Lypsinka is, briefly, back in New York, and beginning January 27, 2000, for two weekends (six performances only), she revives her spoof of a classic Lana Turner four-hankie in Imitation of Imitation of Life at Westbeth Theater Center (151 Bank Street, between Washington and West Streets).
The tall, slinky, internationally-renowned drag superstar is in real life tall, slinky John Epperson, from the little southwest Mississippi town of Hazelhurst. Lypsinka came to the big city to make his mark, and he quickly graduated from lip-syncing a couple of songs to entire albums of countless divas. In one show there were hundreds of voices from hundreds of famous movie sequences and Broadway cast albums. Epperson's Lypsinka goes full throttle and acts out hilarious character studies of the glamor stars of Hollywood's golden era. Among them have been Joan Crawford. And now Lana Turner.
And Epperson/Lypsinka's taking their one-person show on the road for ten days in Sydney, Australia, during the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras at the end of February; and then to Los Angeles for a brief engagement. The vehicle that launched a career that has included haute couture fashion shows, club appearances on the arms of leather-clad studs, coffee table photo books and magazine fashion shoots was I Could Go On Lip-Synching!, which played a year Off Broadway before moving to a successful L.A. run. That led to several variations, including As I Lay Lip-Synching and stardom at the New York "Wigstock" events. Lypsinka appeared in "Wigstock: The Movie," two HBO specials with Sandra Bernhard, and the George Michael video "Too Funky."
"But imitating Lana in my tribute to `Imitation of Life' (the 1959 Universal film based on the Fannie Hurst novel) is my greatest emotional role to date," said Lypsinka at rehearsals. "To prepare for it, I've undergone a rigorous exercise and diet regimen. I feel as though I've scaled Mount Everest! But I owe it to my fans to reach the summit at every performance. I want to give all the passion, poise, and pizzazz they've come to expect. I want to give blood! "Lana, in all her blonde and statuesque glory," adds Lypsinka, "is the very model of a Hollywood star with a heart of gold and with a knack of getting involved in other people's lives."
The film, a cult favorite, is a remake of a 1934 film that starred Claudette Colbert and tells the story of a career-driven actress, the black woman in her employ and her daughter who passes for white. What makes this show a departure from Lypsinka's club routines is that she, as she proved quite adept at doing in the Crawford spoof, Harriet Craig, has found her voice.
"I wanted to prove to people I could actually open my mouth and interact," Lypsinka said. "Even though I'm respected in show business for my achievements, you don't know how many jobs I've lost because people think I can't do anything but lip-synch."
Imitation of Imitation of Life is directed by Kevin Malony, and features a mixed ensemble of six, including Flotilla DeBarge. It's presented by The TWEED Fractured Classicks Series and sponsored, in part, by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. In preparing for the show, Lypsinka noted that she found more layers to Lana Turner than her sexy screen persona. "I will be exciting, romantic, glamorous and breathtaking, but this won't be a Lana impersonation, though I imagine some little elements will slip in." Like, you want to bet, one of Lana's famous hysterical phone call scenes which, along with those of Crawford, have inspired some of Lypsinka's classic and best-known sequences.
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