![\"Holly](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_280425_HRJ_05.jpg\")
Holly Redford Jones will be bringing her new show I Was Dancing In The Lesbian Bar to Manchester this month(Image: Lucy Ridges)<\/p>\n‘Through doing this show, I\u2019ve 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)<\/p>\n
When musician-turned-stand-up performer Holly Redford Jones took to the stage during the candlelight vigil at last summer\u2019s Manchester Pride<\/a>, she managed to turn what can often be a sombre mood for some into a fleeting moment of joy.<\/p>\n Performing the Ghostbusters theme song (because, of course), she managed to get the thousands-strong crowd to chant out \u2018lesbians\u2019 in place of the song\u2019s title name. It somehow worked and still managed to fit in the touching yet celebratory conclusion of the Pride event.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> in Sale <\/a>on May 16, it comes ahead of its official premiere at this summer\u2019s Edinburgh Fringe.<\/p>\n The \u2018uplifting queer parody musical\u2019 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.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a lesbian bar, I\u2019m fully investing in it being a real thing,\u201d Holly insists to the Manchester Evening News<\/a>. \u201cWhen people walk into the venue, I want people to feel welcome into the lesbian bar, I want to be able to serve them drinks.\u201d<\/p>\n The show takes its title from the song of the same name by American artist Jonathan Richman, which was released back in 1992. \u201cIt\u2019s about how he just felt he could be himself in this bar and didn\u2019t have to act cool,\u201d Holly explains.<\/p>\n \u201cI imagine he\u2019s talking about a bar in New York, but it\u2019s a man talking about a lesbian bar and I think he does so in a very generous way for the 90s when it wasn\u2019t really considered to be very cool to be lesbian or queer back then.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a musician, I\u2019ve always loved that song and it\u2019s always a fun one to play. I found myself playing it in some of my regular bars in Chesterfield, where it\u2019s often quite laddy. I just sung the song with my friends and it went down really unexpectedly well. It wasn\u2019t a queer space I was performing in, there were retirees from the factories and straight couples out on dates, and I was just like \u2018wow\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n The show will be taking place at the Greater Manchester theatre as part of the Pride in Trafford event<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n \u201cThe songs I\u2019ve included just felt like they sat with what I was trying to talk about,\u201d Holly says. \u201cI use Spooky by Dusty Springfield, where I talk about how lesbian visibility is \u2018spooky\u2019 with people being there one minute and then they\u2019re not. I won\u2019t say how the others are used, but I think they fit in nicely with the show.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, Section 28 and the fact that they used to lobotomise lesbians in Manchester in the 1960s are far from fun topics,\u201d she explains, \u201cbut I want it to be a feel\u2013good show about lesbian bars and community.<\/p>\n \u201cThrough doing this show as a work-in-progress, I\u2019ve found myself a lovely community of people. I\u2019m 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\u2019s hardly any lesbian bars in the country anymore.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd 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\u2019t always these utopian places that many idolise them as.<\/p>\n \u201cThis 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. \u2018Lesbian\u2019 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.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"'I](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/1_AMR_MEN_280425_HRJ_04.jpg\")
‘I wanted to expand on that feeling of creating a lesbian bar,’ Holly says of the idea behind her show(Image: Lucy Ridges)<\/p>\n![\"Musician-turned-stand-up](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_280425_HRJ_02.jpg\")
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)<\/p>\n![\"'I'm](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_280425_HRJ_03.jpg\")
‘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)<\/p>\n![\"Holly](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/0_AMR_MEN_280425_HRJ.jpg\")
Holly Redford Jones’ new show comes to Sale on May 16(Image: Instagram: @hollyredfordjones)<\/p>\n