Trevor Ashley
Encyclopedia
Trevor Ashley is a Sydney based performer and drag artist
. He has had an extensive career in cabaret, clubs, television and musical theatre
in Australia.
Ashley grew up in the south of Sydney and studied at the Shopfront
Theatre for Young People. There he worked with Errol Bray, John Du Feu and playwright Hilary Bell. He appeared in Alice with Paul Capsis
, and in Peter Pan with screen actor Bryan Brown
. He also played Passepartout in their production of Around the World in 80 Days.
While at Sydney Technical High School
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
, and the Talent Development Project under the direction of Mary Lopez. He graduated High School in 1997.
and The Talk of London in the UK.
On return to Australia, he created the show Pop Princess with Phil Scott
. He soon became "Mardi Gras Royalty" and followed up this with Pop Princess 2, two years later in 2005.
He was chosen to create the role of Miss Understanding in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical in its original Australian cast. 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?".
Priscilla film director Stephan Elliott
then chose Trevor to sing the theme song to his 2008 film Easy Virtue, Let's Misbehave
. The film stars Colin Firth
, Jessica Biel
and Kristen Scott Thomas.
After this Trevor created and continued to host Showqueen, a weekly cabaret night at the Supper Club in Sydney. Showqueen features special guests and notable cabaret performers, and has also had a successful season in Melbourne. Previous guests have included Toni Lamond
, iOTA
, Virginia Gay
, Genevieve Lemon
and Matthew Robinson
.
For Mardi Gras 2009 Trevor 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
and a season at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth. 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 Virginia Gay
from Channel 7's All Saints
joined the cast to play Courtney's body double.
Most recently he has performed in Jerry Springer: The Opera
under the direction of Gale Edwards
at the Sydney Opera House
. He also created and starred in a new piece commissioned by the Sydney Opera House, entitled "I'm Every Woman". This show paid tribute to Ashley's favourite divas living and dead. The show has been nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for best Cabaret.
In 2010-11, Trevor played the role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray the musical
in Melbourne and Sydney.
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
. He has had an extensive career in cabaret, clubs, television and musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
in Australia.
Ashley grew up in the south of Sydney and studied at the Shopfront
Shopfront
Shopfront contemporary arts centre has members between the ages of 8 and 25, located in Carlton, New South Wales, Australia. Shopfront provides a place, resources, training, and development opportunities for young artists...
Theatre for Young People. There he worked with Errol Bray, John Du Feu and playwright Hilary Bell. He appeared in Alice with Paul Capsis
Paul Capsis
Paul Capsis is an Australian singer and actor, who is best known for his cabaret theatre roles. Capsis has Greek and Maltese heritage.Capsis has released two CDs called Paul Capsis Live and Everybody Wants To Touch Me...
, and in Peter Pan with screen actor Bryan Brown
Bryan Brown
Bryan Neathway Brown, AM is an Australian actor.-Early life:Brown was born in Sydney, the son of John Brown and Molly Brown, a house cleaner who worked as a pianist in the early days of the Langshaw School of Ballet. He grew up in the south-western Sydney suburb of Bankstown and began working at...
. He also played Passepartout in their production of Around the World in 80 Days.
While at Sydney Technical High School
Sydney Technical High School
Sydney Technical High School is an academically selective, state-funded high school for boys in Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1911 as part of Sydney Technical College, the school was one of the six original New South Wales selective schools...
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
Schools Spectacular
The Schools Spectacular is an Australian variety show featuring more than 3000 young students and is performed annually at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Highlights of the Schools Spectacular are broadcast each year by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation....
, and the Talent Development Project under the direction of Mary Lopez. He graduated High School in 1997.
Career
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 favorite and the only one to emulate a 'cabaret sensibility'". He then toured his show "Trevor The Arena Mega Musical" to New York's famed Don't Tell MamaDon't tell mama
Don't Tell Mama is a piano bar and cabaret located at 343 West 46th Street in New York City, USA, known in part for being featured on the TV show Friends....
and The Talk of London in the UK.
On return to Australia, he created the show Pop Princess with Phil Scott
Phillip Scott
Phillip Scott , is an Australian actor, singer, pianist, writer and comedian.He has appeared on film as well as in sketch comedy television programs...
. He soon became "Mardi Gras Royalty" and followed up this with Pop Princess 2, two years later in 2005.
He was chosen to create the role of Miss Understanding in Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert The Musical in its original Australian cast. 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?".
Priscilla film director Stephan Elliott
Stephan Elliott
Stephan Elliott is an Australian film director and screenwriter.-Life and career:Elliott began his career as an assistant director working in the boom of the Australian film industry of the 1980s....
then chose Trevor to sing the theme song to his 2008 film Easy Virtue, Let's Misbehave
Let's Misbehave
"Let's Misbehave" is a famous song written by Cole Porter in 1927, originally intended for the female lead of his first major production, Paris...
. The film stars Colin Firth
Colin Firth
SirColin Andrew Firth, CBE is a British film, television, and theatre actor. Firth gained wide public attention in the 1990s for his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in the 1995 television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice...
, Jessica Biel
Jessica Biel
Jessica Claire Biel is an American actress, model, and occasional singer. Biel is known for her television role as Mary Camden in the long-running family-drama series 7th Heaven...
and Kristen Scott Thomas.
After this Trevor created and continued to host Showqueen, a weekly cabaret night at the Supper Club in Sydney. Showqueen features special guests and notable cabaret performers, and has also had a successful season in Melbourne. Previous guests have included Toni Lamond
Toni Lamond
Toni Lamond AM is an Australian cabaret singer, stage actor, dancer and comedienne...
, iOTA
Iota
Iota is the ninth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 10. It was derived from the Phoenician letter Yodh . Letters that arose from this letter include the Roman I and J and the Cyrillic І , Yi , Je , and iotified letters .Iota represents...
, Virginia Gay
Virginia Gay
Virginia Gay is an Australian actress most known for her work on the Australian TV dramas Winners & Losers , and All Saints .-Education:...
, Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon
Genevieve Lemon is an Australian actress who has appeared in a number of soap operas – as Zelda Baker in The Young Doctors, Marlene "Rabbit" Warren in Prisoner and Brenda Riley in Neighbours...
and Matthew Robinson
Matthew Robinson (performer and composer)
Matthew Robinson is an Australian performer and composer.Robinson was born in Queensland and graduated from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts...
.
For Mardi Gras 2009 Trevor teamed with drag star Courtney Act
Courtney Act
Courtney Act is the stage name of Shane Jenek, an Australian drag celebrity, pop singer and entertainer. As Courtney Act, Jenek was a semi-finalist on Australian Idol in 2003 and was the third singer of the competition to release an official solo single, following Guy Sebastian and Shannon Noll...
to great acclaim in Gentlemen Prefer Blokes, a bawdy revue style show that ran in Sydney twice, and also played the Adelaide Cabaret Festival
Adelaide Cabaret Festival
The Adelaide Cabaret Festival is an annual cabaret festival held in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is the largest festival of its type in the world, with more than 48,000 attendees....
and a season at His Majesty's Theatre, Perth. 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 Virginia Gay
Virginia Gay
Virginia Gay is an Australian actress most known for her work on the Australian TV dramas Winners & Losers , and All Saints .-Education:...
from Channel 7's All Saints
All Saints (TV series)
All Saints is an Australian medical drama which first screened on the Seven Network. The series debuted on 24 February 1998 and concluded its run on 27 October 2009...
joined the cast to play Courtney's body double.
Most recently he has performed in Jerry Springer: The Opera
Jerry Springer: The Opera
Jerry Springer: The Opera is a British musical written by Richard Thomas and Stewart Lee, based on the television show The Jerry Springer Show. The musical is notable for its profanity, its irreverent treatment of Judeo-Christian themes, and surreal images such as a troupe of tap-dancing Ku Klux...
under the direction of Gale Edwards
Gale Edwards
Gale Edwards is an Australian theatre director, who has worked extensively throughout Australia and internationally. She has also directed for television and film. She began her career at Adelaide youth theatre company Energy Connection...
at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
. He also created and starred in a new piece commissioned by the Sydney Opera House, entitled "I'm Every Woman". This show paid tribute to Ashley's favourite divas living and dead. The show has been nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for best Cabaret.
In 2010-11, Trevor played the role of Edna Turnblad in Hairspray the musical
Hairspray (musical)
Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
in Melbourne and Sydney.