EDGE San Francisco

The great Countess Katya Ludmilla Smirnoff-Skyy, reigning diva of the opera world, is the classiest drag queen in the Bay Area.

And she knows it too. Between poperatic deliveries, she likes to enlighten the audience about her wealthy past, her endless talent and her bitter departure from the former Soviet Union.

Her new life in "the America" is the subject she likes best. Apparently she arrived with little more than "a title, a voice, and a fabulous collection of imperial jewels."

And now the poor thing works at Macy’s. But she doesn’t mind at all. She at least works at the make-up department where she can "beautify the world."

Plus at night she gets to amaze audiences with her show, Katya Smirnoff-Skyy A Holiday Spectacular, at drag bars, opera halls, and theaters. In this case, The New Conservatory, home of the Pride Season, an eleven month performance program geared toward the LGBT community.

The Countess might be getting a little old, but you can’t really tell. She has had several plastic surgeries. And her voice, well, it’s just as good as when she got personal compliments from Ella Fitzgerald or when she performed for President Reagan at The White House.

In fact, age has probably worked to her advantage.

One thought such gravitas a thing of the past. Some drag queens thrive in disregard and sloppiness. That’s great for them. Not for The Countess. Her spotless glowing dresses evoke an old Hollywood glamour--or, in her case, old Moscow.

Not that she lacks a sense of humor. One of the best aspects of Katya’s holiday show is how she moves at will and with a seasoned performer’s confidence between seriousness and fun. More than once she leaves you shocked, claiming out loud: "Katya can really hit those notes!"

Then she carefully builds up a song as the next best-thing since Maria Callas doing Wagner at La Fenice, only to let it founder like an amateur. She likes to tease; Chaplinesque clumsiness and a hundred bronken Christmas bells included.

Katya’s handling of the audience and its reactions sets her show apart from what’s out there right now. This isn’t just somebody singing Christmas songs and telling a funny story, but someone skillfully playing with comedic timing while delivering, in a thick Russian accent, idiosyncratic but highly polished versions of pop and holiday songs.

Some claim she is a creation of countertenor J. Conrad Frank who received vocal training at the University of Oregon. It would make sense as the show has surely been crafted by expert hands. That said, Countess Katya Ludmilla Smirnoff-Skyy’s fans like to believe she’s a gift from the Kremlin to Uncle Sam to ameliorate past injuries. They even give her credit for a treaty that will reduce both nation’s nuclear arsenals in the near future. Katya, humble as she is, has not downplayed her bilateral influence.

Katya Smirnoff-Skyy A Holiday Spectacular continues through Jan. 2 at The New Conservatory. For more information visit the theater’s website