Cabaret Ashley made his professional debut in the Sydney Cabaret Convention 1998. His performance impressed both the critics and judges with the Cabaret Hotline calling him "A knockout performer… the clear crowd favourite and the only one to emulate a 'cabaret sensibility'". He then toured his show
Trevor The Arena Mega Musical to
New York City's Don't Tell Mama and The Talk of London, in England. On return to Australia, he created the show
Pop Princess with
Phil Scott. He soon became "
Mardi Gras Royalty" and followed up this with
Pop Princess 2, two years later in 2005.
Priscilla film director
Stephan Elliott then chose Ashley to sing the theme song to his 2008 film
Easy Virtue, "
Let's Misbehave". The film stars
Colin Firth,
Jessica Biel and
Kristin Scott Thomas. After this, Ashley created and continued to host Showqueen, a weekly cabaret night at the Supper Club in Sydney. Showqueen featured special guests and notable cabaret performers, and also had a successful season in Melbourne. Previous guests have included
Toni Lamond,
iOTA,
Virginia Gay,
Genevieve Lemon and
Matthew Robinson. For
Mardi Gras 2009, Ashley teamed with drag star
Courtney Act to great acclaim in
Gentlemen Prefer Blokes, a bawdy revue style show that ran in Sydney twice, and also played the
Adelaide Cabaret Festival and a season at
His Majesty's Theatre, Perth.
Gentlemen Prefer Blokes had to be rewritten two weeks prior to the Sydney run after Courtney Act suffered a broken leg while skiing in Canada. Soap star
Virginia Gay from Channel 7's
All Saints joined the cast to play Courtney's body double. ''I'm Every Woman'', commissioned by the
Sydney Opera House, paid tribute to Ashley's favourite divas living and dead. The show was nominated for a Sydney Theatre Award for Best Cabaret. He has nominated for a
Helpmann Award for Best Cabaret Performer for
Diamonds are for Trevor in 2012, in which Ashley appeared as
Shirley Bassey.
Liza (on a E), featuring his impersonation of
Liza Minnelli, had seasons in Australian and the UK. In 2015, he announced a new cabaret show, entitled ''Liza's Back! (is broken)'', debuting at the Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne from 21–31 January 2016. He played Natalie Portly in his adult pantomime
Fat Swan in 2012, a
Black Swan parody written with longtime collaborator Phil Scott. His 2013 musical comedy
Little Orphan trAshley starred
Rhonda Burchmore and
Gary Sweet.
Theatre Ashley created the role of Miss Understanding in the original cast of
Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical. He performed the role over 600 times in Sydney and Melbourne, and is featured on the original cast recording, singing "
What's Love Got To Do With It?". He performed in
Jerry Springer: The Opera under the direction of
Gale Edwards at the
Sydney Opera House in 2009. In 2010–2011, Ashley played the role of Edna Turnblad in
Hairspray in Melbourne and Sydney. In July 2012, Ashley appeared as Franz Leibkind in
The Producers for
The Production Company in
Melbourne. Ashley played
Thenadier in the Australian 2014–2015 tour of
Les Misérables, opposite Lara Mulcahy as Madame Thenadier. For this role, he was nominated for a
Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical and received a Best Supporting Performer in Music Theatre (male) Award at Sydney's 2015
Glugs Awards. In 2015, Ashley directed the Australian premiere of
Heathers: The Musical. The production was first staged at
Hayes Theatre in Sydney for a 19-day run, and then was transferred the following year for short seasons in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney (with the latter being an encore production staged at the
Sydney Opera House). 2017 saw Ashley play King Herod in the Australian revival of
Jesus Christ Superstar, starring alongside
Rob Mills as Christ. The production ran from 29 July to 13 August at
Arts Centre Melbourne. He played Roger De Bris in the
Menier Chocolate Factory revival of
The Producers, opening December 2024 in London. The production transferred to the
Garrick Theatre in 2025 and is scheduled to run until February 2026.
Television In 2012, Australian network
SBS announced it had commissioned a pilot called
The Very Trevor Ashley Show. It was shown as a one-night-only program in May 2012. Ashley stars in a recurring role as drag queen Dolly Hardon in Australian medical drama
RFDS In 2023, Ashley competed on the
second season of
Queen of the Universe and placed as the runner-up when the finale aired on 23 June 2023. == Stage credits ==