Joey Arias
Birth : 1949-10-03, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA
History
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.
Self
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.
Jai the Chanteuse
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.
Dora Ramona del Pilar
The Zanctuary is a decadent bar in Lower Manhattan owned by a former prostitute, Dora Ramona del Pilar. An undercover police detective follows an investigation on human trafficking discovering what's hidden under the bar: rooms filled with Dora's terrible sins and her attempts at redemption.
Himself
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.
Himself
Focuses on the collaboration between cabaret and drag artist Joey Arias and master puppeteer Basil Twist, whose 2008 show brought them some of the biggest success of their careers.
Himself
This fascinating reality program exposes the ups and downs of a group of Cirque du Soleil performers as they put together "Zumanity," a new, highly erotic show in Las Vegas. Filmed over two years, Lovesick follows the diverse group of artists -- coy Cuban stripper Alex, feisty New York drag queen Joey, stylish British dancer Laetitia and debutante princess Jonel -- along with Creation Director Andrew and Spymonkey, the outrageous clown quartet.
Himself
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!
Music
Zumanity was a resident cabaret-style show by Cirque du Soleil at the New York-New York Hotel & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. It is the first "adult-themed" Cirque du Soleil show, billed as "the sensual side of Cirque du Soleil" or "another side of Cirque du Soleil". Created by René Richard Cyr and Dominic Champagne, Zumanity is a departure from the standard Cirque format. Intended to be for mature adult audiences only, this show is centered on erotic song, dance, acrobatics and comedy.
Stormy
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.
Himself
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!
Ruby
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
Justine
A cross country trip to Hollywood is cut short by an unreliable engine & an unpleasant encounter with law enforcement. With the power of drag, three self proclaimed career-girls bring a bit of much needed beauty to rural middle America!
Creative documentary on the drag queen movement and its origins in Paris, New York and Madrid.
Self
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.
Ramirez
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.
Hitchhiker
When her great aunt dies, famed horror hostess Elvira heads for the uptight new England town of Falwell to claim her inheritance of a haunted house, a witch's cookbook and a punk rock poodle. But once the stuffy locals get an eyeful of the scream queen's ample assets, all hell busts out & breaks loose.
Shim
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.
Fish Out Of Water / A Hard Days Night
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.
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?
Writer
"Mermaids on Heroin" is a 1985 13-minute video written and staring New York performer Joey Arias. Features Fred Schneider from the B-52s.
Director
"Mermaids on Heroin" is a 1985 13-minute video written and staring New York performer Joey Arias. Features Fred Schneider from the B-52s.
Meridian
"Mermaids on Heroin" is a 1985 13-minute video written and staring New York performer Joey Arias. Features Fred Schneider from the B-52s.
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.
