Ashley is a performer and creative based in Chicago, Illinois.
Ashley was born and raised in the Chicagoland area. Early on, she had access to different opportunities, resources, and teachers that inspired her to pursue her interest in the Arts.
They started with a focus on acting and continued to grow that passion at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in New York. Graduating their two-year conservatory program in a year and a half. After graduating, Ashley continued to seek out different performance opportunities and even co-produced a cabaret that offered former AMDA students a stage to perform.
However, Ashley has always been a person to pursue all of their interests and while studying at AMDA she worked in their costume shop. This developed a love of sewing and designing. Working on the bigger picture, not just one aspect of it.
Ashley lived in New York for four lovely years and grew as an artist tenfold during that time. Continuing to work on the wardrobe crew for different productions, acting in various short films and plays, as well as developing and performing as her drag persona “Reya Sunshine”.
Reya was created due to a love of drag and a desire to perform. As Reya, Ashley performed on multiple stages across New York City. Her biggest accomplishment in drag to date is competing in Cycle 11 of The Ultimate Drag Pageant hosted by Marti Gould Cummings at The West End Lounge. An intense 8-week competition that challenges contestants with a different theme for each week’s performance. Although she did not win, being put through that gauntlet left her with a solid foundation in her drag.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Ashley decided to relocate back to the Chicagoland area. Now living in Evanston, she is looking forward to diving into her upcoming opportunities within the world of wardrobe and design, bringing Reya back out to play, and singing to their heart’s content! ✨