Gila M\u00fcnster, left, Yan Simon and Sarah Freia bring 8 Gays of Channukah: The Musical to the Chutzpah! Festival Nov. 13. <\/i>(photo by Jamie Marshalls)<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/i>At this year\u2019s Chutzpah! Festival, which runs Nov. 12-23, Jewish drag queen entertainer Gila M\u00fcnster presents the Western Canadian debut of 8 Gays of Channukah: The Musical.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Calling Chutzpah! \u201cone of the city\u2019s most beloved celebrations of music, theatre and culture,\u201d M\u00fcnster wrote in a recent Facebook post: \u201cWhat began in Toronto as the largest annual queer Jewish event in Canada is now coming West, bringing music, comedy and unapologetic queer Jewish joy to the stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd it couldn\u2019t come at a more important time,\u201d she adds. \u201cAs antisemitism and anti-LGBTQ backlash continue to rise across North America, spaces that celebrate and centre our communities are not just entertainment \u2013 they are acts of resilience, visibility and solidarity. This show is about more than laughter: it\u2019s about lighting the menorah together in defiance of hate and letting our joy shine brighter than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
8 Gays of Channukah<\/i> takes place Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., at the Rothstein Theatre. \u201cEight stories are brought to life by the show\u2019s creators, Gila M\u00fcnster, Sarah Freia and Yan Simon, who reimagine holiday traditions with camp, sparkle and pride,\u201d reads the Chutzpah! blurb. Local artist Joylyn Secunda opens the event with an excerpt from their show, The Routine<\/i>, and there is a holiday shuk<\/i> (market) during intermission and after the performances. People can pick up some gifts \u2013 made by local artisans \u2013 for the holidays.<\/p>\n
First performed in December 2019, 8 Gays of Channukah started out as a variety show, said M\u00fcnster. Last year, it evolved into a full-length musical created by M\u00fcnster, Freia and Simon, and directed by Hershel Blatt.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, 8 Gays of Channukah: The Musical<\/i> is a 90-minute theatrical extravaganza with original songs, storytelling and dazzling costumes by queer Jewish designer Dan Dwir of House of Dwir,\u201d said M\u00fcnster. \u201cThe premise is that the three of us \u2013 Yan, Sarah and I \u2013 find ourselves on stage without a plan. We decide to share our experiences as queer Jewish people, but, as tensions rise, our bickering begins to twist the message. Over the course of the show, we learn how to coexist despite our differences and discover how much we truly share.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe stories we tell touch on everything from coming out, to losing a loved one, to first crushes \u2013 and, of course, the joys and challenges of being an intersectional minority.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was from one of those challenges that 8 Gays of Channukah<\/i> came into existence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2019, I was an undergrad at York University, getting ready to perform a drag show for the school\u2019s 2SLGBTQIA+ affinity club,\u201d M\u00fcnster said. \u201cTwo days before the show, I got a voicemail from the club\u2019s coordinator saying the event was canceled and I was banned from the club. The reason? I had mentioned that I was planning to go on Birthright to Israel that summer, and some members said it made them uncomfortable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t given a chance to explain why that reaction was antisemitic, or even to defend myself. It was devastating. I felt erased \u2013 like there was no room for me to be both queer and Jewish.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I didn\u2019t want to give up,\u201d she said. \u201cI reached out to Hillel Ontario and started a campus group called Rainbow Jews, a space where queer Jewish students of all stripes could show up fully as themselves. At our very first meeting, people asked me if I could put together a holiday party for queer Jews. That\u2019s when the idea hit me: 8 Gays of Channukah<\/i>. It started as a scrappy variety show with eight local queer Jewish performers \u2013 and now, seven years later, it\u2019s grown into a tradition I\u2019m so proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over the years, singers, instrumentalists, comedians, dancers, burlesque and visual artists have participated. \u201cSome highlights include legendary performers like 78-year-old drag queen Fontaine and Jamaican-Jewish comic Tamara Shevon, alongside rising stars such as dancing diva Josie and punk rock princess Alissa Brink,\u201d said M\u00fcnster. \u201cIn recent years, the show has found a kind of \u2018core cast.\u2019 Yan Simon \u2013 a Russian-Israeli singer-songwriter now based in Ottawa \u2013 first performed with us in 2019 and has been part of every show since 2023. Sarah Freia \u2013 an actress, singer and poet splitting her time between Toronto and London [England] \u2013 also joined, in 2023, and has been with us ever since. Together, we\u2019ve built on the variety show tradition while adding our own creative chemistry into the mix.\u201d<\/p>\n
With M\u00fcnster in Kingston, Ont., Simon in Ottawa and Freia in Toronto and London, the building of the musical required tenacity \u2013 hours in transit for in-person rehearsals and hours more in digital meetings, including with director Blatt, who traveled back and forth from New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the show is rooted in personal storytelling, we had to really learn how to listen to each other and trust each other\u2019s artistic instincts,\u201d said M\u00fcnster. \u201cWe were also lucky to have amazing rehearsal assistants, Olivia Daniels and Jesse Levy, who helped us shape the movement on stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we premiered the musical in December 2024, it was both thrilling and terrifying. We\u2019d spent a year and $25,000 developing an entirely new format with all original material and we knew our loyal audience was counting on us to deliver. Of course, there were a few inevitable hiccups, but the energy in the theatre was electric. One moment I\u2019ll never forget was after the show, when the non-Jewish partner of a Jewish audience member told us that, for the first time, he truly understood how antisemitism feels. That conversation reminded me that every person in the audience will connect to the show in their own way \u2013 and that\u2019s the real magic of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
M\u00fcnster\u2019s first drag performance was at an event organized by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs for Pride. Called Jew-Paul\u2019s Drag Race<\/i>, it was hosted by drag legend Divine Darlin\u2019, said M\u00fcnster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had spent weeks putting together my outfit, inspired by the Wicked Witch of the West. On the day of, it took me three hours to do my makeup, and then my friend Diana drove me to the Drink, where the show was happening. She practically had to drag me up the stairs \u2013 I was so nervous.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first song I ever performed in drag was Carrie Underwood\u2019s \u2018Blown Away\u2019 \u2013 a nod to The Wizard of Oz<\/i> \u2013 followed by Netta Barzilai\u2019s \u2018Toy,\u2019 which had just won Eurovision 2018. The crowd went wild for that second number, and, in that moment, I realized there might be a space for me to bring my queer, Jewish and Israeli identities together on stage,\u201d said M\u00fcnster, who ended up winning the competition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFrom that night on, I was hooked,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Some JI<\/i> readers will know M\u00fcnster from her having been one of JQT Vancouver\u2019s Hanukkah Hotties in 2022. She\u2019s also on JQT\u2019s Wall of Artists.<\/p>\n \u201cI first connected with JQT\u2019s founder and executive director, Carmel Tanaka, about four years ago,\u201d explained M\u00fcnster. \u201cShe found me online, and we bonded quickly over our intersectional identities.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking back at the Hanukkah Hotties video \u2026 always makes me laugh,\u201d she said, \u201cbecause it takes me right back to the era of \u2018Zoom drag.\u2019 That meant getting into full glam, setting up lights and lip syncing in my living room \u2013 all to a silent, invisible audience on the other side of the screen. It was bizarre, a little lonely, and yet so wonderfully camp at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n Drag isn\u2019t just an art form for M\u00fcnster, but her business.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s helped me pay my way through law school and beyond,\u201d she said. \u201cHaving signature events that only I can deliver \u2013 especially those built around original music that doesn\u2019t exist anywhere else \u2013 sets me apart from entertainers who focus mainly on lip syncing to existing tracks.<\/p>\n \u201cAlongside 8 Gays of Channukah<\/i>, another one of my signature offerings is Drag Queen Story Time<\/i>. I\u2019m proud to be the only drag performer officially approved as a vendor for the Toronto District School Board.\u201d<\/p>\n M\u00fcnster is also adept at cross-stitching, and sells her creations and other artwork on Etsy.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mom first taught me to cross-stitch when I was a kid, but I really picked it back up during the pandemic lockdowns,\u201d she said, adding that \u201cstitching became both a way to connect with people when we couldn\u2019t leave our homes and a way to pass time that actually felt productive.\u201d<\/p>\n M\u00fcnster, Freia and Simon are excited to bring 8 Gays of Channukah: The Musical <\/i>to Vancouver. \u201cMore than anything,\u201d said M\u00fcnster, \u201cwe hope the show helps build bridges between queer, Jewish and allied communities \u2013 especially in this moment of deep polarization.\u201d<\/p>\n