Trevor Ashley is coming home.
The Olivier Award-nominated performer will return to the Sydney stage for one night only with a new show, Trevor Ashley Keeps It Gay!, at City Recital Hall on Saturday, February 27, 2027.
The date lands squarely in Mardi Gras season, a week before the parade on Saturday, March 6, and the show is part of the official Mardi Gras + program.
Pre-sale tickets open on Wednesday, November 11 at 10am AEDT for anyone who signs up to City Recital Hall’s waitlist, with general public tickets available from Thursday, November 12 at 10am AEDT.
Backed by a five-piece band, Keeps It Gay! is billed as a musical journey through queer history, from Stonewall to Mardi Gras, taking in heartbreak, protest, liberation and love along the way.
The songbook belongs to the icons: Judy Garland, George Michael, Madonna, Cher and Heather Small all get a look-in.
City Recital Hall is promising big vocals, irreverent storytelling and anthems about coming out and finding your people, with a tagline that sums up the mood: Pride isn’t just a party, “but darling, that doesn’t mean we can’t have one!”
The venue describes the concert as Ashley’s long-awaited return to the Sydney stage, after close to two years based in London.
Ashley has spent that time playing Roger De Bris, the flamboyantly untalented director in Mel Brooks’ The Producers, first at the Menier Chocolate Factory from December 2024 and then at the Garrick Theatre in the West End, where the run wrapped up on September 19.
The role earned him a 2026 Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, one of four nominations for the production, including Best Musical Revival.
Ashley told Official London Theatre the nomination was probably the career moment he is most proud of, alongside selling out the Sydney Opera House in concert.
“It made me feel very special,” he said.
Long before London, Ashley cut his teeth on the stages of Sydney’s Stonewall and the Imperial, and he has spent more than two decades building one of the most recognisable careers in Australian musical theatre and cabaret.
His credits include Miss Understanding in Priscilla Queen of the Desert: The Musical, Edna Turnblad in Hairspray, Thénardier in Les Misérables, King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar and Pharaoh in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
His Shirley Bassey tribute Diamonds Are for Trevor was filmed for television, and he finished runner-up on the Graham Norton-hosted drag singing competition Queen of the Universe.
With long-time collaborator Phil Scott, he also co-writes and directs the adults-only pantomimes that have become a Sydney summer institution, among them Fat Swan, The Lyin’ Queen, Moulin Scrooge! and, most recently, Deep-Heat Rivalry.
That Heated Rivalry parody tours Australia this summer, with a Melbourne season in January and Sydney in February, making for a busy Mardi Gras period for Ashley.
Trevor Ashley Keeps It Gay! runs for two hours including an interval, with a 7.30pm start.
Tickets range from $69.90 for C Reserve to $99.90 for Premium, plus an $8.50 booking fee per transaction, which is waived for City Recital Hall members.
Pre-sale access is via the waitlist at cityrecitalhall.com ahead of Wednesday’s 10am opening.
Mardi Gras 2027 just got a little louder.
'Deep-Heat Rivalry' tickets on sale as West End hit books Sydney and Melbourne runs
Tickets are on sale now for Deep-Heat Rivalry, Trevor Ashley’s gleefully filthy musical parody of hockey romance phenomenon Heated Rivalry, ahead of its Australian premiere next year.