Musical comedian, writer and performer Alexis Sakellaris is returning to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with original musical ‘A Stan Is Born!’. Fresh from an international tour, Riverside Studios run and performances at the Brighton Fringe, Alexis is taking the updated production back to the festival, and it draws on their own experiences as a queer kid who was fascinated by pop divas.
Born in New York and raised in Germany, the creative “slid into” musical comedy, writing and performance, initially heading to Medical School for 2 years before going to Drama School in Vienna. A move to the UK for their Master’s, an ushering job at Soho Theatre and the requirement to create a 30-minute creative project at Mountview inspired an early version of ‘A Stan Is Born!’, which has been evolving ever since. Soho Theatre has clearly played a pivotal role in Alexis’ career so far, introducing them to “this whole new world of fringe and experimental theatre”. It is also the reason that the performer was able to connect with musical comedian Matt Rogers and join them for their show at the venue and a full month-long US tour afterwards. Upon returning to London, Alexis finalised the material and headed to Edinburgh in 2024 for a full run. They say that they “truly did not know what they were doing” and whilst their career has begun differently to others, “only starting proper standup and gigging this past February”, you can’t help but admire their go-getting attitude. I recently had the opportunity to ask the creative some questions about the new version of the show and what inspired them to write this personal piece of musical theatre.
What inspired you to write a show about your personal experience moving from New York City to rural Germany?
That decision was just so bizarre, I simply had to make a show about it! My parents truly had no reason to make such a drastic move, they’re both from small European cities and escaped to New York in their 20s (for good reason). I couldn’t fathom why they wanted to move BACK! I was 8 years old and absolutely hated it. You often hear about people moving to New York to find themselves, well I moved away from New York and LOST myself. The culture clash was intense: a massive language barrier, extremely rural surroundings (the cow population exceeded the human one) and a national obsession with football that I simply could not get behind. The only thing that saved me was the pop divas: discovering them online (thank God for the internet…) gave me this power, this creative outlet where I could channel their energy and become an expert on them. Thanks to them, I developed confidence and discovered my love of singing and performing! Creating this show is my way of paying homage to them, and to all the real-life divas in my life who protected me.
‘A Stan Is Born!’ is about a ‘queer kid’s obsession with pop divas and the search for the diva within’. If you could only pick one artist, who is your biggest musical inspiration and why?
OOF this is such a hard one! I feel like recency bias is making me say Beyoncé. She’s on tour right now and every time she hits the stage, she makes the most incredible art: her voice, her moves, her passion, her concepts, her outfits… She’s just such an endless source of inspiration and constantly drives me to be better at my craft, especially as a vocalist. I’d recommend for anyone to see her live at least once if you can (I saw her 4 times this tour and 6 times last tour, it’s low-key addicting LOL). She truly is our greatest living entertainer, in the same vein as Michael Jackson, Prince, Tina Turner… I personally feel like she’s long surpassed Michael to be our greatest entertainer, period, but we may not be ready for THAT conversation! Other than Beyoncé, I ride hard for the Holy Trinity of Whitney, Mariah and Céline and of course love me some Gaga and Ariana.
How did you approach writing the 10 original songs for the show?
It was basically all improv! I think that if you’re a singer, you’re also a songwriter. I played classical piano growing up, so I know my way around a keyboard, but I usually keep it simple with the chords and focus more on lyrics and vocals. I often begin with a concept or topic I want to address (this is aided by the context of a solo show) and then I just improvise until I land on what I like! I try to switch it up genre-wise; my show was some ballads, some uptempos, some R&B infusion, some classic musical theatre moments, and a LOT of riffing… The main thing I always do is record myself: voice memos are ALWAYS working. Nothing worse than thinking of the most groundbreaking idea and then immediately forgetting it…
Sometimes I think of lyrics on the tube or so, I write them in my notes app and think of music for them later, or I record myself humming something until I can get to the piano. In terms of rhyming, I famously try to make stuff rhyme even when it’s not supposed to (LOL, my director Madi Cole can tell you all about that). I hate sacrificing concepts, especially since musical comedy is so conversational, and I rarely lean into poetry or metaphor. I use rhyme generators online to quickly find rhymes and choose the best fits. I also worked with my dear friend Cerys McKenna, an extremely talented composer who musically directs on the West End, to coach me musically and make a backing track for my final diva number. I don’t think you necessarily need to play instruments to compose, you can record your voice and your lyrics and then outsource the orchestrations! Collaboration usually only makes art better.
‘A Stan Is Born!’ was presented at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024. To what extent have you made changes to the show, ahead of this year’s tour which included performances at Riverside Studios and Brighton Fringe, as well as an upcoming Edinburgh return?
Yes, exactly! Last year was my very first Fringe, I’d never been to Scotland before in my life. It was quite a rude awakening, since I did NOT know what I was doing at all. I wasn’t aware of the whole Fringe ecosystem, the hierarchies, the money that flows into certain shows and not into others… It’s such a specific world and one you really need to be experienced in to navigate. I wasn’t taking good care of myself (I became anemic and got gonorrhea LOL) so I really wanted to give my show a second chance with a better gameplan. This past year, I’ve worked with dramaturg Alex Jackson to extensively rewrite the show (I’d say about half is new), I have my fabulous new director Madi and I started doing more comedy gigs to build confidence as a comedian. A couple of changes include more diva impressions and impersonations, a new song and just a more cohesive narrative structure. The core and message are still the same, but this new version is undoubtedly better. We just finished touring the show internationally (shows in London, Brighton, New York and Zurich) and that has been such a privilege and a blast!
How did audiences react to the material at Riverside Studios, Brighton Fringe and on tour?
Thankfully, they reacted super well! We got a really nice 4-star review from Broadway World, which unknowingly pointed out so much of the brand new material. The Riverside crowd tends to skew older, so I was nervous about the content of the show landing, but I was quickly put at ease! Older gay men especially felt connected to the show, and I’m really grateful I wasn’t in an echo chamber of just queer Gen Z peers. I believe and hope that there’s something in my show for everybody, since it’s ultimately about finding yourself and lifting up those around you.
The show did super well in Brighton as well; we even got nominated for the Brighton Fringe Best New Show Award! Brighton is such a queer- and newcomer-friendly city, I can totally see why people move there from London. Our crowd in New York was super sweet as well, and low-key makes me want to perform there more! My humour is very American and many of my references are from that hemisphere. Meanwhile Zurich was a homecoming of sorts, as the tiny German town I grew up in is only an hour outside. That crowd was so incredibly supportive, I was just shocked! They got all the insiders, laughed at all the culture shock jokes and even laughed at themselves! It felt so full-circle, from being bullied by Germans to entertaining a room full of them. I think that was my best show ever!
Celebrating pop icons at the Edinburgh Fringe
I wish Alexis all the best for their return to the Fringe. It has been brilliant to hear more about the origins of this new piece of writing and the upbringing that inspired such a reflective and celebratory show. You can catch Alexis in ‘A Stan Is Born!’ at the Blether venue at Gilded Balloon Patter House from 30th July to 25th August (not 11th). Performances start daily at 15:00 and tickets are available via the festival’s website.
Thanks for reading my blog today.
Love Kat xxxx
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