Brighton's best...
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Lola: Behind the makeup...
review Preconceptions... everyone has them don't they? At least, I assume they do. I must admit, I was half expecting to have to don a pashmina and talk in an overproduced theatrical voice. As it happened, we had a really nice chat. The guy is unassuming, unpretentious and, helpfully for me, frank and open.Stephen tells me that it all started fourteen years ago. He was working as a barman at The Two Brewers in Clapham and on the odd occasion would do drag for charity nights. He entered a few talent nights, won the heats, did well in the final and Lola was born.
Stephen clearly has a soft spot for Brighton, but where else is there for a circuit drag act? Manchester, perhaps? He says he's never had a bad booking in Manchester, but that Queer As Folk really didn't do it any favours. Birmingham, he says, has a good vibe. But Brighton's definitely where his heart is. So, what about creating a gay village for Brighton? Stephen shrugs, "it makes commercial sense for the bars to be centered around Revenge which already gives us a sense of community. It also helps at night to know that there are people around." But he is in two minds, it seems. He also enjoys the much more mixed clientele at the Harlequin, which is certainly not in the centre of it all. I broach the thorny subject of friendships and relationships - and Stephen is unashamedly open. He has a good circle of friends and tries very hard to put time aside for them, which can often be a struggle. As anyone self-employed will attest to, you take the work when you can. Tonight, for instance, the act has pulled out of the Queens Arms cabaret spot and Lola is standing in. This means he is working two shows with a large proportion of the same audience. So, he has to cancel his arranged night out. Being high profile in a small city means that he knows a lot of people to say hello to, but he thinks that because he needs to be sharp as Lola people think he's constantly like that. He admits to not having a very high patience threshold (typical gemini) and having drunken queens going up to him in bars and clubs to give him a constructive appraisal of his act doesn't go down too well. Relationships, he says, are a bit of a no-go at the moment. Stephen seems quite resigned to the fact that now is just not the time. "Maybe it's the job... maybe I just need to lose some weight". A sparkles comes into his eyes as he adds, "but I don't go without!". Hoping for a blow by blow account of handbags at dawn and stage-bosoms at twenty paces, I try to get the dirt on the other drag acts on the circuit. Do they all get on? A slight pause. "Yes" is the answer. Stephen has known Maisie Trollette, Stephen has been involved in Pride for seven years and for six of them has compered the Cabaret Tent. He does the whole lot - from booking the acts to teetering on a chair patching the tent up to stop the rain coming through! He certainly thinks that Brighton's Pride is the best in the country. So, who does he find funny? He always enjoyed watching Morecambe & Wise and Stanley Baxter on the Christmas specials, Victoria Wood and the old cliches, but as he points out, a gag is a gag is a gag and the ability to make it funny is down to the person. He doesn't make it sound very easy. "I can take to the stage with about 15 jokes in my head to tell, and tell none of them because something's happened, or someone is there, and I go off on a tangent. He admits to enjoying the singing more. "The song is when people go to the bar, to the toilet or start talking - most people listen to the jokes - so to keep their attention during a song can be a challenge and when you manage it gives you a real buzz". He likes working with John Bruzon. "I get to try out new songs" he says, "but obviously in some venues people have had a few drinks and you need to just belt them out - something that people can join in with". River Deep Mountain High is a favourite as he later demonstrates. It strikes me that it's a brave thing to do to get up in front of a lot of lagered up queens - although, as Lola explains in her show, there is a new breakthrough in alcohol testing in pubs... called the karaoke machine! Lola needs to get ready for her show now, so we leave her and take our place in the audience. Her show lasts a good hour and a half and goes down superbly. Ten minutes later, she is dashing to the Queens Arms for the second one. I follow, intrigued to see if it is the same. It isn't. Different songs and different jokes. The audience is impressed. I'm impressed... Under his makeup and wig, I'm sure that Stephen was quietly pleased.
about Legends Bar
about Lola Lasagne
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...leave a yum! on a photo of someone you've taken a shine to to let them know you care! How to Yum!
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The Aquarium Theatre Bar
He has always been interested in musicals and theatre but never got to stage school as a child, so this is a way of realising an earlier dream. "I enjoy what I do, particularly in Brighton", he says, "because they really like live cabaret and I get a buzz out of it". After his brief fling with The Big Breakfast, something he doesn't say an awful lot about (I get the feeling he didn't particularly enjoy it), he has no burning desire to do television. "I don't think there is really a place on television for a drag queen anymore". He goes on, "Lilly did an improved version on Dame Edna and the camp flamboyant thing has been done by Julian Clary, Dale Winton and Graham Norton - you would really need to better it, and I couldn't see myself bettering what has already been done". He also intimates that there was more than met the eye with the 'Britney Ferry' Faking It episode.
Dave Lynn and Phil Starr for years before Lola made an appearance. He feels closest to Dave, although he lets me in on the fact that working with Dave has its moments. "Dave is like a loose canon on stage", he says, "you never know what he'll do next". Stephen obviously has a lot of respect for all his colleagues and a very high regard of Phil Starr. "He's a great comedian who just happens to be in drag" he says, and feels that they work well together feeding each other the gags. There are no plans to pair up with any of his colleagues at the moment, although there are always opportunities for charity events and Pride.
