Joey Arias Explained

Joey Arias should not be confused with Jodi Arias.

Joey Arias
Birth Place:Fayetteville, North Carolina
Nationality:American
Other Names:Joseph Arias, Joe Arias
Known For:performance artist, cabaret singer, recording artist

Joey Arias, also known as Joseph Arias, and Joe Arias is an American artist based in New York City, best known for work as a performance artist, cabaret singer, and drag artist, but also as a published author, comedian, stage persona and film actor.[1]

In November 2023, Arias's album, Past Present Future, produced by Zachary D. McMillan and Tommy Karl, was released on the label Beige Records NYC.[2]

Career

1970s–1980s: Early career and artistic collaborations

After high school he sang with the rock band Purlie, which had a 1973 single on Capitol Records, and then had a stint with improvisational comedy group the Groundlings.[3] In 1976 he and his best friend Kim Hastreiter – who would later co-found Paper magazine – drove across country in a pickup truck and moved to New York City.[4]

Arias eventually got a job at the Fiorucci designer clothing store. He and other store staff like Vincent Gallo, performed (danced and modeled clothes) in the shop windows. While working at the store he became friends with alternative musician Klaus Nomi, for whom he sang backup vocals and designed sets and costumes.[5] On December 15, 1979, Nomi and Arias appeared on Saturday Night Live accompanying David Bowie for a live performance of three songs: "The Man Who Sold the World", "TVC 15" and "Boys Keep Swinging".[5] While in New York, he also performed with Ann Magnuson in a band called Strange Party which recorded and performed in various night clubs.[6] Upon Nomi's death, Arias became executor to the Klaus Nomi (Sperber) estate. A tribute to his friend is held in Berlin every year, and the documentary film The Nomi Song was released in 2004. A film on the life Arias shared with Nomi was in development in 2010 with Alan Cumming slated to play Nomi.[7]

Arias gradually became involved in the burgeoning 1980s New York performance art scene, appearing regularly at Club 57 and other downtown venues. During these years he also began a career in cabaret, channeling the vocal style and mannerisms of Billie Holiday.[8]

1990s: Stage shows and West Village performances

In the early 1990s, Arias covered the songs of Holiday in a show titled Strange Fruit which ran for over a year at the Astor Place Theatre on Lafayette Street in New York City and received a positive notice from John Lahr in The New Yorker.

The 1990s also saw Arias perform in weekly shows at Bar d'O, an intimate lounge in the West Village of New York City.[9] [10] Regular guest performers at Bar d'O included Sade Pendavis, Daniel Isengart and Flotilla Debarge.[10] The evenings have inspired annual reunion shows each December at Indochine restaurant and became the subject of a 2011 documentary film produced by Bobby Sheehan.[11] [12] [13]

2000s–2010s: Las Vegas performances and return to New York

In 2003 Arias moved to Las Vegas, Nevada to star in Cirque du Soleil's Zumanity at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino. In addition to starring in the show, he co-wrote two of the show's songs. After six years, Arias returned to New York where he starred in Arias with a Twist, a collaboration with puppeteer Basil Twist at HERE Arts Center. Produced by Barbara Busackino and Tandem Otter Productions, the show received a positive review from Ben Brantley in the New York Times.[14] The show has toured to Los Angeles and Paris and spawned a "docufantasy" film of the same name which premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2010.[15]

Arias with a Twist: Deluxe, a revamped and expanded version of the show, returned to New York for a limited run at Abrons Arts Center from September 14 to October 16, 2011.[16] [17] Arias' relationship with Abrons began in October 2010 when Joey Arias in Concert marked Arias' first concert appearances in New York in over a decade.[18] [19] Based on the success of the show, Earl Dax collaborated with Josh Wood who produced Arias in concert at New York's Town Hall on April 21, 2010.[18] [20] [21]

2010–present: Ongoing performances and archival acquisition

Arias continues to perform in venues such as Joe's Pub and Feinstein's/54 Below.[22]

In 2019, his archives, which also include material relating to Klaus Nomi, were acquired by Harvard's Houghton Library.[23]

Film

Film credits include Big Top Pee-wee; Mondo New York; Elvira, Mistress of the Dark;[5] Flawless; To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar'[5] '; and the 2016 film The Zanctuary, by the Spanish director José André Sibaja, and co-starring with Amanda Lepore and Sophia Lamar.[24] He appeared in the German documentary Wie ich lernte die Zahlen zu lieben/How I Learned to Love the Numbers (2014) by Oliver Sechting and Max Taubert. In 2012, he was interviewed in the documentary feature film Jobriath A.D..[25]

Christmas with the Crawfords

Arias portrayed Joan Crawford in New York and San Francisco productions of Christmas with the Crawfords, an original holiday spoof tradition since 1992 of Christina Crawford's book Mommie Dearest.[26] [27] The San Francisco-based production premiered Off-Off-Broadway at the Grove Street Playhouse in 2000.[28] Arias also starred in a 2001[29] and 2015 revival of the play at the Chelsea Playhouse.

Personal life

Born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he was six when he moved with his family to Los Angeles.[30] Arias, who is openly gay, married his long time partner, Scottish artist Juano Diaz in 2014. The couple divorced in 2017.[31] [32]

Discography

Albums

Singles

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: All the Things He Is and Isn't. David. Colman. The New York Times . October 5, 2011. NYTimes.com.
  2. Web site: Joey Arias Reveals New Album, Past Present Future. Wonderland. Staff. November 10, 2023. Wonderland.
  3. News: Joey Arias of 'Arias With a Twist'. Colman. David. 2011-10-05. The New York Times. 2017-06-27. en-US. 0362-4331. 2019-04-22. https://web.archive.org/web/20190422203445/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/fashion/joey-arias-of-arias-with-a-twist.html. live.
  4. News: Remembering the 1980's New York Performance Scene with Joey Arias. 2017-02-11. HISKIND Magazine. 2017-06-27. en-GB. 2018-12-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215122813/https://hiskind.com/remembering-the-1980s-new-york-performance-scene-with-joey-arias/. live.
  5. Web site: Joey Arias. Nicole. McDonald. Salt Lake City Weekly.
  6. Web site: Nightclubbing | Strange Party, 1980. Emily Armstrong and Pat. Ivers. April 25, 2013. Bedford + Bowery.
  7. Web site: Klaus Nomi Movie In The Works!. The Village Voice. 29 April 2010. 2017-06-27. 2018-04-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20180426144121/https://www.villagevoice.com/2010/04/29/klaus-nomi-movie-in-the-works/. live.
  8. News: Review: Joey Arias Incarnates Billie Holiday in the American Songbook. Stephen. Holden. The New York Times . February 26, 2015. NYTimes.com.
  9. Web site: PHOTOS: Sherry Vine Takes A Look Back At Bar d'O Over The Years. December 14, 2011. HuffPost.
  10. News: Carrying a Torch for Bar d'O. Jacob. Bernstein. The New York Times . December 26, 2012.
  11. Web site: Love is in the air in June. Leah. Garchik. June 18, 2010. SFGATE.
  12. Web site: Arias With a Twist: The Docufantasy — Film Review. Ray. Bennett. Associated Press. . October 14, 2010.
  13. Web site: Arias With a Twist: The Docufantasy. Jay. Weissberg. February 24, 2010. Variety.
  14. News: Brantley. Ben. Effigies and Aliens Cavort in a Cross-Dressing Wonderland. 11 August 2011. New York Times. June 19, 2008. 12 August 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110812140710/http://theater.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/theater/reviews/19twist.html. live.
  15. Web site: Arias with a Twist. imdb. 11 August 2011. 22 August 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110822182342/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1465475/. live.
  16. Web site: EXCLUSIVE: Acclaimed Arias With a Twist Will Return to New York | Playbill.
  17. Web site: A Grand Folly: An Interview with Arias with a Twist Masterminds Joey Arias and Basil Twist. Gerard. Raymond. September 27, 2011. Slant Magazine.
  18. Web site: Joey Arias Will Return to New York for October Concerts | Playbill.
  19. Joey Arias In Concert. The New Yorker.
  20. Web site: 6/11: Weimar NY, Roving Comedy at the Met…. Elizabeth. Bougerol • •. June 10, 2010.
  21. Web site: Arts-Lover's Holiday :: Bay Area Reporter.
  22. Web site: Frisby . Troy . May 5, 2017 . BWW Interview: Sherry Vine & Joey Arias Chat About the Evolution of Drag and Their Stripped-Down New Show at Feinstein's/54 Below . BroadwayWorld.com . 17 February 2019 . en . 18 February 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190218081856/https://www.broadwayworld.com/cabaret/article/BWW-Interview-Sherry-Vine-Joey-Arias-Chat-About-the-Evolution-of-Drag-and-Their-Stripped-Down-New-Show-at-Feinsteins54-Below-20170505 . live .
  23. Web site: Collection: Joey Arias papers | HOLLIS for.
  24. Web site: Seattle PrideFest Announces Headliners For 2017: Mary Lambert, Joey Arias, Ultra Naté, DJ Sammy Jo – Seattle Gay Scene.
  25. Web site: Queer Film Returns to Lincoln Center – Gay City News. Gary M.. Kramer. July 18, 2012. gaycitynews.com.
  26. News: 'Christmas With The Crawfords' To Premiere In NYC. Nichols. JamesMichael. 2014-12-05. Huffington Post. 2017-06-27. en-US. 2017-04-01. https://web.archive.org/web/20170401114047/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/05/christmas-with-the-crawfords_n_6271392.html. live.
  27. News: Joey Arias, Chris March, and Sherry Vine Star in Christmas With the Crawfords. 2014-11-24. TheaterMania.com. 2017-06-27. 2018-12-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215173028/https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/arias-march-vine-star-in-christmas-with-the-crawfords_70648.html. live.
  28. News: Christmas With Mommie Dearest. Winship. Frederick M.. 2001-12-05. UPI. 2017-06-27. en. 2018-12-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215121505/https://www.upi.com/Christmas-With-Mommie-Dearest/18321007574810/. live.
  29. News: A Very Crawford Christmas. Portantiere. Michael. 2001-11-26. TheaterMania.com. 2017-06-27. 2023-04-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20230415231500/https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/11-2001/a-very-crawford-christmas_1794.html/. live.
  30. Joey Arias. The New Yorker.
  31. News: After Dark: Meet Joey Arias, Drag Icon And Nightlife Legend. Nichols. JamesMichael. 2014-10-26. Huffington Post. 2017-06-27. en-US. 2017-02-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20170218180658/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/26/joey-arias-after-dark_n_6043464.html. live.
  32. News: Scene City: Happy Birthday, Joey Arias. Murphy. Tim. 2010-10-07. The New York Times. 2017-06-27. en-US. 0362-4331. 2018-12-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20181215130237/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/07/fashion/07scene.html. live.
  33. Web site: Joey Arias Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More. AllMusic.

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