Ambush Magazine and the Krewe of Queenateenas is proud to announce Felicia Phillips as King Cake Queen XXVI, the Ruby Queen, to reign over the 2020 Carnival Season.
Originally from Beaumont, Texas, Phillips majored in theater and then turned to the art of female impersonation at an early age. Her early titles include Miss Gay Golden Triangle and Miss Gay Beaumont. She was the longest-running show director in southeast Texas, booking entertainers from all over the country and overseeing the casts of four clubs over a span of nearly three decades.
Phillips thought she was leaving drag behind when she relocated to New Orleans, but drag followed her. After reemerging on the drag scene in New Orleans, Phillips was named SDGM XLII (2016), as well as 12th night Grand Reveler IV for the Krewe de la Rue Royale Revelers in 2018. Dubbed “The Cheese Queen” by Ambush founder Rip Naquin, Phillips wrote a column in the magazine entitled “The Real Cheese.” In February, Phillips took over as the third emcee of the Corner Pocket’s legendary “New Meat Contest” (the first two emcees were Ms. Fly and Lisa Beaumann), as well as the bar’s Sunday Zingo.
2020 will mark Felicia Phillips 40th anniversary as an entertainer—a milestone whose gemstone is Ruby; hence, Phillips will be known as the Ruby Queen. Phillips SDGM color was Ruby as well.
When asked for her reaction to being named King Cake Queen, Phillips remarked, “My intentions when relocating to New Orleans were to go full-on Greta Garbo. But upon this honor, I admit things didn’t go as planned.”
