‘Through doing this show, I’ve found myself a lovely community of people’
Holly Redford Jones will be bringing her new show I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar to Manchester this month(Image: Lucy Ridges)
When musician-turned-stand-up performer Holly Redford Jones took to the stage during the candlelight vigil at last summer’s Manchester Pride, she managed to turn what can often be a sombre mood for some into a fleeting moment of joy.
Performing the Ghostbusters theme song (because, of course), she managed to get the thousands-strong crowd to chant out ‘lesbians’ in place of the song’s title name. It somehow worked and still managed to fit in the touching yet celebratory conclusion of the Pride event.
Now, nine months later, Holly is heading back to the stage in Greater Manchester with her new show I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar. Performed at Waterside Arts in Sale on May 16, it comes ahead of its official premiere at this summer’s Edinburgh Fringe.
The ‘uplifting queer parody musical’ from Holly, who is originally from Chesterfield but now lives in Manchester, will celebrate queer women of past, present and future and will also see Holly take on the role of a bartender of a fictitious lesbian bar.
“It is a lesbian bar, I’m fully investing in it being a real thing,” Holly insists to the Manchester Evening News. “When people walk into the venue, I want people to feel welcome into the lesbian bar, I want to be able to serve them drinks.”
‘I wanted to expand on that feeling of creating a lesbian bar,’ Holly says of the idea behind her show(Image: Lucy Ridges)
The show takes its title from the song of the same name by American artist Jonathan Richman, which was released back in 1992. “It’s about how he just felt he could be himself in this bar and didn’t have to act cool,” Holly explains.
“I imagine he’s talking about a bar in New York, but it’s a man talking about a lesbian bar and I think he does so in a very generous way for the 90s when it wasn’t really considered to be very cool to be lesbian or queer back then.
“As a musician, I’ve always loved that song and it’s always a fun one to play. I found myself playing it in some of my regular bars in Chesterfield, where it’s often quite laddy. I just sung the song with my friends and it went down really unexpectedly well. It wasn’t a queer space I was performing in, there were retirees from the factories and straight couples out on dates, and I was just like ‘wow’.
“So, I just kept playing it in places like Chesterfield and the Peak District, and it has sort of stuck with me. I wanted to expand on that feeling of creating a lesbian bar, I just thought it would be cool to write a show with that title and it all just went from there.”
Musician-turned-stand-up performer Holly Redford Jones was the winner of the Best Stand-Up Comedy at the Manchester Fringe 2024(Image: Instagram: @hollyredfordjones)
The show will be taking place at the Greater Manchester theatre as part of the Pride in Trafford event. Alongside a slightly-revamped version of that Ghostbusters song Holly performed at Manchester Pride, there will also be songs from the likes of Dusty Springfield, Leonard Cohen and even Steps thrown in for good measure too.
“The songs I’ve included just felt like they sat with what I was trying to talk about,” Holly says. “I use Spooky by Dusty Springfield, where I talk about how lesbian visibility is ‘spooky’ with people being there one minute and then they’re not. I won’t say how the others are used, but I think they fit in nicely with the show.”
And Holly understands that there is a bit of a fine-line between lesbian history and comedy – she says she hopes she has managed to find a way to tow the line appropriately with their show.
‘I’m enjoying this bold generation of lesbians and queer people who I am getting to meet and talk to through doing this show'(Image: Lucy Ridges)
“Obviously, Section 28 and the fact that they used to lobotomise lesbians in Manchester in the 1960s are far from fun topics,” she explains, “but I want it to be a feel–good show about lesbian bars and community.
“Through doing this show as a work-in-progress, I’ve found myself a lovely community of people. I’m enjoying this bold generation of lesbians and queer people who I am getting to meet and talk to through doing this show, and that is what kind of makes me feel sad that there’s hardly any lesbian bars in the country anymore.
“And even, of the LGBTQ+ spaces that do exist, many of us still find that we have to still have to embody certain stereotypes to get in – which means they necessarily aren’t always these utopian places that many idolise them as.
“This show has kind of made me feel like I’ve got a bit of responsibility here and I need to think a little bit seriously about the platform I have and how I choose to use it. ‘Lesbian’ almost feels like a bit of a political word at the moment with the whole trans ruling and it has made me take stock of the fact that this is for anyone who identifies as a lesbian and it is very important to me that I am overtly supportive of the trans community with this.”
Holly Redford Jones’ new show comes to Sale on May 16(Image: Instagram: @hollyredfordjones)
But Holly says she also wants people outside of the LGBTQ+ community to appreciate the show – kind of like those audiences back in Chesterfield have come to enjoy the soundings of a 90s track about lesbian bars from a proto-punk from Boston, Massachusetts.
“This show is obviously for the LGBTQ+ community, but it’s important for me that other people come too and feel relaxed in this ‘lesbian bar’ setting too,” she says. “There are regulars in the bars in Chesterfield where I perform who are now like ‘play the lesbian bar song’.
“Their confidence in using the word lesbian – which some people feel they have to tiptoe around and don’t feel comfortable with – and just being so happy to ask for it with no shame, that was such a huge motivator for me with this show.
“I want anyone, whether they’re a lesbian, into Jonathan Richman’s music, or a Steps fan, to be able to come to this show and take something from it. And maybe even have a little dance with me at the lesbian bar along the way too!”
Tickets for I Was Dancing In the Lesbian Bar at Waterside Arts in Sale, on May 16, begin from £10 and can be bought here.