Lypsinka: Grandes Dames

That's french for women of presence and ability.

Undress the fabulous glamourpuss known as Lypsinka and you'll find a man named John Epperson. Unlike the Lyp, as she's affectionately called, John is a down-to-earth, thoughtful guy.

John grew up in Hazlehurst, Mississippi where he studied classical piano. He came to New York hoping to become a Broadway star. Though yet to conquer that particular stage, as Lypsinka he's wowed 'em Off-Broadway, been seen on HBO and MTV, and paraded the catwalks of fashion designers Thierry Mugler, Valentino and Pauline Trigere. John and Lypsinka were both seen in the movie Wigstock. The Lyp appears at the Arts Bank, Sept. 14-16, performing her smash hit Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching. In it shemouths andmoves to a collage of clips culled from vintage movies and other media featuring a bevy of babes, both famous and obscure, including entertainment icons, wild bitches and dear old mom. Lypsinka pulls drag into the realm of high art and sophisticated satire.

You studied piano as a child and came to New York to play piano for the American Ballet Theater. You've studied ballet, too. Did you think you might want to pursue a career in ballet?

I did study ballet, but I didn't start till I was 22, which is way too late as far as having a career in it goes. But I thought I should know about dancing if I was going to be a Broadway musical star. Which is what I thought was going to happen. I thought I'd move to New York and be in Hello Dolly.

What part would you play?

I figured I'd be the juvenile lead — the Michael Crawford part. But when I got here they weren't doing Hello Dolly anymore.

Hey, your time has come. It's been revived.

Yeah, but now I should be Dolly.

When was the first time you performed in drag?

I think it was this thing I did with a guy named John Sex called Acts of Live Art. It was at this firetrap called Club 57. It was a dump, in the basement of a Polish church, St. Marks Place, in the East Village. They showed movies there a lot... it was something different every night. I knew that if I ever performed in drag I would have to find the right place to try it out, and I knew this was a place where I could do a live performance and call it art. I couldn't call it art in Mississippi; I'd be run out on a rail. But in New York you can call anything art, believe me.

So you always knew you wanted to perform in drag?

I had it in the back of my mind even when I thought I was going to be a Broadway star. But I felt it had to be done in a way that was rooted in tradition. When I say tradition, lip-synching is a very traditional gay form. The Irish dance jigs, Native Americans do tribal dances and gay men get in drag and lip-synch. It's just something that happens. But I've tried to push it to extremes.

Later I found out what I was doing is called post-modernism. But I didn't know that's what it was. When I heard people said that, I thought, duh, what's that?... I wasn't trying to make some political art statement. I was just trying to entertain people and do it in a way that pleased myself.

Would you say that still holds true for As I Lay Lip-Synching?

As I Lay Lip Synching isn't any kind of statement about post-modern art. But it is a statement about some of my own emotional frustrations.

Is Lypsinka's persona modeled after anyone in particular?

It's based on an actress named Dolores Gray — she's from the '50s. It was between her and a woman named Kay Thompson who made a movie called Funny Face with Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire.

What aspects of their acting attracted you?

Really larger than life, very musical and wildly choreographed. Big arms, big face, big everything. It's a very '50s artificial type of performing.

Describe Lypsinka's stage persona.

Oh, she's haughty and neurotic and vulnerable. A contradiction, really. She's strong and she's weak. She's funny and she's sad. She's like the embodiment of every diva. You've heard of Everyman, well, she's Everydiva.

How is your own personality different from Lypsinka's?

Lypsinka is self-absorbed, and I'm very pragmatic and worry too much.

So the Lyp is carefree?

Not really. Just don't get in her way.

Does she speak at all in As I Lay Lip-Synching?

There's music playing as the audience comes in and then the lights go down. The soundtrack for the show starts and there's a little prologue that tells you the status of Lypsinka's mind and the show begins. But we work very hard to get the illusion that I'm speaking. I guarantee you, if the sound and light quality is good at this theater you will believe you've heard my voice. But you haven't heard it at all.

How did you decide on what clips to use?

I picked ones that fit the mood. I was trying to convey a lot and the show is about the fine line between love and hate... I use a clip with a woman going "I hate him! I hate him. No I don't, I love him!" That kind of thing.

Why do you think the lip-synching shtick works?

It's kind of a surrealist experience. If the adventurous audience is willing to come and let this happen, then it works. But if I were to do it in Timbuktu, they'd think, what the hell is this? They wouldn't get it at all. Perhaps it depends on how freewheeling the audience is going to be.

Your lip-synching is very powerful, very effective.

I'm trained as a classical musician and I think that has a lot to do with it. It's about timing. Even the spoken parts have rhythm... One thing I did with this show, I took the third movement of the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and put sound bites on top of it. Who'd have ever thought that lines from Mommie Dearest would fit perfectly with the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra? But they do.

Looks like your previous career is paying off. It takes a classical musician to know that.

Exactly. A classical musician who loves Faye Dunaway.

Drag is being embraced by the mainstream more and more. The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was a hit...Wigstock... Now we have To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar. What did you think of that last one?

It's all right. I didn't like the fact that it's going to confuse people even more. It will make people think that those who perform in drag are in drag all the time. Because in the movie, they are. But you and I know, three men would never realistically travel across the country in a car, dressed as women, all the time. It would never happen. It's total fantasy.

Do you think there's a certain kind of person who goes into the drag business?

Oh yeah. I know there are. But it's not the kind of drag I do. There's all different kinds of drag. They can't tell the whole story in one movie, or one book, or one essay. It's too complicated. And what's a drag queen? What's a drag performer? What's a transvestite? A transsexual? The list goes on.

So what are you?

I'm a drag performer. If you're really kind you can call me a drag artist. But what I really am is just an actor strutting his stuff on stage. A glamorous clown.

PAPA presents John Epperson/ Lypsinkain As I Lay Lip-Synching, Philadelphia Arts Bank, 601 N. Broad St., Sept. 14-16. A Sunday, Sept. 17 performance has been added to meet ticket demand. (893-1145).