Queen Adrianna

By Thomas Publow

Rob* centres his phone for a Zoom call and smiles. He is not looking into the phone’s camera, but rather eyeing his reflection in a vanity mirror that is illuminating his face and bare torso in bright, fluorescent light. He sits in a room filled with makeup, a rack of extravagant outfits, mannequin heads decorated in wigs of different styles and colours, and two empty cans of Diet Coke. Snapping on a beige wig cap and applying double-sided tape to help keep a blond wig secured for a performance later that day, Rob begins the process of undergoing an aesthetic transformation from which will emerge Adrianna Exposée.

At 22, Exposée is one of Ottawa’s premier drag performers. Drag offers a route of liberation, a persona for her to enter and leave as she pleases. Rob’s days are taken up by studies and part-time work in the government, but Exposée’s nights allow for an avenue of escape. Her career offers a glimpse at what success through passion can render.

A drag career is not something an outsider would expect from someone who grew up in Exposée’s household. She was raised in Oakville by parents who immigrated from the former Soviet Union regime, a place not known for its lively queer scene. Nonetheless, her sexuality shone through. “There’s only one choice,” says Exposée’s loving and supportive mother Julia. “Either you lose your child, or you accept them as is.”

Exposée’s vibrant personality lends itself well to drag. She recalls buying her first wig early on in high school.  “Super ugly,” brunette and straight-cut, it was intended to be nothing more than the final touch of a Halloween costume. That synthetic wig, too cheap to style, introduced her to the fun of experimenting with gender and identity, igniting a love for an art form she wasn’t previously aware she would enjoy. She recalls putting it on and lip-synching to Britney Spears, who became a staple of Exposée’s at-home audience-free performances.

She left Oakville wanting to do more than simply study translation at the University of Ottawa. Equipped with minimal performing experience and a need for some makeup refinement, Exposée set off, wanting to pursue drag professionally in Ottawa. 

She strutted onto the city’s drag scene and by early 2018 had secured monthly gigs. As the year passed, she gradually increased her number of shows, performing weekly in bars like the Mercury Lounge and the Lookout Bar in Ottawa’s ByWard Market.

Exposée remembers 2019 as the year where she officially cemented her status in the city. By August, with Capital Pride celebrations afoot, she performed upward of four times a week. Capital Pride 2019 served as an eye-opening week for the queer community in Ottawa — and a career-affirming one for Exposée. 

She kicks it off with a drag queen storytelling gathering. Sitting in a white-walled room, lit by harsh fluorescents, she reads stories to a crowd of families. She asks whether they have any questions and a man raises his hand, asking bluntly, “What are you going to do when you have to answer for your sins?” Taken aback, Exposée recalls laughing out of pure shock.

Five days later, Exposée participates in the Miss Capital Pride pageant for the second time. She is met with a standing ovation as she walks on stage. 

Derek Hille, a photographer who collaborates frequently with Exposée, says her heroic actions at the storytelling event were mentioned. “It reinforced how amazing Adrianna is. We were all so proud of her at that moment.”

When it comes time to crown the winner, “It felt like Adrianna was the only winner. It felt right to have her crowned. She stood up for herself and the community,” recalls Hille. Exposée’s name is read and the crown is placed atop her wig.  “A lot of people in the community were touched by that story. It didn’t solve what happened, but it definitely needed to happen,” she says. “To have won, that year, was a cathartic moment.”

• 

• 

•