Joey Arias

Birthday: 1949-10-03
Birthplace: Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

A fixture of New York City’s vibrant downtown performance scene for 30-plus years, Joey Arias is a bona fide NYC icon. Arias lived and worked with legendary musician Klaus Nomi until Nomi’s death in 1983. However, he has long since stepped out of Nomi’s shadow to gain fame in his own right as a performance artist, cabaret singer and drag artist. Arias has distinguished himself with scandalous wit, sleek style and an extraordinary voice... evocative of Billie Holiday yet uniquely his own. Arias has performed worldwide at venues including Carnegie Hall and the Freedom Theatre in London. Arias was tapped by Cirque du Soleil to originate the role of the emcee in their Las Vegas spectacular Zumanity. After 6 years in that role, Arias returned to New York where he became the star and co-creator of Arias With a Twist with master puppeteer Basil Twist. The show was a critical and commercial hit and extended repeatedly for a total of 8 months. On film, he has appeared in Mondo New York, Big Top Pee Wee, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, Wigstock - The Movie, Flawless and To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, among others.

Credits

Year Title Character
2017-03-17 After Louie Jai the Chanteuse
2016-07-06 The Zanctuary Dora Ramona del Pilar
1999-11-26 Flawless Stormy
1997-03-14 Drunks Ruby
1995-09-07 To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar Justine
1995-06-23 God Save the Queens
1991-07-10 Deadly Game Ramirez
1988-09-30 Elvira: Mistress of the Dark Hitchhiker
1988-07-22 Big Top Pee-wee Shim
1988-04-22 Mondo New York Fish Out Of Water / A Hard Days Night
1987-12-31 Vandemonium Plus
1985-07-01 Mermaids on Heroin Meridian
1980-12-23 The Long Island Four