John Epperson
Encyclopedia
John Epperson is an American drag artist
, actor, pianist, vocalist and writer who is mainly known for creating his stage character Lypsinka. As Lypsinka he is lip-synching to meticulously edited show-length soundtracks culled from snippets of outrageous 20th-century female performances in movies and song.
, Mississippi. He took lessons in classical piano from an early age. After high school he enrolled at Belhaven College
in Jackson
, Mississippi. After graduating from Belhaven he got a job playing piano in Colorado, but in 1978 he moved to New York and became a rehearsal pianist for the American Ballet Theater. In addition he began doing drag performances at nightspots such as Club 57
and the Pyramid Club
. Epperson quit his job with the American Ballet Theater in 1991 in order to perform full-time as Lypsinka. He has since returned to his position at American Ballet Theater.
's Vampire Lesbians of Sodom at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York. She has appeared in evening-length solo shows Off-Broadway, including The Boxed Set and As I Lay Lip-Synching. According to Epperson, the prototype for Lypsinka is Dolores Gray.
John Epperson is a frequent performer at Wigstock
. Epperson has also performed an autobiographical solo cabaret show, Show Trash (2004), out of drag, talking and singing in his own voice.
In Winter 2004, Epperson (in a different drag role) played the role of the Wicked Stepmother in the New York City Opera's revival of Rodgers
& Hammerstein
's Cinderella in a cast with Eartha Kitt
, Dick van Patten
and fellow Wigstock veteran Renee Taylor
.
Epperson also played Mrs. Wilson in the movie "Another Gay Movie".
Epperson provided a commentary track for the 2006 "Special Edition" DVD release of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
, along with Charles Busch. The second disc of the set also contains a short feature about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, titled 'Blind Ambition', with contributions from Busch and Epperson.
He has also written a play, My Deah, his version of the Medea
tale transplanted to Mississippi which debuted at the June Havoc Theater in New York (2006).
In 1999, John appeared in a non-drag role in the critically acclaimed verbatim play "Messages for Gary" written by Patrick Horrigan and produced by Paul Lucas.
Epperson appears in a speaking role in the 2010 film Black Swan
as a rehearsal pianist for a New York City ballet company.
for Best Sound Design, the LA Weekly Theater Award
for Best Solo Performance, and the Helen Hayes Award
for Best Non-resident Production in 2003.
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
, actor, pianist, vocalist and writer who is mainly known for creating his stage character Lypsinka. As Lypsinka he is lip-synching to meticulously edited show-length soundtracks culled from snippets of outrageous 20th-century female performances in movies and song.
Early life
Epperson was born in HazlehurstHazlehurst, Mississippi
Hazlehurst is a city in and the county seat of Copiah County, Mississippi, United States, located about 30 miles south of the state capital Jackson along Interstate 55. The population was 4,400 at the 2000 census...
, Mississippi. He took lessons in classical piano from an early age. After high school he enrolled at Belhaven College
Belhaven College
Belhaven University is a private Christian liberal arts university located in Jackson, Mississippi. Founded by Dr. Lewis Fitzhugh and later donated to the now defunct Presbyterian Church in the United States, the school has been independently run by a Board of Trustees since 1972...
in Jackson
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
, Mississippi. After graduating from Belhaven he got a job playing piano in Colorado, but in 1978 he moved to New York and became a rehearsal pianist for the American Ballet Theater. In addition he began doing drag performances at nightspots such as Club 57
Club 57
Club 57 was a nightclub located at 57 St. Mark's Place in the East Village, New York City during the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was a hangout and venue for performance- and visual-artists and musicians, including Madonna, Keith Haring, Cyndi Lauper, Charles Busch, Klaus Nomi, The B-52s, Futura...
and the Pyramid Club
Pyramid Club
__notoc__The Pyramid Club is a nightclub in the East Village of Manhattan, New York City. After opening in 1979, the Pyramid helped define the East Village drag and gay scenes of the 1980s...
. Epperson quit his job with the American Ballet Theater in 1991 in order to perform full-time as Lypsinka. He has since returned to his position at American Ballet Theater.
Work
Lypsinka first met her public in late 1988 when Epperson's act was a late-night addition to the bill of Charles BuschCharles Busch
Charles Louis Busch is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and female impersonator, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, which was a success on Broadway.-Early life:Busch was born in 1954 and...
's Vampire Lesbians of Sodom at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York. She has appeared in evening-length solo shows Off-Broadway, including The Boxed Set and As I Lay Lip-Synching. According to Epperson, the prototype for Lypsinka is Dolores Gray.
John Epperson is a frequent performer at Wigstock
Wigstock
Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in the 1980s in New York's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Traditionally the festival would act as the unofficial end to the summer for the gay community of New York City...
. Epperson has also performed an autobiographical solo cabaret show, Show Trash (2004), out of drag, talking and singing in his own voice.
In Winter 2004, Epperson (in a different drag role) played the role of the Wicked Stepmother in the New York City Opera's revival of Rodgers
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers was an American composer of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricists Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II...
& Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
's Cinderella in a cast with Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
, Dick van Patten
Dick Van Patten
Richard Vincent "Dick" Van Patten is an American actor, best known for his role as patriarch Tom Bradford on the television sitcom Eight is Enough. He began work as a child actor and was successful on the [New York] stage, appearing in more than a dozen plays as a teenager...
and fellow Wigstock veteran Renee Taylor
Renee Taylor
Renée Taylor is an American actress, Academy Award nominated writer and one-time director, best-known for having played Fran Drescher's outspoken mother, Sylvia Fine, on the TV series The Nanny.- Career :...
.
Epperson also played Mrs. Wilson in the movie "Another Gay Movie".
Epperson provided a commentary track for the 2006 "Special Edition" DVD release of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (film)
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the novel of the same name by Henry Farrell...
, along with Charles Busch. The second disc of the set also contains a short feature about Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, titled 'Blind Ambition', with contributions from Busch and Epperson.
He has also written a play, My Deah, his version of the Medea
Medea
Medea is a woman in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, niece of Circe, granddaughter of the sun god Helios, and later wife to the hero Jason, with whom she had two children, Mermeros and Pheres. In Euripides's play Medea, Jason leaves Medea when Creon, king of...
tale transplanted to Mississippi which debuted at the June Havoc Theater in New York (2006).
In 1999, John appeared in a non-drag role in the critically acclaimed verbatim play "Messages for Gary" written by Patrick Horrigan and produced by Paul Lucas.
Epperson appears in a speaking role in the 2010 film Black Swan
Black Swan (film)
Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological thriller film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Natalie Portman, Vincent Cassel and Mila Kunis. Its plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake ballet by a prestigious New York City company. The production requires a ballerina to...
as a rehearsal pianist for a New York City ballet company.
Awards
For his show Lypsinka! The Boxed Set Epperson won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle AwardLos Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award
The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards is an annual awards program presented by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle . Established in 1969, the awards recognize excellence in theatre in the Greater Los Angeles Area....
for Best Sound Design, the LA Weekly Theater Award
LA Weekly Theater Award
LA Weekly Theater Award is an annual critics' award established in 1979, given by the LA Weekly for outstanding achievements in small theatre productions in Southern California...
for Best Solo Performance, and the Helen Hayes Award
Helen Hayes Award
A Helen Hayes Award is a theater award named for the famed actress Helen Hayes to recognize excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are managed by Linda Levy Grossman. and presented by the Washington Theatre Awards Society.-Awards:The Helen Hayes...
for Best Non-resident Production in 2003.
Quotes
- "I don't like the term "drag queen," because it describes an amateur. Why not call me an actor? I suppose drag artist would be okay."
- "Epperson has commented that, "It's so easy to do misogynistic drag humor" but that he has "deliberately tried to avoid that". He adds that, "A lot of women, when they see the show, felt liberated and empowered." (...) He intends his own work as "a commentary of performance in general and drag performance specifically." However outrageous Lypsinka may be, she is always at heart affectionate toward the women to whose work she performs."