Sasha Colby’s Stripped II: A High-Glam Flight From Reality—With Purpose
By Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine Staff
Photography by Preston Meneses
Photo of Sasha Colby by Preston Meneses
“The first Stripped was a chronological retrospective of my life,” Colby explains. “‘Stripped II’ is brand new. It’s all different numbers and different stories. We’re really diving into escaping a very cruel world and creating a world that we dream to hopefully live in one day.”
The title, she says, is a deliberate double-entendre. “Sure, I love a good strip-tease, but it’s also about stripping back the competition, the travel, the noise, getting back to basics. Dance is the foundation I grew up with, and this show lets me reconnect to that.”
Ask her to label the new production musical, theatrical, or political, and Colby refuses to choose. “It’s all of the above, still rooted in storytelling. Not just my stories, but universal experiences of a trans person of color,” she says. High-femme archetypes, magic, fantasy, and “unadulterated glamour” guide the creative DNA.
That glamour, however, is a weapon. “We, as trans people, are facing a lot of discrimination and oppression,” she adds. “Celebration is our most effective tool of protest. Stripped II is part performance, part protest, part celebration; therapy for me and a sense of community for anyone who watches.”
Colby’s process starts with one question: What story warrants 90 minutes of someone’s time? From there, she and her long-time creative family craft a tapestry of choreography, visuals, and, yes, mystery. “I like to keep my process under wraps,” she teases. “If you think you know what to expect from the first Stripped, I hope to pleasantly surprise you.”
Cultural roots thread the entire production. “You’ll see hints and nods of being Polynesian, native Hawaiian, and trans throughout the show,” Colby promises. That makes both Honolulu and Las Vegas “the ninth island,” where she began her transition at 19, especially poignant tour stops. “I hope all my Hawaiians get tickets, because it’s gonna be a great pāʻina (party).”
If Stripped II is therapy for Colby, her audience is the lifeline. “My fans are ride-or-die. Meet-and-greets fuel me; they humanize the crowd,” she says. “They’re rooting for me, and they’re finding themselves in my stories. Who could ask for more?”
That relationship has only grown since her Drag Race victory. “Winning shifted my perspective; from grinding drag queen to grateful platform-holder. Now I can use that platform to the maximum.”
Colby holds nothing back when asked what she’d tell emerging trans or queer artists: “Take up space. Spread out, tell your stories, even if you think no one’s listening. If one person finds hope or comfort, you’ve done your job.”
Ultimately, Colby hopes Stripped II becomes a time capsule; evidence that queer joy thrived even during backlash. “I hope the show is a reflection of where we hope to be, not where we are,” she says, before distilling the mission into a single rallying cry for every ticket-holder: “Get up, get loud, put on some drag, and be fearless.”
Come September 16, audiences across North America will have the chance to do just that, guided by a living legend who never stops stripping away the darkness to let the spotlight shine.
Living Unapologetically
For Sasha Colby, drag isn’t just a performance, it’s a philosophy. At the core of Stripped II is a message she’s championed for decades: the audacity to be fully, fearlessly yourself. “I’ve learned that living your truth is the most powerful form of resistance,” she says. “It takes courage to show up in the world exactly as you are, especially when that world is trying to erase you.”
That message pulses through every beat of her show. Whether she’s in full glam or stripped to raw vulnerability, Sasha makes space for audiences to see themselves, not just as they are, but as who they could be when they stop shrinking and start shining. “We don’t need permission to take up space,” she insists. “The moment you stop apologizing for your existence is the moment you become unstoppable.”
This article was originally published in the 2025 Arts & Entertainment Issue of Las Vegas PRIDE Magazine, and can be read in its original format here.
