Sasha Velour’s drag revue NightGowns is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a week-long residency in New York City that not only features iconic drag artists who have made history at the event, but also includes entertainers making their debuts on the show.
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This 10-year anniversary of NightGowns will be celebrated as a seven-show residency at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club that begins on Wednesday, August 27 and runs through Monday, September 1. And the best part? Well, the event features a gag-worthy lineup of performances by drag royals like Daphne Always, Elle McQueen, Glace Chase, Julie J, K.James, Kevin Aviance, King Molasses, Miss Malice, Miz Jade, Neon Calypso, Sasha Colby, Sweaty Eddie, Tenderoni, The Illustrious Pearl, Untitled Queen, and Vigor Mortis.
In an interview, Velour tells Out about the origins of NightGowns, breaks down the challenges and triumphs of the drag revue in the past decade, and reflects on it became a wide-reaching platform centered on elevating and broadening the art form of drag.
\u200bSasha Velour performing at NightGowns
Alexey Kim (@sidewalkkilla)
Sasha Velour performing at NightGowns.
Out: What does it mean to you to be celebrating 10 years of NightGowns?
Sasha Velour: This is history! And if we made it, anyone can. Determination and hard work have embedded NightGowns into the traditions of drag in New York City, and maybe even the world. Whenever our art form and our people are being criminalized, erased, and displaced, having that kind of longevity and legacy — or just knowing it’s possible to survive — is a source of power.
How has your relationship with NightGowns changed over the past decade?
I gave birth to NightGowns out of desperation and delusion, on a Thursday night, in 2015, in a since-closed dive bar in Bushwick called Bizarre [literally named Bizarre Bushwick]. There was a two-foot tall platform we called a “stage,” a black velvet curtain, and a projector. No one in the audience even knew there was going to be a show that night, but I was determined to dim the lights, dramatically intro my hand-mixed number, and deliver art for the ages.
I said, “Welcome to NightGowns, a drag show for dreamers.” It sounds unhinged, but it worked, somehow. I’ve kept that exact same approach ever since: An expansive view of drag, the highest theatrical quality we can pull off with what we’ve got, and good vibes all around. Even if a bit delusional and over-ambitious. In short: Good drag!
Sasha Velour
Alexey Kim (@sidewalkkilla)
Sasha Velour
In the beginning, I needed NightGowns for myself, as a space to develop my art, to make community, and to cope with personal loss. My mother passed away just two months before the first show.
Now, the focus has become more about what the space can provide for others, and how we’re contributing to the legacy and meaning of drag as a whole. Even with my youthful ambitions, I could never have guessed that NightGowns would grow into one of the most respected drag shows of all time. That’s wild to me. But I want to make sure that NightGowns delivers, because drag deserves the best.
How has NightGowns evolved from a production, performance, and casting standpoint?
The spirit and mission of NightGowns has been really consistent: It’s always about the art. But, because our world keeps changing so much, we’ve had to evolve in order to stay true to it. In the last 10 years, we’ve toured NightGowns to giant theaters like the Ace in DTLA, Clapham Grand in London, and Terminal 5 in New York City. We adapted it into a streaming series on Roku, and then adapted that experience into an off-off-Broadway lip-sync musical set in the 1960s. But all those different iterations all share the same spirit.
– YouTube
NightGowns was only one year old when I left to film RuPaul’s Drag Race. When I got back, the line for the show was out the door. Drag itself was thriving, so we had to expand. We first moved to National Sawdust: A high-tech music space in Williamsburg that allowed us to play with light and video and multiply our audience from 60 to 300… But the shows still sold out in under an hour! We were based there for several years. Then, craving an edgier, more theatrical setting, we tried a few shows at the gold jewel box theater at The Connelly in the East Village, shuttered by the Catholic Church over trans representation. Big drama!
In 2023, we fell in love with the classic cabaret stage at Le Poisson Rouge, the site of the famous “Village Gate.” Between the twinkling candles on tables and the moody theatrical lighting, it feels like the best of both worlds. But, honestly, every new version of NightGowns is my favorite one yet; I love transformation.
Do you feel that the NightGowns audience has shifted at all?
I’m shocked that NightGowns has grown to have such a big international audience over the last decade. People from across the world tell me they watch videos of NightGowns online over and over again. Some even travel to New York to see it live.
I’ve also noticed that the audience today is more political than ever. Drag shows can morph from more escapist pleasures to more direct revolutionary and political actions. But when the audience is walking in upset, scared, or angry about politics, they’re more open to art that speaks directly to the moment. Art that becomes action.
In addition to the shows, we’ve been consistently raising $30,000 a year for direct mutual aid in our onstage raffles, and I think that’s a reflection of this increasing political awareness. I’m grateful for it. The enthusiasm and goodness of people gives me hope in these challenging times.
\u200bSasha Velour
Mettie Ostrowski (@mettieostrowski)
Sasha Velour
Did your solo work inform the evolution of NightGowns, and did NightGowns inform your solo work?
Mostly vice versa. My solo work is always an adaptation of what I learn from NightGowns. I adapt my shows out of things that have worked great there — stories, speeches, numbers, costumes. A one-night-only drag show in a nightclub is really the truest form of drag: Multiplicity of voices, mistakes, and improvisations. A sense of urgency and radical joy. Theater wishes it was that cool. I try to incorporate those elements into my solo work, and to stay true to the divine spirit of drag.
As my solo work has grown more and more into traditional theater spaces, I’ve learned to bring some of those techniques back to NightGowns, too. Choreographed transitions, better backstage communication, production, organization, and so on. Sometimes a fresh perspective is just what you need to shake up the art. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel with everything.
Did your initial vision and intention for NightGowns change since its inception?
I dreamed of NightGowns as an all-inclusive drag show created and run by drag performers; for an audience that appreciates diversity, equity, and inclusion; and respects drag enough to want it treated like art — without sacrificing a more chaotic and rebellious edge. That principle has been my north star, and still guides my entire approach to drag. The audience tells me what’s working; I follow their lead.
It helps that the same team has been producing and shaping the show behind the scenes from the very beginning. My partner, Johnny, and I; with guidance from members of our drag family like Miss Malice, K.James, Zoe Ziegfeld, Untitled Queen, Neon Calypso, Vander Von Odd, Sasha Colby, and others. Even though so much in our lives has changed, NightGowns remains “home.” No matter what happens in my career, I know I will always return to it.
Sasha Colby; Neon Calypso; K.James
Alexey Kim (@sidewalkkilla)
Sasha Colby; Neon Calypso; K.James
How do you see the impact of NightGowns in the greater world of drag?
People tell me that NightGowns redefined drag. That sounds a little grandiose to me, but I’ll take any compliment! I think they mean that our distinctive style has become the norm: A variety of artists — including drag kings, trans performers, and lesbian queens — conceptual performances that tell a story, and the intersection of entertainment and activism.
I’m honored to be associated with that, but I think I was just one small part of a big generational shift. Queer people discovered that drag had always been that combination of things and were determined to reclaim those roots.
What are some moments from NightGowns that have impacted you as an artist and as a human being?
I’ll always remember the first time I tried using video projection as a lighting/special effects tool. I didn’t have a spotlight, so I drew a white circle on a black backdrop and put it in the projector. Then I started putting other things in the projection as well. I was influenced by video art I’d seen — Beyoncé and Es Devlin, Kathy Rose… But I put my own spin on it, using the humble tools at “Bizarre” [bar], and the audience gagged. I kept experimenting, and today it’s become one of the techniques I’m best known for.
Another memory from that first year of shows is when Lady Quesa’Dilla came in the middle of the show, unannounced, and asked for the microphone. I was shocked, but she had something she wanted to say — and isn’t that exactly what making art is about? I’ve never forgotten what she said. She called our community to be more engaged in politics, more aware of class and racial privilege, more honest and vulnerable on the surface. Her words changed NightGowns, and me, forever.
Another memorable moment, a few years ago, was when Meatball performed “This is Me” as George Santos and slowly revealed into cheap Amazon Prime drag with a wig fresh out of the bag. Of course the performance went mega viral, and was celebrated as a perfect response to the hypocrisy of conservative politics. That number was perfect camp: Lambasting politics and drag all at once, while truly delighting and surprising us all. Some people think NightGowns is only for serious drag, but they should know we take camp most seriously of all.
\u200bSasha Velour
Alexey Kim (@sidewalkkilla)
Sasha Velour
Can you talk about the relationship between your drag and theater? And, specifically, between NightGowns and theater?
Drag and theater influence each other so much. But even though the creative forms have so much in common, they couldn’t be more different, structurally. In drag, artists have total freedom in their art. In theater, everyone reports to someone. I think both forms have their advantages and disadvantages. Also, too much of either style can lead to disaster.
Theater needs drag, because drag knows how to make bigger gestures with less money, how to let new voices make a splash, and how to attract younger audiences by embracing pop culture. And drag needs theater, because theater implements quality control, fosters collaboration, and holds the keys to the best stages out there. I am invested in making more cross-overs and hybrids between the two forms so we can, you know… Maximize our joint slay.
For anyone who hasn’t seen drag live, or hasn’t been to NightGowns before, what can they expect?
When you come to NightGowns, you can expect good, smartly-curated drag, with a deep love of the art. Each performance is a standalone masterpiece created by the performer, usually with help from their extended community and drag network. I tie them together with stories from the queer frontlines, a thrilling group number, and my own performances.
The audience screams, and laughs, and weeps, and cat-calls us, the whole way through… Just like we want. All while drinking and dancing and having a gay night out.
This article originally appeared on Out: In 10 years, Sasha Velour’s dreamlike ‘NightGowns’ has reawakened drag
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