Sapphira Cristál shines bright like a diamond on a new tour

We fell in love with Sapphira Cristál on season 16 of RuPaul’s Drag Race. She wowed us in the talent show showcasing her angelic voice, her James Brown impersonation was a highlight of the Snatch Game and her elegant looks rocked the runway. Her fellow queens and Mama Ru agreed, giving her runner-up honors as well as the Miss Congeniality crown.

Sapphira is hitting the road with a reworking of her recent The Cristál Ball tour with a new show, Sapphira Cristál Presents: One Slue Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, coming this week to City Winery venues in Atlanta, St. Louis and Nashville. 

We had the chance to chat with Sapphira to talk about the tour, what she’s been up to since Drag Race, new music and lots more in our exclusive interview. We also got the opportunity to put her in the hot seat for the Socialite Seven. Catch up with this stunning performer who brings sparkle to every stage.

Could you tell me a little bit about the show and what we can expect? 

The show is a comedy show, actually. There’s a little bit of performance, a little bit of drag, some traditional lip sync, but mostly comedy. I did really well in the comedy challenge on my season and I did my tour last year, The Cristál Ball and it was so much fun doing that. I love to sing my own music and I got to dance with dancers, but, you know, just telling jokes and making people laugh is so much fun. And I was like, I can do that. All you have to do is take you around for that. I don’t have to bring dancers or a whole team.

So that’s what made it more accessible for me to be something I could bring again because the last one was very expensive. I still wanted to bring something to Atlanta and to the South because I really didn’t hit the South at all on my tour and that’s because I didn’t draft the dates.  I was like, why aren’t we going to Atlanta? Everybody’s talking about I need to come to Atlanta but there’s a good portion of The Cristál Ball in this show so you’ll see a good amount of it.

I talked to Honey Davenport recently and I know you two are working on a collaboration together. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Well, I mean, Honey Davenport is my life collaborator. She is my platonic life partner and just one of my closest friends I’ve ever had and we collaborate on so much. We’re doing a Christmas song together. It’s probably the one you’re thinking of. It’s got funk elements, hip hop elements, just all the things you want to hear in a song. I don’t rap a lot. I do a lot of singing, but I’m rapping in this and it’s just a lot of fun.

You’ve put out quite a bit of music, like “Enough”, which is one of my favorites. Are you planning on recording any new music?

Yes, I actually have an entire new album coming out this year and it’s called The Cristál Ball. I have new songs. I have “Get Your Flowers” that’s out now. I have “Enough” that’s out now, and I have “Keep It Cute” that’s out now. They are all also going to be on this album, but I also have some really fun kind of like disco hits and I have some really fun, just chill music. I like music that makes you feel good, that makes you feel like no matter what’s going on in this world, I’m vibing. I’m enjoying this life that I have right here.

You were so good at the talent show singing opera. Do you have any plans to record any opera?

I do sing a lot of opera and me, Monét X Change and Thorgy Thor have a project that we – and our director James Blaszko – have a project that we call Soundcake, and we were commissioned to create it by the Lincoln Center in New York City, and we’re probably going to hit a couple of places this year, and, you know, I might do an opera album. It just depends on if I actually have time to get in the studio and make it. And a good opera album isn’t even done in the studio. It’s done like in a church or in a big hall just so that you can get the proper acoustics and that’s an expensive endeavor. So…if someone wants to pay for my opera album, I welcome it. 

What has been the coolest thing that’s happened to you since being on Drag Race? 

Oh my God, I got to be in Madonna’s tour. I got to do three shows with her. I think I’m the person who did it the most. She enjoyed me the first time and was like, we need her back. And that, you know, that feels good to be wanted…to have been so professional and done the job so thoroughly that Madonna, one of the biggest perfectionists on this planet, is like “get her back. She’s what we need.” That was amazing. I got to go to the Emmys. I got to meet some of my favorite television stars.

I mean, honestly, I got to tour my own show and that was amazing and to meet all the people in this country who loved me. I got to go to Australia. I got to go to the UK to meet all the people in the world who have taken such a liking to me, and it gave me so much joy. It’s just like an amazing feeling that I have. You can’t recreate in any other way than just in doing it.

Besides your music, is there anything else up for you? I’m suspecting we have a lot of Miss Congeniality winners that end up on All Stars, so I’m assuming that if RuPaul makes the call, you will be on All Stars, right?

If I get the call, I will say yes. I will say that.

What is the dream for you?

I just want to be a household name that people think of all the time. Not even just last year, because I was on TV or this year because I have music coming out. But I want to work so much. I want to be seen on everything. I want people just to know who I am and love what I do. And that will bring me great joy. All the events that happen are great, but longevity will give me my most joy.

Sapphira Answers the Socialite Seven

Who has been the biggest influence on you in your career?

I love Leontine Price. She is an amazing opera singer who just stood in her truth and made sure that she worked hard to be known as one of the greatest.

RuPaul is another one who has just…you know, “say yes” is a good thing that you can hear from RuPaul. If they ask you, say yes. Make sure the check’s good but also say yes because it can open you to so many different opportunities in your life. I got that from RuPaul. And RuPaul never stops working.

They never stop working. They have really inspired me a lot because they don’t believe that now that they’re where they are in their status that they can rest on their laurels or just be Mama Ru. They’re like, no, I’ve still got new music I’m coming out with. I’m still putting out different things. We have Drag Race Vegas. They just keep churning out things they. People knew they were going to be a star and they continue to work for it because, you know, being a star is a lot of work. 

What is your biggest pet peeve?

I have so many.  One of my biggest pet peeves is people not communicating needs, desires and like where your mind is. We aren’t mind readers, so communicate how you feel about something and then you will probably get what you desire, but for you to expect someone to just assume things about you is an exercise in futility.

If you wrote your autobiography, what would the title be? 

Probably, One Slue Over the Cuckoo’s Nest!

What superpower or talent would you like to wake up with tomorrow? 

Oh, I’d like to wake up with the superpower of time travel…like time travel slash teleportation – just because it’d make getting to all my gigs that much easier.  I want to get to my places faster, and I don’t want to ever be late, so if I go back in time, then I’m not late.

What are three things you can’t live without? 

Music, my friends and good food. Oh, I just love good food. I mean, I love soul food, but I also love Vietnamese food and I love seafood. I could be a pescatarian. I really could. I really could do that because I love seafood so much.

What are you most grateful for? 

Life and all that it brings. I just love being alive and experiencing my own special, unique experience.

And I think you may have already said this when you were talking about RuPaul, but what’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given? 

Pay your taxes…that’s another piece of advice that RuPaul gave me. But yeah, just say yes.

Get tickets for Sapphira Cristál Presents: One Slue Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in Atlanta, St. Louis and Nashville. Follow Sapphira on YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram and on her website.