From Woody’s to RuPaul: Sapphira Cristál’s Glorious Journey
After 11 — yes, 11 — auditions, one Philly drag queen has achieved her dream of becoming a contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. But she’s not done dreaming.
Sapphira Cristál / Photograph by Joe Mac Creative
There came a time in early July when I was desperately trying to organize a photo shoot with drag queen Sapphira Cristál for our annual Best of Philly issue, in which she was a winner. We confirmed a session with our photographers. But Sapphira suddenly dropped off the face of the earth. She sent me a very rushed DM saying she had an emergency and would be unable to participate. We never took a photo. We didn’t receive any further messages. Zilch.
Fast-forward several months, and we now know why. Sapphira — known as Sapphi to her friends — had just found out she’d been chosen as a contestant for the 16th season of RuPaul’s Drag Race, which premiered on January 5th. She couldn’t tell a soul. She had to upend her life at B and Allegheny. Shapphira jetted out to Los Angeles to begin taping at Sunset Las Palmas Studios.
“I couldn’t believe it,” says Sapphira, 35. “This was my 11th audition for RuPaul.” She’s not exactly sure what set her audition video apart this time around. She submitted her first for Season 5, in 2012. “I was told that I just seemed really comfortable in my own skin and that I offered something, well, different.”
That’s an understatement. Your average nightclub drag queen does a splendid job twirling around while lip-synching to Madonna and Taylor Swift. But Sapphira is not just a real live singer. She’s a bona fide opera singer with a six-octave range — a talent like no other in the history of the show.
Speaking of firsts, Sapphira is also the first queen repping Philly on the show since its inception in 2009, back before drag went totally and utterly mainstream.
I was told that I just seemed really comfortable in my own skin and that I offered something, well, different.”
A native of Houston, Texas, where her family attended the same church as Beyoncé’s, Sapphira got her start in the performing arts at the age of six, when she began taking ballet. Voice lessons followed. She later studied music composition and vocal performance at New York’s rigorous Eastman School of Music, alma mater of such opera stars as Renée Fleming, and found her spot in the sequined drag spotlight when she was 20.
In 2014, romance brought Sapphira to our town, where she has graced the stages at Woody’s, Franky Bradley’s, Voyeur and Fabrika, among many others. Sapphira says she has no plans to give up Philadelphia as her home base anytime soon regardless of what happens with the show. So far, she’s doing quite well. Some favor her to win the whole thing. But Sapphira does have an ambitious goal for the not-too-distant future: “I want to tour the world with a real orchestra.” (Note to Yannick: Invite Sapphira to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra at June’s pride concert!)
Sapphira realizes touring the globe with a full symphony orchestra is a lofty pursuit, but it’s one she sees within reach. She learned how to produce large spectacles while working for her late father, a UFC fight promoter and MMA trainer. She clearly has the required talent. And now, Sapphira has in front of her a worldwide stage.
“It wasn’t meant to be before, but now, it’s exactly what is meant to be,” Sapphira observes. “And now is my time. Being part of something like RuPaul can really change my life. It already has.”
Published as “From Woody’s to RuPaul” in the February 2024 issue of Philadelphia magazine.
