Sasha Velour's Travesty Tour

ENSEMBLE ARTS PHILLY PRESENTS
SASHA VELOUR’S TRAVESTY TOUR
AT THE MILLER THEATER,
SEPTEMBER 17, 2026

“Beyond [Travesty’s] status as a top-tier drag show, it is point blank one of the most outstanding performances presently on stage. Sasha Velour is simply the artist of all artists in every aspect… career defining for Velour, it absolutely cannot be missed.”
– Broadway World

“… she demonstrates she was born to light up a theater marquee.”
– Washington City Paper

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (August 25, 2026) – Ensemble Arts Philly proudly presents multimedia artist, director, writer, and drag queen, Sasha Velour, in her Travesty tour – Velour’s most experimental drag show yet – for one night only at the Miller Theater on Thursday, September 17, 2026, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets with an optional, VIP add-on meet and greet are on sale now at www.ensembleartsphilly.org. 

Travesty traces the secret queer history of a single spot throughout time. A witch burns in a field; a clown builds a theater; an underground gay bar rises up against the police. As Velour embodies different characters through a series of jaw-dropping lip-syncs, she invites you to take part in the cycle of existence, resistance, and camp that IS drag. Part performance art, part history, part call to action, Travesty will have you screaming at the top of your lungs, dancing in the aisles, and inspired to “change the muthaf*ckin world!" 

"Ensemble Arts Philly is committed to presenting artists whose work reflects the breadth, creativity, and evolution of contemporary culture," said Frances Egler, Vice President of Theatrical Programming and Presentations. "Travesty showcases Sasha Velour's remarkable ability to blend performance, history, visual art, and storytelling into a theatrical experience that is both entertaining and deeply original. By bringing distinctive voices and bold artistic perspectives to our stages, we create opportunities for audiences to encounter new ideas, celebrate creative expression, and experience the transformative potential of live performance."

Velour is known for her unique fusion of lip sync performance, video art, and storytelling. She is the winner of Season 9 of RuPaul’s Drag Race (2017) – her finale lip-sync to “So Emotional” (Whitney Houston) increased streams of the song by 500% – the founder and host of New York City’s legendary drag revue NightGowns (since 2015) and has toured two celebrated one-queen theater shows around the world— Smoke & Mirrors (2019–2022) and The Big Reveal (2023– 2025).

Her namesake production company, House of Velour, has produced live shows and video for HBO, Quibi, NY Fashion Week, MAC Cosmetics, Audible, Lyft, Absolut Vodka, LaJolla Playhouse, and more. House of Velour has been praised as “disrupting the business of drag” (Fast Company) for its artist-driven, transparent, and multi-disciplinary approach. In 2023, Velour released a best-selling book, The Big Reveal: An Illustrated Manifesto of Drag, which explores the untold history of drag, interwoven with stories from her life as a young queen (Harper, 2023). 

In 2020, she executive-produced her own limited TV series, an adaptation of NightGowns, directed by Sophie Muller and co-produced by The Documentary Group, which received a RealScreen Award and was hailed as one of “the most life-affirming shows you could find on any platform” (NY Times). In 2023, Sasha joined the cast of HBO’s Emmy and Peabody Award-winning We’re Here, which was nominated for two Critics Choice Real TV Awards, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Structured Unscripted Series (won). In 2025, she served as a head judge on “King of Drag”, the first televised Drag King competition in history.

As an illustrator and designer, Sasha has produced several comic books, and an anthology about drag called Velour (2013-2018). She drew the Google Doodle for Marlene Dietrich in 2018 and created a self-portrait for the cover of The New Yorker in 2023.

Tickets
Tickets can be purchased online at  www.ensembleartsphilly.org, by calling 215-893-1999, or in person at the Academy of Music Box Office (240 S. Broad Street) from 10 AM–6 PM (Monday-Saturday). For more information, visit www.ensembleartsphilly.org.

VIP Add-On Includes Meet & Greet with Sasha Velour

SASHA VELOUR: TRAVESTY
Miller Theater
Thursday, September 17, 2026, 7:30 p.m.

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Other featured upcoming performances include ALOK: Eat Pray Leave Tour (September 4, 2026, Perelman Theater inside the Kimmel Center); R.F. Kuang – Taipei Story (September 11, 2026, Miller Theater); Shoshana Bean (September 16, 2026, Miller Theater); Brad Williams: The Tall Tales Tour (September 18, 2026, Miller Theater); Pat Metheny: Side-Eye III+ (September 19, 2026, Miller Theater); Undertale: The Determination Symphony (September 20, 2026, Marian Anderson Hall inside the Kimmel Center); Anthony Jeselnik: Wrath of Man (September 25– 26, 2026); Brian Henson’s Puppet Up! (September 29, 2026, Miller Theater); MAMMA MIA! (September 29–October 4, 2026, Academy of Music); Jennifer Welch – Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud (October 3, 2026, Miller Theater); Barbara Kingsolver: Partita (October 8, 2026, Miller Theater); and The Magicians Table (October 21–November 22, 2026, SEI Innovation Studio inside the Kimmel Center); and more.

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ABOUT ENSEMBLE ARTS PHILLY
For more information about ENSEMBLE ARTS PHILLY, visit www.ensembleartsphilly.org.       

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For photography, please visit www.ensembleartsphilly.smugmug.com.


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