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Queen of the North Brooke Lynn Hytes is Bringing Holiday Cheer to Miami Beach

December 27, 2023

The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater

Tickets

By Denny Patterson

Deck the halls with boughs of glitter, because it looks like some of our favorite queens from RuPaul’s Drag Race are sashaying their way back to South Florida this holiday season!

Presented by Murray & Peter for the ninth consecutive year, A Drag Queen Christmas will play at the Fillmore Miami Beach at the Jackie Gleason Theater on Wednesday, December 27, 2023. Hosted by Miz Cracker and featuring winners, all stars, and fan favorites from the Emmy Award-winning show, this annual production will include outrageous performances and lip sync extravaganzas that will surely brighten your Christmas spirit. 

A Drag Queen Christmas kicked off November 14 in Detroit Michigan, and OutClique had the opportunity to talk more about it with Brooke Lynn Hytes, who is celebrating her third year with the tour. As the first queen from Canada to compete on Drag Race U.S., Hytes impressed us all during Season 11 with her polish, professionalism, and jaw dropping dance abilities. Although she didn’t win the crown, she arguably won something even better. Starting in 2020, Hytes landed the gig of hosting Canada’s Drag Race, following RuPaul’s footsteps.  

Denny Patterson: Hi, Brooke Lynn! How excited are you to be a part of this year’s Drag Queen Christmas?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: I am so excited to pay my rent for the third year in a row (laughs). It’s always a big joke on the tour because I am not a festive person, and that’s not just for Christmas. I don’t really get excited for holidays, but I always seem to be put on the Christmas tour, which I feel very lucky and blessed to do because it is honestly my favorite tour to do. I love the crew and the queens I get to work with. A lot of us have done it for a couple years now, so many of us have formed this little tour family, and it’s always fun to be on the road with everybody. It’s my favorite way to travel. A lot of people don’t like traveling by tour bus, but I love it because it’s just so easy. You get on, you get off, you go to sleep, you wake up in a new city, and for some reason, I always sleep very well on the bus. So, I’m very excited to do this again. It’s so much fun. 

Denny Patterson: Can you give us a hint as to what we can expect from your set this year?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: Well, I have to tell you, I’m very upset this year because for once in my life, I came up with a brilliant Christmas number. I was so excited, and I emailed Murray and Peter being like, I’m going to do this number. They responded, somebody has already claimed that number. Like, are you kidding me? So, I immediately called Crystal Methyd and told her I hated her. But I did come up with another idea, but it’s always a bit of a challenge because Christmas music is very limited. So, to try and do something original that’s in the Christmas spirit every year is very, very hard. They usually let us do one Christmas number, and then the other doesn’t really have to be Christmassy, but this year, I’m doing two that have something to do with the season. 

Denny Patterson: This tour also includes some girls from Season 15. Have you had a chance to connect with that cast much?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: Sasha Colby and I are old sisters, so we’ve been friends for almost 10 years now, and I’m very excited to do this tour with her. We don’t get to see each other a lot, especially this last year since she’s been crazy busy. Then there’s Marcia Marcia Marcia, who I don’t believe I’ve ever met or talked to, but she seems lovely, and I’ve worked a couple times with Luxx Noir London, who is also very nice. I’m looking forward to getting to know them better. 

Denny Patterson: Although you say you’re not a very festive person, what is a specific holiday memory that you hold close to your heart?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: It’s not like I had traumatizing Christmases, let me clarify that! With how I talk about it, it may seem that way, but we always had great holidays, except for the times I didn’t get what I wanted and was being a brat about it (laughs). My mom would always do the Christmas baking, and she would always decorate the house. She was very funny about Christmas decorations because they would always have to be hers. Like, we’d come home with handmade ornaments, and she’d put up a little tree in the basement for them to hang on, where no one else could see them. Then all her nice stuff would be upstairs. But honestly, I loved family Christmases. I guess now with us being grown up, having our own families, and living far apart, we don’t get together on Christmas anymore because it’s just too much. I definitely do miss that. If we could have that kind of family Christmas again, it would be wonderful.

Denny Patterson: There are many LGBTQ+ people who struggle during this time of year. What advice or words of comfort can you offer them?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: You’re right. This time of year is very hard for a lot of people, and I think that’s why chosen family comes in as such an important thing. This is a time of year we truly realize how important it is. Many people are displaced from their real families, so I would just love to say to anybody who is feeling this way, know that you’re not alone. Then to anybody who possibly knows somebody who is feeling this way, reach out and make an effort. Be like, hey, do you have somewhere to go for Christmas? You are always welcome at our place. 

Denny Patterson: This year has not been the greatest in regards to LGBTQ and drag rights. Have you faced any major challenges or hurdles?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: Besides everything that’s going on and stresses of the world, I haven’t personally faced any super crazy hardships myself. That’s a great thing, but it also reminds me very much of my privilege of the world. That is not the same for many others, so I think it’s a reminder of why it’s so important to make your voice heard. This is my first year as a U.S. citizen, so I’ll be able to vote in an election, and I keep reminding myself and trying to remind other people the importance of making your voice heard and voting people into power, who are going to protect basic human rights. It’s mind boggling to me, with everything else going on in the world, like with the economy and health care, this is the issue that people are choosing to focus on. There’s so many other things to fix that could genuinely help people.

Denny Patterson: For those who don’t know, how did Brooke Lynn Hytes come to be? How did you discover your love and passion for drag?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: I think my passion for drag has always been there, even before I knew what drag or a drag queen was. It’s a tale as old as time – a little boy wearing his mother’s clothes and playing with dolls, and I was just infatuated with all that stuff. Then when I was 18 or 19, I went to school in the gay village neighborhood of Toronto, and that’s kind of the first time I was made aware of what an actual drag queen was. As soon as I was old enough to go to bars and stuff, I started experimenting with it, and the rest is history. 

Denny Patterson: How would you say you are constantly evolving as an artist and performer?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: One of my favorite things about this art form is that you never stop learning and growing. There’s always a new makeup trick or style, and there’s always ways to improve yourself, which I think is very, very fun and exciting. So, I just keep trying new things. That’s kind of how I got to where I am now. My drag career has really been all trial and error and figuring things out as I go along, and it’s so much fun to look back and cringe at yourself. Looking at yourself from a year ago, you could be like, I was hideous! I thought I was the most beautiful, and you couldn’t tell me anything! Then the next year, you look at yourself again, and you could either be like, that’s terrible, or I should try that again. It’s all experimentation and trial and error, and being inspired by your drag sisters and the world to try something and kind of make it your own. Fashion and pop culture is what drives and inspires us, but at the same time, we are what inspires fashion and pop culture. It’s a mutual exchange, a lot of times. 

Denny Patterson: If offered to compete again on RuPaul’s Drag Race, would you?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: If it’s the right circumstances, absolutely. One thing I have learned in life is that you should never say never or pass up an opportunity. So, if it’s the right time and the right place, and it just kind of makes sense, then I would absolutely go back to compete. 

Denny Patterson: I was very excited to see that Canada’s Drag Race is back for a fourth season. Are you surprised at all by how much the show has caught on outside of Canada as well?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: Yes and no. When we premiered in 2020, it was a crappy time in the world, but it was a great time to be on TV. Nothing was being made, so there wasn’t a lot of content out there. Everyone was stuck at home, so everyone watched that first season of Canada’s Drag Race, and boy oh boy, people had opinions! But it was a blessing and a curse because it really put us on the map. Thailand was the first franchise without Ru, but it had been a while since they aired new episodes, so we were like the first fresh franchise doing it again without Ru. It was very much all eyes on us, and that first season made great television. It was also a huge learning curve for everyone involved because everyone who worked on that show never worked on that show before. It was basically like Season 1 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. We didn’t really know what we were doing. 

Denny Patterson: At least you didn’t have the blurry filter!

Brooke Lynn Hytes: Are you kidding me? I would have loved that blurry filter! I looked rough that season, so I would take that filter any day. We hadn’t figured out lighting or hair and makeup; like I said, it was very much trial and error. Again, it’s one of those things where you can look back and have a good laugh at yourself. A sense of humor, especially in this business, is the most important thing. 

Denny Patterson: That is a must to survive in this business. 

Brooke Lynn Hytes: I know! My biggest advice is to always take the work seriously, but never take yourself seriously. 

Denny Patterson: What are some future goals you hope to accomplish with your career and platform?

Brooke Lynn Hytes: I’m still trying to put together a one-woman show. That’s something I would love to do, but again, it’s about timing and coming up with the idea. I’m very blessed because I’m very busy, but at the same time, being very busy means I don’t have a lot of time to kind of work on other things. So, when the timing is right, that’s something I would love to do. I’d also love to write a book and do some modeling. Not so much print modeling, but runway modeling. It’s one of my favorite things. Then I’d also love to develop and produce more TV shows. Honestly, my goal is to always keep working in whatever form that looks like. 

Stay up-to-date and connect with Hytes by following her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. Visit MiamiBeaches.com for more information and to purchase tickets for A Drag Queen Christmas.