John Epperson (born April 24, 1955) is an American

drag artist A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

, actor, pianist, vocalist, and writer who is mainly known for creating his stage character Lypsinka. As Lypsinka he

lip-synch Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated thr ...

s 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

Hazlehurst, Mississippi Hazlehurst is a city in and the county seat of Copiah County, Mississippi, United States, located about south of the state capital Jackson along Interstate 55. The population was 4,009 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan S ...

. He took lessons in classical piano from an early age. After high school he enrolled at Belhaven College in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

. After graduating from Belhaven he got a job playing piano in Colorado, but in 1978 he moved to New York and became a full-time rehearsal pianist for the

American Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

in 1980. 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 returned to his position at American Ballet Theater on a part-time basis.Rapp, Linda
Profile
, ''An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture'' online (ed. Claude J. Summers), 2005; accessed November 26, 2006.

Work

Lypsinka first appeared in 1982, and for the first time Off Broadway in September 1988 when Epperson's act was a late-night addition to the bill of

Charles Busch Charles Louis Busch (born August 23, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and drag queen, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote and starred in his early plays Off-off- ...

's ''Vampire Lesbians of Sodom'' at the Provincetown Playhouse in New York. She has appeared in evening-length solo shows Off-Broadway, including ''Lypsinka! The Boxed Set'' and ''Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching'', both of which were originally produced in New York by

TWEED TheaterWorks TweedTheaterworks, also known as TWEED, Tweed Ensemble, and theatretweed, is an experimental theatre company founded in 1983. It is known for its ''Fractured Classicks'' series, Parody, satirical interpretations of classic American Play (theatre), ...

. However, both those named shows were first produced by Epperson in San Francisco, and ''Lypsinka! The Boxed Set'' was titled ''Lypsinka's Greatest Hits'' in San Francisco. According to Epperson, the prototype for Lypsinka was singer

Dolores Gray Dolores Gray (born Sylvia Dolores Finkelstein; June 7, 1924 – June 26, 2002) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical twice, winning once. Early life She was born as Sylvia ...

.Pela, Robrt L
"'Kind of a drag': Lypsinka is much more than a drag queen"
, ''Phoenix News Times'', April 8, 2004. Epperson was a frequent performer at

Wigstock Wigstock was an annual outdoor drag festival that began in 1984 in Manhattan's East Village that took place on Labor Day. Continuing, with a few gaps, until 2005, the festival would traditionally act as the unofficial end to the summer for the ...

. At Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. Epperson performed an autobiographical theatrical solo show, ''Show Trash'' (2004), out of drag, talking, playing the piano and singing in his own voice. In Winter 2004, in a different drag role, Epperson played the Wicked Stepmother in the New York City Opera's revival of

Rodgers Rodgers is a patronymic surname of Old English origin derived from the Norman personal name "Roger", with the addition of the genitive suffix "-s" and meaning “son of Roger.” The intrusive “d” in Rodgers is either a Welsh or Scottish ...

Hammerstein Hammerstein is a municipality on the river Rhine in the district of Neuwied in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous co ...

's ''Cinderella'' in a cast with

Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt (born Eartha Mae Keith; January 17, 1927 – December 25, 2008) was an American singer and actress known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 recordings of "C'est si bon" and the Christmas novelty song "Santa Ba ...

Dick Van Patten Richard Vincent Van Patten (December 9, 1928 – June 23, 2015) was an American actor, comedian, businessman, and animal welfare advocate, whose career spanned seven decades of television. He was best known for his role as patriarch Tom Brad ...

and

Renée Taylor Renée Adorée Taylor (née Wexler; born March 19, 1933) is an American actress, screenwriter, playwright, producer and director.Taylor was nominated for an Academy Award for co-writing the screenplay for the film ''Lovers and Other Strangers'' ...

. In 1985 at The Pyramid Club Epperson wrote the book, music and lyrics for a musical ''Ballet of the Dolls'', a parody of the novel and film '' Valley of the Dolls'' and the ballet world. He also appeared briefly in that production as a reporter named Jonathan Susann. In 1988 ''Ballet of the Dolls'' had a second revised production at La Mama Experiment Theatre Club. Also at The Pyramid Club in 1986 Epperson had another musical, ''Dial "M" For Model'', for which he also wrote the book, music and lyrics. He had a larger role as a female model Mannequin St. Claire. The show was determinedly silly and presented in comic book style in its depiction of cartoonish goings-on in the fashion world of the 1960s. In 1987 "Dial 'M' For Model" moved from The Pyramid Club to La Mama Experimental Theatre Club. Epperson played Mrs. Wilson in the movie ''Another Gay Movie''. Epperson provided a commentary track for the 2006 Special Edition

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

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 Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress with a career spanning more than 50 years and 100 acting credits. She was noted for playing unsympathetic, sardonic characters, and was famous for her pe ...

and

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

, titled ''Blind Ambition'', with contributions from Busch and Epperson. Epperson wrote a play, ''My Deah'', his version of the

Medea In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...

tale transplanted to Mississippi which debuted at the June Havoc Theater in New York in 2006. In 1999, Epperson 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 The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent upon c ...

'' as a rehearsal pianist for a fictional New York City ballet company. More recently in New York in 2014 he appeared in the Off Broadway event ''Lypsinka! The Trilogy'', a production that included three of his shows: revivals of ''Lypsinka! The Boxed Set'' and ''The Passion of the Crawford'' and ''John Epperson: Show Trash''. The latter production is autobiographical and in it Epperson tells of growing up in Mississippi, moving to New York, working at the ballet, creating Lypsinka, etc. In 2015 he played Queen Aggravain in the Off Broadway revival of the musical ''Once Upon a Mattress''. In 2016 he appeared at Feinstein's/54 Below and Joe's Pub in his cabaret show ''John Epperson: The Artist Principally Known As Lypsinka''. In early 2017 he acted a male role in a play by

Wallace Shawn Wallace Michael Shawn (born November 12, 1943) is an American actor, playwright, and essayist. His film roles include Wally Shawn (a fictionalized version of himself) in '' My Dinner with Andre'' (1981), Vizzini in ''The Princess Bride'' (1987), ...

''Evening at the Talk House''. The Shawn play was produced Off Broadway by

The New Group The New Group, is a New York City Off-Broadway theatrical troupe founded by Artistic Director Scott Elliott, that produced its first play, Mike Leigh's '' Ecstasy'', in 1995. The New Group is run by founding Artistic Director, Scott Elliott, an ...

, and included in the cast were Shawn,

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994), ...

Larry Pine Larry Pine (born March 3, 1945) is an American actor. A veteran of the Broadway stage, he began his career playing the role of Fop in the 1968 production of ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. He has since starred in film and television, with recurring roles ...

and

Jill Eikenberry Jill Susan Eikenberry (born January 21, 1947) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as lawyer Ann Kelsey on the NBC drama '' L.A. Law'' (1986–94), for which she is a five-time Emmy Award and four-time Go ...

. In 2001 he posed for a

PETA Peta or PETA may refer to: Acronym * Pembela Tanah Air, a militia established by the occupying Japanese in Indonesia in 1943 * People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an American animal rights organization * People Eating Tasty Animals, an ...

ad campaign promoting

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

Awards

For his show ''Lypsinka! The Boxed Set'' Epperson won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Sound Design, the

LA Weekly Theater Award LA Weekly Theater Award was an annual critics' award system established in 1979, organized by the '' LA Weekly'' for outstanding achievements in small theatre productions in Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal ...

for Best Solo Performance, and the

Helen Hayes Award The Helen Hayes Awards are theater awards recognizing excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are named in tribute of Helen Hayes, who is also known as the "First Lady of American Theatre." They ar ...

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."

References

External links