of drag in Sydney. Tell your friends, share the podcast, relish the stories and embrace your own sense of Pride.