The Auckland Pride Gala

Always memorable, always glamorous, the annual Auckland Pride Gala has become a must-see dress-up occasion! A fiercely diverse variety showcase that previews the talent in the Auckland Pride Festival programme, along with a star-studded roll call of guest appearances from rainbow community heroes and icons…

Kia ora! It’s the Dream Team! In keeping with this year’s Rainbow Warrior kaupapa, the 2018 Auckland Pride Gala will be hosted by MP Louisa Wall, Aotearoa New Zealand’s marriage equality champion, and MP Tamati Coffey, respected Māori personality and the voice of a new generation.

Featuring a superlative selection of entertainment from the artists whose full-length works feature throughout the two-week Festival, the 2018 Auckland Pride Gala returns to the glittering environs of Q Theatre on Queen Street.

The variety extravaganza includes high-voltage displays of vivacious cirque and burlesque from the Red Room Cabaret, starring Miss La Vida and internationally-awarded boylesque champion Chris Oh!, Constance Maraj and Madame Flutterby, while breathtaking Brazilian acrobat Luis Meirelles will defy gravity on the lyra aerial hoop!

Fine Fatale’s vogue-fierce dance-theatre, internationally acclaimed poet Courtney Sina Meredith (Same Same But Different Writers Festival), wry comedian Neil Thornton (Bear New Zealand Week), and a sexy, genre-bending performance from Night Of The Queer featuring Bryony Skillington and James Luck (Pleasuredome The Musical), will join Auckland’s greatest drag divas on the Q main-stage in this proud pantheon of stars.

Prick up your ears to superb musical performances from New Zealand Opera, modern-day crooner Paul Ross, Ellie Lim and Jodi Pringle of The LnP Project, and the velvet vocals of Brady Peeti accompanied by Auckland’s rainbow community choir GALS.

The Auckland Pride Gala also offers sneak peeks of the Festival’s most thought-provoking new theatre works, with excerpts from Sam Brooks’ Twenty Eight Millimetres, the freshest talent from Legacy Project 5, and Thomas Sainsbury’s outrageous Gays In Space.

The Auckland Pride Gala 2018 is directed by Jason Te Mete, whose on- and off-stage credits include Auckland Theatre Company, Opera Factory and The Court Theatre, as well as touring with Okareka Dance Company’s acclaimed K’ Rd Strip.

Show up, show off, come together and feel the love at The Auckland Pride Gala 2018! Meet your heroes! Walk with warriors! Feel the rainbow!

“Talent-rich celebration of difference and struggle.” – Theatreview