Giving the West End Hope…

This week Jason Reid speaks to Ty Jeffries, the man behind glamorous chanteuse Miss Hope Springs, with showbiz running deep in his blood, and a current show at The Hippodrome, they talk all things Hope, artistic influences and connections to the greats…  

By Jason Reid

How did you first discover drag? 

I started painting my face as a kid and realised then I could transform myself into different people using my parents’ old ‘grease paint’ which they still had in the traditional cigar box.

And that fascination grew over time? 

Very much so. I was introduced to Danny La Rue, who was a personal friend of my parents, after his show, backstage one night at The Palace Theatre while he was still in full regalia and I think that moment had a huge impact on me. The great American female impersonators Jim Bailey and Charles Pierce were huge influences as was Craig Russell. All ‘werq-ing’ it a long time before Drag Race was around.

At what point in your life did you get into music? 

I began writing songs at the age of five on a piano left in our shed, and had my first publishing deal at the age 15. I was later signed to Elton John’s music publishing company and worked with, and wrote for, amongst others, Chaka Khan, Vangelis and Neneh Cherry. As pianist I was a member of Billy McKenzie’s The Associates for a while shortly before his untimely death.

Who are your greatest musical influences? 

I would have to say Peggy Lee, Hildegard Knef, Dietrich, Lotte Lenya, Piaf and of course both Garland and Minnelli. As a songwriter I’m deeply influenced by Brecht and Weill and Jacques Brel, the ‘Golden Age’ Broadway and Hollywood composers and lyricists, from the Gershwins, to Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen right up to (almost) today with Bacharach and David, Michel Legrand and the Bergmans, Kander and Ebb, and not forgetting Fat’s Waller and Leiber and Stoller too.

You mentioned Liza Minnelli. Do you have a favourite musical diva? 

It might sound predictable, but it must be Streisand. Early Streisand, to me, you can’t beat. Those very first TV appearances in the early ‘60s when she was pure electricity and wild abandon. A raw force of nature with a voice beyond reason. I loved her early look too, the Cleopatra eye makeup and that asymmetrical bob; high elegance mixed with an adorable childlike, gangly gawkiness and vulnerability. There’ll never be another.

Let’s talk specifically about Hope, how would you describe her?  

Miss Hope Springs is an ageing nightclub chanteuse and singer songwriter of a certain age, she is not a ‘has been’, more of a ‘never was’, still reaching for those stars which always seem just out of reach.

And your act? 

I play the piano and sing a repertoire of all original self-penned songs accompanied by my superb Hot Jazz Combo on double bass and percussion. The songs are an homage to the jazz and pop standards of yesteryear. Hope is deliciously stuck in her heyday of approximately 1972 and she simply refuses to let go and move on. Between songs she tells stories from her Ritz to the pits life. There are a lot of good natured laughs along the way, mostly at her own expense, intermingled with moments of genuine pathos.

You’re currently playing at the Hippodrome, which is rather swish….  

Yes, you’re right, it’s very swish; there’s candle-lit cabaret seating, beautiful plush booths, table service and it’s all very Vegas. I started at the Hippodrome Casino’s Matcham Room in January. It is, of course, steeped in show business history having for many years been the world famous Talk of The Town where Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and the fabulous Eartha Kitt performed.

Sounds divine. Finally, what does the future hold? 

I’m really looking forward to more shows at The Hippodrome, I currently have dates there until August. Artistically, I have a brand new show coming up and there is some interest from recording artists in my material. I’ve been asked to pitch a song for an upcoming movie which, if successful, would be very much a dream come true. Apart from that I will just keep taking it one show at a time, and continue ‘Hope-ing’ for the best.

• Her new show ‘Queen of Fools’ starts May 6th.

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