Sasha Selavie on a cabaret icon
Ever heard of Holly Penfield? Of course you have – she’s the undisputed queen of gay Soho cabaret! Fierce, avant-garde and relentlessly excellent, she brought a jaw-dropping dose of queer diva brilliance to last month’s X-factor. Spearheading the surreal, anti-heterosexual and anti-monotony charge begun by fellow contestants Doctor Woof and Ginny Lemon, Holly unforgettably rocked Simon Cowell’s and Nicole Scherzinger’s worlds!
Quite obviously, those judges had never, ever been exposed to anything except slick -verging on sick- pre-processed pop pap. Holly, however – drawing on the sizzling charisma she’s finessed from thousands of fearless club gigs – effortlessly broke the performative fourth wall to stormingly possess the judges’ previously sacred personal space. Now that, my dears, takes super-confident balls, so no wonder Cowell and Scherzinger positively reacted with breathless awe!
“A cross between David Bowie and Lisa Minelli”, Cowell later said, perfectly nailing both the stunning, rainbow diversity of Holly’s unpredictable visual aplomb and her breath-taking vocals. And tellingly, even Sharon Osbourne – notoriously hard to please – was equally impressed, calling Holly “mesmerizing” and “fabulous”. Not surprisingly, flying on those wings of richly deserved praise and her show-stopping talent, Holly’s preparing to unleash her unique magic yet again, at the Vauxhall Tavern on October 18th later this month.
So, does Holly – a living force of totally OTT theatricality – deserve the across-the-board praise she unfailingly instigates? In one word, the answer is YES! But still, nothing beats the breathless immediacy of first-hand experience in conveying a performer’s magic, so this week, step inside the ring-side seat of Lady Sasha’s mind and share the stunning impressions Holly’s repeatedly detonated inside my critically astute head!
Currently residing in London, Holly can only be compared to a Liza Minelli without the excesses and unreliability, and has an enviable, sterling-silver reputation of always delivering miraculous, crowd-rousing shows at the peak of her game.
Live, Holly effortlessly matches and replicates the euphoria demanded by Richard E. Grant’s character in Withnail and I: ‘Bring me the finest wines known to man!’ Musically, that’s exactly what happens in a Holly show – all the finest musical notes known to man come flowing to Holly’s throat like eager slaves bursting for the touch of Madame’s lash! And anticipating Lady Gaga by decades, Holly – the undisputed queen and godmother of London’s neo-Burlesque cabaret scene – brings a surreal showmanship onstage most often expressed in dominatrix whips and Salvador Dali and Elsa Schiaparelli-inspired ‘shoe-hats’. Right now, she’s preparing to unleash the irresistible, surrealistic tsunami of her upcoming, spring 2018 Fragile Human Monster show, but – before then – delighted fans can relish Holly’s Hallow’een-inflected, spooky mystique at Vauxhall Tavern.
As always, it’s impossible to second-guess or anticipate Holly’s costuming and staging, but – as mentioned above – Holly virgins are welcome to pleasure themselves on my enduring impressions. Often, she’ll enter in figure-hugging, vintage Balenciaga gowns, crowned with the black, signature, Louise Brooks bob that’s the trademark of her other self, the persona she intriguingly refers to as ‘an evil jazz cabaret singer’. Oh, not evil in intention, obviously, but sensuously evil, in that tempting, femme fatale Eartha Kitt fashion, a bisexual goddess able to seduce straights, queens and besotted lesbians simultaneously!
No wonder that, within seconds, her awe-struck audiences are literally drunk with cookin’ conviviality. Effortlessly involving her crowds with a flirtatious banter and interaction worthy of her idol Judy Garland, Holly selflessly gives her audience the finest gift a performer can – one hundred percent dedication. And more impressive still, she’s an absolute maestro, a stellar mistress of narrative phrasing, the wickedly difficult art of injecting love, loss and laissez-faire insouciance into lyrics that – with lesser talents – would sound as trite as fortune cookie frivolities.
Utterly timeless and utterly contemporary, Holly’s liquid gold harmonies strike out and stake a unique, inimitable vocal territory between peak-era Lena Horne and Peggy Lee, as enchanting as either. So why deprive yourselves any longer, and suffer agonizing, Auto-tune wannabes not worth karaoke credibility? Treat yourselves to Holly’s sublime, instant passion ASAP!
Holly Penfield plays Vauxhall Tavern 18th October. For more info head to vauxhalltavern.com
