Trevor Ashley (born 27 February 1980) is an Australian musical theatre actor, cabaret and

drag artist A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

based in Sydney. He also has appeared on television in "The Very Trevor Ashley Show"

Early life

Ashley grew up in the south of Sydney and studied at the

Shopfront Shopfront Arts Co-op is a theatre facility, with three rehearsal studios, sound studio and digital film editing suite, located in Carlton, New South Wales, Australia. Also known as Shopfront Theatre For Young People, its stated aim is to pr ...

a contemporary theatre. There he worked with Errol Bray, John Du Feu and playwright Hilary Bell. He appeared in ''Alice'' with

Paul Capsis Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

, and in ''Peter Pan'' with screen actor

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

. He also played Passepartout in their production of '' Around the World in Eighty Days''. Ashley attended

Sydney Technical High School Sydney Technical High School (STHS) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for boys, located in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technic ...

where he studied music and drama, played in the school bands and began writing orchestrations and arrangements. He was then chosen to be part of the

Schools Spectacular The NSW Schools Spectacular is an Australian variety show featuring more than 5,500 students from public schools across New South Wales and was performed annually at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) betwee ...

, and the Talent Development Project under the direction of Mary Lopez. He graduated from high school in 1997.

Career

Cabaret

Ashley made his professional debut in the Sydney Cabaret Convention 1998. His performance impressed both the critics and judges with the Cabaret Hotline calling him "A knockout performer… the clear crowd favourite and the only one to emulate a 'cabaret sensibility'". He then toured his show ''Trevor The Arena Mega Musical'' to New York's Don't Tell Mama and The Talk of London in England. On return to Australia, he created the show ''Pop Princess'' with

Phil Scott Philip Brian Scott (born August 4, 1958) is an American politician, businessman and stock car racer who has served as the 82nd governor of Vermont since 2017. A member of the Republican Party, he was elected governor in the 2016 general electi ...

. He soon became " Mardi Gras Royalty" and followed up this with ''Pop Princess 2'', two years later in 2005. ''

Priscilla Priscilla is an English female given name adopted from Latin ''Prisca'', derived from ''priscus''. One suggestion is that it is intended to bestow long life on the bearer. The name first appears in the New Testament of Christianity variously as ...

'' film director

Stephan Elliott Stephan Elliott (born 27 August 1964) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. His best-known film internationally is ''The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (1994). Career Elliott began his career as an assistant director ...

then chose Ashley to sing the theme song to his 2008 film '' Easy Virtue'', " Let's Misbehave". The film stars Colin Firth,

Jessica Biel Jessica Claire Timberlake ( née Biel ; born March 3, 1982) is an American actress and model. She has received various accolades, including a Young Artist Award, and nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Bie ...

and Kristin Scott Thomas. After this, Ashley created and continued to host Showqueen, a weekly cabaret night at the Supper Club in Sydney. Showqueen featured special guests and notable cabaret performers, and also had a successful season in Melbourne. Previous guests have included

Toni Lamond Patricia Lamond Lawman AM (born 29 March 1932), professionally known as Toni Lamond, is an Australian vaudevillian, cabaret performer, singer, actress, dancer, and comedian. She has had a successful career spanning some 80 years, both locally ...

iOTA Iota (; uppercase: Ι, lowercase: ι; ) is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh. Letters that arose from this letter include the Latin I and J, the Cyrillic І (І, і), Yi (Ї, ї), and ...

Virginia Gay Virginia Gay (born 16 September 1981) is an Australian actress, writer and director, mostly known for her work on the Australian TV dramas ''Winners & Losers'' (as Frances James (Winners & Losers), Frances James), and ''All Saints (TV series), A ...

Genevieve Lemon Genevieve Lemon (born 21 April 1958) is an Australian actress and singer who has appeared in a number of Australian television series and international film, including a frequent collaboration with Jane Campion for Academy Award-winning ''The P ...

and Matthew Robinson. For Mardi Gras 2009, Ashley teamed with drag star Courtney Act to great acclaim in ''Gentlemen Prefer Blokes'', a bawdy revue style show that ran in Sydney twice, and also played the

Adelaide Cabaret Festival The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is an annual arts festival featuring cabaret held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It has been held in June each year since 2001, with the exception of 2020 owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, ...

and a season at

His Majesty's Theatre, Perth His Majesty's Theatre is an Edwardian Baroque theatre in Perth, Western Australia. Constructed from 1902 to 1904 during a period of great growth for the town, the theatre is located on the corner of Hay Street and King Street in Perth's cent ...

. ''Gentlemen Prefer Blokes'' had to be rewritten two weeks prior to the Sydney run after Courtney Act suffered a broken leg while skiing in Canada. Soap star

from Channel 7's '' All Saints'' joined the cast to play Courtney's body double. ''I'm Every Woman'', commissioned by the Sydney Opera House, paid tribute to Ashley's favourite divas living and dead. The show was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Cabaret. He has nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer for ''Diamonds are for Trevor'' in 2012, in which Ashley appeared as Shirley Bassey. ''Liza (on a E)'', featuring his impersonation of

Liza Minnelli Liza May Minnelli ( ; born March 12, 1946) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and choreographer. Known for her commanding stage presence and powerful alto singing voice, Minnelli is among a rare group of performers awarded an Emmy, Grammy ...

, had seasons in Australian and the UK. In 2015, he announced a new cabaret show, entitled ''Liza's Back! (is broken)'', debuting at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne from 21–31 January 2016. He played Natalie Portly in his adult pantomime ''Fat Swan'' in 2012, a '' Black Swan'' parody written with longtime collaborator Phil Scott. His 2013 musical comedy ''Little Orphan trAshley'' starred

Rhonda Burchmore Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore OAM (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer. Career Burchmore appeared as Kate in the 1982 film, '' The Pirate Movie''. Burchmore gave her first Australian theatre performance in the 1988 production of '' Sugar ...

and

Gary Sweet Gary Sweet (born 22 May 1957) is an Australian film and television actor known for his roles in ''Alexandra's Project'' (as Steve), '' Police Rescue'' (as Sergeant "Mickey" McClintock), ''Cody'' (as Cody), '' Big Sky'' (as Chris Manning), ''Bod ...

Theatre

Ashley created the role of Miss Understanding in the original cast of '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical''. He performed the role over 600 times in Sydney and Melbourne, and is featured on the original cast recording, singing " What's Love Got To Do With It?". He performed in '' Jerry Springer: The Opera'' under the direction of

Gale Edwards Gale Edwards (born 14 November 1954) is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. Professional career Edwards began her career at Adelaid ...

at the Sydney Opera House in 2009. In 2010–2011, Ashley played the role of Edna Turnblad in ''

Hairspray Hairspray may refer to: * Hair spray, a personal grooming product that keeps hair protected from humidity and wind * ''Hairspray'' (1988 film), a film by John Waters ** ''Hairspray'' (1988 soundtrack), the film's soundtrack album ** ''Hairspray ...

'' in Melbourne and Sydney. In July 2012, Ashley appeared as Franz Leibkind in '' The Producers'' for

The Production Company The Production Company was an Australian not-for-profit theatre company that staged a series of usually three musicals at the Arts Centre Melbourne each year, until its closure in 2020. It was launched in 1999 by Jeanne Pratt AC with the goal o ...

in Melbourne. Ashley played Thenadier in the Australian 2014–2015 tour of ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'', opposite Lara Mulcahy as Madame Thenadier. For this role, he was nominated for a Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical and received a Best Supporting Performer in Music Theatre (male) Award at Sydney's 2015 Glug Awards. In 2015, Ashley directed the Australian premiere of '' Heathers: The Musical''. The production was first staged at

Hayes Theatre The Hayes Theatre is a 111-seat theatre specialising in music theatre and cabaret in Potts Point, Sydney, Australia. It is named after the Australian performer Nancye Hayes. Hayes Theatre Co was established at the former Darlinghurst Theatre aft ...

in Sydney for a 19-day run, and then was transferred the following year for short seasons in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (with the latter being an encore production staged at the Sydney Opera House). 2017 saw Ashley play King Herod in the Australian revival of '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', starring alongside

Rob Mills Robert Mills (born 21 June 1982) is an Australian actor, television host and singer-songwriter. He was one of the finalists from the first season of ''Australian Idol''. He co-hosted the late-night quiz show '' The Mint'', and was a regular sin ...

as Christ. The production ran from 29 July to 13 August at

Arts Centre Melbourne Arts Centre Melbourne, originally known as the Victorian Arts Centre and briefly called the Arts Centre, is a performing arts centre consisting of a complex of theatres and concert halls in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, located in the central ...

Television

In 2012, Australian network SBS announced it had commissioned a pilot called ''The Very Trevor Ashley Show''. It was shown as a one-night-only program in May 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashley, Trevor 1980 births Living people Australian drag queens People educated at Sydney Technical High School LGBT singers from Australia LGBT cabaret performers