Cabaret: Evie Lake

Evie Lake

The sparkling songstress Evie Lake on the people who shaped her


We all have those special people in our lives who have been there at just the right time to positively impact our journey through life, almost as though the universe has made those encounters happen, or those we’ve never even come into contact with who have enriched our outlook and thinking.

This week, seraphic cabaret chanteuse and self-styled female imposter Evie Lake talks to Jason Reid about the people who shaped Charlie and Evie… 


Marilyn Monroe 

The blonde bombshell, Marilyn Monroe, is the best example of how to emulate femininity. There have been many others over the decades, but out of all the blondes, brunettes, red and raven heads, Marilyn transcends them all from tragic beginning to tragic end. The middle was FABULOUS! I think of her whenever I want to be glamorous, for resurrection dinner parties and… when I see Chanel No.5


Sidney Gilliat

My great-grandfather and his partner made the original St Trinians films. Many of the scenes in those films came directly from the catfights of the women in my family, often with a violin or spare piece of furniture about to crash over someone’s head. Thus the movies and the catfights have shaped Evie and Charlie – except NO WIRE HANGERS EVER! (Although I think it was more likely to be a lacrosse racket than a wire coat-hanger but the sentiment is the same). 


Miss Julia Laverne

Cabaret veteran, hairdresser, fortune teller to the stars and my mentor; without Miss Laverne, Evie Lake wouldn’t exist and Charlie would still be a fat, grumpy, closeted queen in Cardiff. She’s the fairy godmother like in Cinderella, and yes I do go to the ball, and yes I do end up with one shoe every night. Thank you, Julia. 


Bambi of the Carrousel de Paris 

Bambi and the Carrousel de Paris girls were some of the most glittering pioneers for drag and transexual performers from the 1950s to the 1970s. You just have to take a look at them; they’re utter glamour. They lived in a time when it was illegal for a male to be dressed as a female in France, yet they broke all the imposed laws; for example, one girl (Coccinelle) got married in Dior and had a full Roman Catholic ceremony in 1960. Bambi and the girls have shaped me as a performer, teaching me to stand still and deliver and just be. For me as a person, to not give a damn what everyone else thinks. Bambi is still alive today and is 84. 


Maria Callas

Definition of the ultimate diva: the voice, the hands, the eyes, the drama. And the nostrils akimbo. I must have spent all my pocket money and internet allowance on her in my teens – that’s a lot of dial up but it felt like the right number. That’s probably why Pride’s Got Talent’s Keith Ramsay said I am a true actress. 


Caro

My grandmother was my first singing teacher. She’s the reason I’m singing today. Her most important lesson was never to judge others on what they do just because you don’t like it. Live and Let Live. 

Evie Lake will be performing at The Victoria, 186 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, E17 4QH on Saturday 27th July as part of Walthamstow Pride

READ MORE:

The people who shaped me…Danny Ash

Advertisement