Sky opens on being queer in Alberta

Darrin Hagen is an award-winning freelance Edmonton playwright, composer, author, performer and drag artiste. Hagen is pairing up with Edmonton Vocal Minority to present an empowering look at what it’s like to be queer in Alberta. And the result may surprise a few people.

Our Corner of the Sky pulls together cowgirls, divas, line dancing, politics and music into a mixed bag featured in a June Pride concert on Friday, June 18 at the Royal Alberta Museum.

The 90-minute show is divided into two parts. The first half gives the 20-member chorus an opportunity to warm up their pipes with everything from the hymn Amazing Grace to the livelier Java Jive popularized by Manhattan Transfer.

“You require a really good ear to fit in the odd chords that come up in Java Jive,” says EVM general manager Kirk Kryvenchuk.

The pumped up chorus also displays their diversity with Come By the Hills, a Celtic number, Sit Down —You’re Rockin’ the Boat from Guys and Dolls and three African tunes including Africa, from the 1982 Toto IV album.

But the concert centrepiece is an original script written by and starring Hagen with the chorus reinforcing the storyline. “It’s about Darrin’s own life growing up in a small town Alberta and being gay, and how many people have to leave small towns to find acceptance.”

First performed in Winnipeg, Darrin’s creation brought out emotion and tears from some audience members that had travelled from British Columbia to see it, Kryvenchuk says.

Throughout the production, numbers such as Rise Up from Parachute Club, Tainted Love by Soft Cell and of course, k.d. lang’s Miss Chatelaine plump up the dialogue. “He even pulls out his accordion for some line dancing with Big Bone Girl, one of k.d.’s early songs.”

While the songs are great nostalgia moments, most of the emotional punch comes from Hagen’s personal experience.

“He’s gone through the whole subculture and come out of it optimistic and strong, which is not always the case. He’s such a professional.”

And balancing fluffy songs are the political struggles to obtain basic human rights. “Darrin has some moving words that touched us all. Alberta may not like us, but this is where our heart is and this is where we belong. Alberta is in our blood. By staying we have made a difference and we can even make more of a difference.”