Wollongong Spiegeltent to host Carlotta the inspiration for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

She hasn't been in Wollongong for years, possibly when touring shows liker Carlotta's Boys or Les Girls, but the cabaret star said her one-woman show will bring be a lot of laughs inside the Spiegeltent this month.

Carlotta: Queen of the Cross is an outrageously funny and brutally honest life review of the inspiration for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and it will be in town for one night only on April 27.

"A lot of people say [I'm a pioneer for the LGBTQI community], but darling, I don't like labels," she told the Mercury.

"I had to do what I had to do, but I did a lot tougher than anyone else I think.

"I came up in a period where it wasn't easy - it's a lot easier today. The acceptance is better today."

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Carlotta began her showbiz career as an original member of the long-running Les Girls cabaret show in Sydney's Kings Cross (which started in 1963), performed entirely by bedazzling drag queens.

Carlotta was born Richard Byron before undergoing gender-reassignment surgery in 1972. Though not the first type of surgery, it was the first to receive much publicity in Australia.

Since then, Carlotta's life has been a whirl of feathers and sequins with regular appearances on television and stage performances all over the country.

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Her proudest achievement was her television career, especially on such shows as Beauty and the Beast with Stan Zemanek and Studio 10, because she was "accepted.

"You're here for a short time not a long time, be proud of yourself," Carlotta said of inspiring others.

"People who are against you, or anything like that, tell them to get off the planet - they have boring lives."

As a performer in her mid-70s the star believes her life's greatest achievement is "still working, and still having a great life".

Though late night shows do get tiresome sometimes, she believes there's a lot more of Carlotta for the world to see. A new show is already booked to kick off at Sydney's Hayes Theatre in October.

"l thought it could be my swan song show because I'm not getting any bloody younger," she laughed.

Carlotta: Queen of the Cross, Wollongong Spiegeltent, April 27 - tickets from www.spiegeltentwollongong.com