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Joey Arias

Joey Arias

Acting

Biography

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.

Known For

Saturday Night Live
6.9

A late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels. The show's comedy sketches, which parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers an opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast, and features performances by a musical guest.

Saturday Night Live

1975
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar
7.4

Manhattan drag queens Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson impress regional judges in competition, securing berths in the Nationals in Los Angeles. When the two meet pathetic drag novice Chi-Chi Rodriguez — one of the losers that evening — the charmed Vida and Noxeema agree to take the hopeless youngster under their joined wing. Soon the three set off on a madcap road trip across America and struggle to make it to Los Angeles in time.

To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar

1995
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark
6.7

Arriving in the small town of Fallwell, Massachusetts to claim her inheritance, horror hostess Elvira receives a less than enthusiastic reception from the conservative locals, including her sinister uncle Vincent.

Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

1988
Flawless
6.2

An ultraconservative police officer suffers a debilitating stroke and is assigned to a rehabilitative program that includes singing lessons - with the drag queen next door.

Flawless

1999
Naked in New York
4.8

Naked in New York begins in the car of grown up Jake, he is talking to us about his girlfriend, Joanne, and to whom you can turn to for help while facing life. From there it flashes back to his memories of his parents, college, house across from a squirrel infested peanut factory, best friend, writing career and Joanne.

Naked in New York

1993
She's Living for This
N/A

She’s Living for This is an American television comedy and variety series created by Keith Levy and Josh Rosenzweig. The show currently airs on LGBT cable network here!. The series stars drag performer Sherry Vine. The series premiered on February 24, 2012. here! produced six episodes for season one. The network announced a second season of the show to begin production in the summer 2012 for a fall 2012 premiere. In 2012 it was announced that episodes of She's Living for This would be made available on online video service Hulu.

She's Living for This

2012
Big Top Pee-wee
4.9

Paul Reubens stars as Pee-wee Herman in his second full-length film about a farmer who joins the circus after a storm drops a big tent in his front yard. Pee-wee, along with an outlandish cast of animals and circus performers, puts on the best show ever.

Big Top Pee-wee

1988
The Nomi Song
6.4

Looks like an alien, sings like a diva - Klaus Nomi was one of the 1980s' most profoundly bizarre characters to emerge through rock music: a counter tenor who sang pop music like opera and brought opera to club audiences and made them like it. The Nomi Song is a film about fame, death, friendship, betrayal, opera, and the greatest New Wave rock star that never was!

The Nomi Song

2004
Wig
5.8

Spotlighting the art of drag, and centered on the New York staple Wigstock, this documentary showcases the personalities and performances that inform the ways we understand queerness, art and identity today.

Wig

2019
Drunks
3.2

At the beginning of a nightly Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, Jim seems particularly troubled. His sponsor encourages him to talk that night, the first time in seven months, so he does - and leaves the meeting right after. As Jim wanders the night, searching for some solace in his old stomping grounds, bars and parks where he bought drugs, the meeting goes on, and we hear the stories of survivors and addicts - some, like Louis, who claim to have wandered in looking for choir practice, who don't call themselves alcoholic, and others, like Joseph, whose drinking almost caused the death of his child - as they talk about their lives at the meeting

Drunks

1997
Deadly Game
5.9

A group of seven strangers, including a dancer, a doctor, a teacher, and a disgraced former football player, are brought together on an island owned by the mysterious Osirus. There they are told that at some point in their lives, they crossed Osirus and now must face his revenge. The seven must reach a boat on the opposite side of the island before Osirus and his hunters track them down and kill them.

Deadly Game

1991
After Louie
5.0

As an AIDS activist and member of ACT UP in the 1980s and 90s, Sam witnessed the deaths of too many friends and lovers. Battlewounded and struggling with survivor's guilt, Sam now resents the complacency of his former comrades and derides what he sees as the younger generation's indifference to the politics of sex, and of death. An unexpected intimacy with a much younger man challenges Sam's understanding of contemporary gay life. Through this unconventional romance, he is forced to deal with the trauma that so informs his past, their present, and an unknown future.

After Louie

2017
Mondo New York
4.9

A young woman wanders around New York City and stumbles across a number of strange characters and settings that represent the "underground" areas of the city. She sees stand up comedy in Central Park, a prostitution auction, a voodoo ceremony, an S&M club, and a number of very interesting performance artists. These are just a few of the sights and sounds of New York that she encounters.

Mondo New York

1988
Jobriath A.D.
6.6

Called "The American Bowie," "The True Fairy of Rock & Roll" and "Hype of the Year," Jobriath's reign as the first openly gay rock star was brief and over by 1975. Now, 35 years later, "Jobriath A.D." spotlights his life, music, groundbreaking influence and the new generations of fans slowly re-discovering him.

Jobriath A.D.

2012
Wigstock: The Movie
5.7

The three-decade-old annual Manhattan gathering of drag queens and their fans is portrayed in this colorful documentary. The film concentrates on the spectacle of the event, providing abundant examples of the elaborate costumes, flamboyant wigs, and campy musical performances that characterize the event.

Wigstock: The Movie

1995
No image
5.0

Based on the true story of four Nazi saboteurs who infiltrated the US in 1942 and were quickly caught and executed, this 80-minute ode to America's irresistibly corruptive allure was the only underground feature by writer-director Anders Grafstrom. A Swedish art director who relocated to NYC, he created this grandiose No-Wave, Super-8 color-epic at the age of 23, only to die in a Mexican car accident a few months after completing the film.

The Long Island Four

1980
God Save the Queens
N/A

Creative documentary on the drag queen movement and its origins in Paris, New York and Madrid.

God Save the Queens

1995
Vandemonium Plus
8.0

Ann Magnuson is launched off the back of her boyfriend's motorcycle while doing a bong rip, and into a strange fantasy world airbrushed on the side of a van. Will she make it back to our world in time for the Vulcan Death Grip show?

Vandemonium Plus

1987
Mermaids on Heroin
N/A

"Mermaids on Heroin" is a 1985 13-minute video written and staring New York performer Joey Arias. Features Fred Schneider from the B-52s.

Mermaids on Heroin

1985
Dragtime
N/A

A film that revels in the sheer delightful fabulousness of drag! A joyful look into the lives of some of the most famous drag queens of today: Varla Jean Merman, Candis Cayne, Lady Bunny and Lypsinka. These frocked out femmes of fashion light up the screen!

Dragtime

1997