Everyone knows Patti Boo Rae is a shoo-in for the coveted Candy Cane Crown. That’s why, this year, she’s competing unopposed – or so she thinks.

Following an acclaimed run at Newcastle’s Alphabetti Theatre in 2024, Little Miss Christmas (LMX) is jingling all the way to Southern Playhouse Borough this December. The production is created and performed by rising cabaret star Patti Boo Rae (BOOTCUT, ChattiPatti), featuring a different guest performer each night from across London’s drag, cabaret, panto, and comedy scenes.

Audiences will be swept up in a madcap beauty pageant that puts Christmassy twist on all the classic categories: Interview, Swimsuit, Evening Wear, Talent, and of course, Coronation. Patti’s pulling out all the stops to defend her title–we’re talking live vocals, lip syncs, singalongs, quick changes, synchronized swimming! And if all else fails, she might just have to fight dirty …

Behind the glitter and humour is a show with real warmth and a sharp eye on identity, performativity, and the festive season’s pressure to present perfection. Written by Coggin Galbreath (BOOTCUT, BIG MILK), the production is a campy, heartfelt, multimedia drag spectacular with references ranging from Mean Girls and RuPaul’s Drag Race to Christine Baranski’s careerdefining performance in the 2000 live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

We sat down with performer Patti Boo Rae and writer Coggin Galbreath to discuss power, regional queer art, and surviving the holidays with your sequins intact.

Little Miss Christmas skewers pageantry, perfection, and festive pressure—how does that resonate with queer audiences who are often expected to “perform” joy, especially at Christmas?

Christmas is always a little bittersweet, and this year will be especially hard for a lot of people. I don’t think we should feel like we’re doing it wrong if we’re not holly jolly and jingling all the way; people have all kinds of relationships to the holidays, especially queer people, and it’s important to acknowledge that. I hope people come away from the show feeling a little bit warmer and lighter, remembering that Christmas can take whatever shape they need it to. And most importantly, I hope they take away some new memories of a festive night out with the people they love. 

Patti Boo Rae is defending her crown unopposed… or so she thinks. Without spoilers, what can you tell us about power, ego, and rivalry in this year’s pageant?

Patti Boo Rae is a winner. She wants to win this pageant, and she wants to win Christmas. Beauty pageants and the holidays have a lot in common, you know. We all just want to impress the judges – whether that’s an actual judge or your mother-in-law. LMX is all about taking the competitive side of Christmas and dialing it up to the extreme. I think we all know that people can behave very badly during the holidays—and that’s fun to watch when it’s onstage instead of at the dinner table. 

The show blends drag, cabaret, panto, and comedy. How did you decide which queer performance traditions to celebrate—and which ones to lovingly send up?

To me, a send-up is a kind of celebration! Drag is brilliant at honoring something by taking the piss. For example, I love panto. As an American, it’s one of my favorite pieces of British culture, right up there with fish in pie and booze in everything. But panto is often aimed at kids and their parents, and I wanted something for those of us who are neither kids nor parents. Everyone deserves some good old fashioned crossdressing and audience interaction at Christmas–it’s tradition! ‘Little Miss Christmas’ will give you that panto fix, but with more of a drag-show sensibility. 

And of course, if you do happen to be a parent, the show is for you too–just maybe leave the kids at home. 

There’s a different guest performer every night from London’s drag and cabaret scene. How does that nightly change keep the show alive, and what does it say about queer community and collaboration?

I think a dash of chaos is vital to queer performance. That’s where the guest artists come in. They have no idea what’s going on, I have no idea what they’re going to do—it’s thrilling. Even though we have 30 performances, you still get that magical feeling every time that you’re seeing something that will only happen once. It really is a feat of collaboration between me, the guest, the technician, and the audience, and it’s so satisfying to get to the end and think, wow. We made that. 

From RuPaul’s Drag Race to Christine Baranski’s Grinch-era greatness, the references are deliciously specific. How important was it to ground the show in shared queer pop culture?

Very. Drag is inherently referential to me. So is panto—and even though this isn’t a panto, I wanted to honor that. Different audiences get different references, and it’s fun for me to take the temperature of the room every night. It’s like, “Oh, these people know their Mean Girls,” or “This crowd knows Anita Bryant.” It’s a huge range of references, so there’s definitely something for everyone.

Beneath the glitter and chaos, the show explores identity and performativity. Was there a personal moment—or breaking point—that inspired the emotional core of Little Miss Christmas?

When I was making the show last year, it completely took over my festive period. I was overwhelmed, exhausted, up to my eyeballs in glitter—and on top of that, I didn’t really know what the show was, aside from a camp variety night. Eventually I hit a breaking point where I was like, why am I even doing this? Shouldn’t it be fun? And I realized that’s the show. Patti is so obsessed with the pageant and “making Christmas happen” that she’s completely lost sight of why she got involved in the first place. 

Coggin, you’ve spoken about queer work made in regional venues having the potential to grow. What does bringing this show to London mean politically and artistically right now?

The regions can be isolated—not least because travel is getting so expensive—and frankly, London audiences are missing out. I had big heels to fill in the North East. Obviously I’m not from there (I’m originally from Texas), so I felt a lot of pressure to meet the high bar set by artists who have been working up there for a long time. I think that prepared me to bring the show down south, and I hope I do them proud. 

In the bigger picture, Texas passed a drag ban last month that was previously ruled unconstitutional. It makes me so angry. Texas drag is top tier. Whenever I perform, I want to represent a different, freer, more accepting side of my home state than most people in the UK (and plenty of people in Texas) will ever get to experience. 

Patti, you’re serving live vocals, lip syncs, quick changes, and even synchronized swimming. Which part of the show nearly broke you—and which part makes you feel the most powerful?

The swimming sequence is murder on my calves. They’d better be toned as hell come January, because they have suffered. I feel the most powerful and in control when I’m singing—that’s my comfort zone. There’s one lipsync which I find really difficult. A good lipsync is such a skill, and it’s something I’m still getting better at. 

Christmas theatre is often very traditional. What does Little Miss Christmas offer queer audiences who might feel alienated by mainstream festive culture?

‘Little Miss Christmas’ is, first and foremost, a great night out. Come with your friends, or come by yourself and I will personally set you up with a new friend before you leave. It’s a party, really – and like all the best parties, it can get a little messy. Some of my work is very political, but with this show, I just wanted to make somewhere safe and campy and escapist for everyone who comes. Call it a Christmas present. 

Finally, if Patti Boo Rae really is the “indisputable Queen of Christmas,” what’s her message to the rest of us queers just trying to survive the holidays with our sanity—and sequins—intact?

Take care of yourself! It’s cold, you’re stressed, your immune system is suppressed. Make sure you’re resting and eating well. Also, liberate yourself from traditions and expectations that aren’t serving you. I maintain that there’s no reason to hate the holidays, because you can make them whatever you want them to be. Don’t let the cishets have Christmas. Do it your way. You have as much a right to it as anybody else.