Alyssa Edwards headlines GDMAF’s Night of Stars fundraising show on Saturday, Sept. 12,
at The Rose Room (Photo by Tios Photography)
TAMMYE NASH | Managing Editor
Nash@DallasVoice.com
Interviewing Alyssa Edwards (aka Justin Johnson) is kind of like having a conversation with a tornado — and I mean that in the best possible way. Because Alyssa Edwards is ALWAYS on the move, even when she is back home in North Texas “getting some rest.”
“Right now, I am back home, where the heart is,” Alyssa said in a recent telephone interview.
“I just left my workout class in Uptown, Barry’s Boot Camp. Going there and getting to be the student and putting my physical and mental health at the forefront of my focus is so nurturing. I feel good.”
…………………..
GDMAF ‘Night of Stars’
Saturday, Sept. 12, 5-9 p.m.
The Rose Room @S4
3911 Cedar Springs Road
Tickets start at $32.83, available EventBrite.com
………………..
While it’s good to be busy and so in demand, she continued, it’s also good to “have time for myself, time to reconnect with my partner of five years, time to just take care of Justin.”
Being home for a while gives her a chance to relax, get some sleep and refill her tank for the weeks and months ahead, Alyssa said. And that is vital, because keeping up with her schedule “takes a lot of premium fuel. Super premium.”
Alyssa’s appearances on RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5 in 2013 and then on Drag Race All-Stars 2 in 2016 made her a household name, even though she did not win those competitions. But she was already a drag legend before she ever stepped foot on a Drag Race stage, with titles starting in 2005 with Miss Gay Texas America, followed in 2006 with Miss Texas FFI and Miss Gay USofA, then Miss Shining Star Continental in 2009 and then, later that year, with Miss Gay America 2010.
Then, in 2024, Alyssa returned to the Drag Race world, representing the U.S., and claimed the title of the first-ever “Queen of the Mother-Tucking World” by winning RuPaul’s Drag Race Global All Stars Season 1. In the last year, she toured Canada as host of the Murray & Peter production War on the Catwalk, getting home at the end of March with just enough time to repack her bags and head out on her own solo tour, To RuPaul, Thanks for Everything, Alicia Edwards.
And that tour — a semi-scripted one-woman show taking the audience on a tour of Alyssa’s life — closed June 5, just in time for Alyssa to start getting ready to headline the 2026 installment of The Greg Dollgener Memorial AIDS Fund’s Night of Stars fundraising show on Sept. 19 in The Rose Room.
Beyond Night of Stars? “Some really fun adventures that are gonna be so important,” Alyssa promised, adding that one day she will write her memoir and call it The Legendary Life Stories of a Traveling Queen.
“I’ve lived my whole life on stage,” Alyssa said. “That shy gay boy from Mesquite? I’ve learned that was performative. I was always playing some type of role to satisfy someone else. But being on TV — that was like getting the golden ticket to the chocolate factory. I got that, and now I am at that place in my life and my career where I get to kind of own my own schedule.”
But that remains a very hectic schedule, no matter who is calling the shots. There are performances like Night of Stars, and there are guest appearances, and there are judging gigs at drag pageants, and there are dance competitions with Beyond Belief.
Speaking of dance, Alyssa — or rather, Justin — just kicked off the 26th season of Beyond Belief Dance Company, as its founder and director. And that is a role he treasures as he and his students head into “a new season with new energy and still the same passion for dance.”
“I think some people think of drag as being my job, and the dance studio is a hobby. But this has never been ‘just a hobby,’” Alyssa declared. “For me — a queer man and a drag performer — having the chance to really follow my passion to mentor youth, to mentor young artists, is so rewarding, so beautiful.
“I love what I do, all of it — even those Texas stage moms. I get so emotional talking about it,” she added.
Alyssa recently got the opportunity to take that mentorship beyond the dance studio when she was asked to be a mentor with the D&M Emerging Artists Awards program. This is a national artist development program launched by the Daniel and Marcella Nutkis Charitable Foundation to support early-career choreographers and movement artists. The first year centers exclusively on performance, choreography and movement, making it a perfect fit for Alyssa — uh, Justin.
“I am so honored that I am on the committee mentors for this,” Alyssa said. “This is going to be an extravaganza, a real event. It’s so great to be part of celebrating these choreographers who can benefit from these grants in so many ways. That’s life-changing.
“I think back to when I was 19, and all I wanted was for people to see my work. And now, fast-forward to today, and here I am — a mentor! What a privilege to get to share my passion and my years of experience.”
Alyssa said that while she loves all the opportunities she had — and continues to have — to travel the world, she also loves getting to come home, especially when she gets to come home and perform for an event like Night of Stars.
“When I got the call to be part of Night of Stars, I was so thrilled,” she said. “I am always thrilled to get a chance to perform in Dallas, because Dallas has always been a safety net for me. Everyone in this community has supported me and lifted me up.
“When I was down and out over being dethroned [Alyssa was stripped of the Miss Gay America title following a conflict with the pageant system officials], it was Dallas and the state of Texas that helped me keep going,” Alyssa said. “I am eternally grateful to have this community here that has been so celebratory of the art of drag, and during Drag Race, to have people here saying, ‘We’re team Alyssa! We’re supporting you,’ that meant so much.”
Being celebrated throughout the world? “My gosh! That’s wonderful1 But then coming home and being reminded that the people here support you and are proud of you — that’s the cherry on top. And then, to be part of something like Night of Stars, helping provide assistance for people in our community is even better. I cannot wait to bring the energy and the love to the stage.”
Now, more than halfway through her 46th year, Alyssa said that while she is always looking ahead at what’s to come, she has also been looking back with gratitude at her life so far.
“I redid my home recently and my office, and I was looking at all these photos of myself, at all the interviews I’ve done, and I thought, ‘Wow! Look at this! Look at what you’ve accomplished, at what you’ve created,” she said. “This is the life I have always dreamed of.
You know, I don’t HAVE to do the things I do; I GET to do those things. I’m fortunate — my passion and my purpose have collided.
“You know, when you have a dream, you have to have a work ethic, you have to learn to persevere to make that dream come true. I have never stopped working; I have never given up on my dreams or my goals. And I am proud of who I am today. I am proud of the reflection I see in the mirror.
“But” she added, “don’t you all get confused! I may be a little more experienced today, but I still have that fire. I still have those dreams and goals. And just when I thought I’ve arrived — the best is yet to come!”