Danny La Who?
Stephanie got her first job working at the Theatre Royal by chance after their lighting man went down. "I had a little experience with electrics as I used to have a mess around with the lights at Ilford Palais. A friend of mine was the technician and that was where I first learnt about lighting techniques and displays. I got free club entry and free drinks and got to just watch my colorful eye catching creations on peoples bodies as they moshed!"...(If none of you know, moshing is another form of dance as made up by very drunk rebellers who throw themselves around the dance floor as vigorously as possble whilst crashing into and fighting with as many people as possible!)..."Lucky for me I was in the DJ booth as I don't think I would have survived the dancefloor! Still, it didn't stop the odd beer can here and there being thrown at us! I just used to bend down behind the booth and throw them back randomly into the crowd until I threw one this particular evening that got the manager! He wouldn't have known but somebody had filmed me on their camera throwing it! My days of being lighting queen ended very abruptly!"
At Theatre Royal Stephanie's good friend Chris persuaded the director of lighting to let Stephanie have a go a being follow-spot operator after explaining that she might even be half good. Stephanie worked the follow spot for the first time to the amazement of the backstage crew! "Right then...Here's tonights schedule, this is the script and this is where you come in!" Stephanie had got the job and was quite chuffed at being told that she was better than the last guy (Wasn't he a dustman though? The Ed) and the best follow-spot operator they had ever had! With only half an hour to go before the show started Stephanie took her position.
The God's
"Tra la la...This is easy!"...Said Steph as she adjusted the followspot..."Now don't forget...Make sure that you keep your head to the side as the machines get hot!"...the stage manager bellowed through the cans!...(Cans...Theatre name for headphones!)...With the lights all low, Stephanie awaited her first cue. Stephanie says..."All of a sudden and out from knowhere comes this little man dressed up to the nines!"...Stephanie wasn't told she was working with Danny La Rue until the break..."I thought it was Elton John with all that gear he had on as I was so far up the top of the theatre in what is called the 'Gods' that I really couldn't tell! All I knew was I was followspot operator on a man in drag!"
Stephanie managed to finish the rest of the show without laughing too much!..."The follow spots were really old fashioned and if you move them a millimetre in the Gods it looks like you're waving them around on the stage! Danny kept making me laugh as it was a comedy show and to make matters worse I had forgot to turn my head to the side and the headphones melted over my hair and jumper. The spots get so hot that they would have melted my ear had I not been wearing the cans!"
BBC
Stephanie worked at the Theatre Royal regularly helping out backstage and working the spots and getting into more and more trouble with the stage manager!..."We were doing a really important show once for the BBC. All of our headphones are linked backstage and we are also all connected via a microphone so we can communicate be it something goes wrong! This one particular night we had filmed this BBC show so many times that we all knew the script and where to come in so our hearts weren't beating away as they usually do with nerves on getting it right! Not being allowed to speak over the cans unless it is for something specific to do with the show we do sometimes have a quiet natter if the manager isn't around but I decided that this night I would do a bit of a comedy act as the stage manager was sitting in the audience with a BBC director"...Making everybody laugh with her 'over-dubbing' backstage, Stephanie went through nearly the whole show with her comical suggestions until the lighting tecnician fell asleep on his desk.
"Back in those days we all used to go to the pub after a show to let off steam! Most nights we'd end back at Christophers house (Another theatre worker) and we'd be up for hours and it must have caught up with our lighting tech!"...Just as Stephanie told yet another joke with such a funny punch line that even she was laughing out loud the light tech fell asleep and nudged the backstage can speakers from off to 'on'..."All you could hear over this BBC show and around the whole Theatre was my big booming voice! The dial had switched to it's full volume and I was laughing so loudly that it woke the light tech back up! Mary our stage manager stood up from where she was sitting and shouted out something that nobody understood but we just knew that by the tone of her voice we were in big trouble!"...The stage manager was nowone to mess with! 'Hairy Mary' as they all called her was a woman of the world and big enough to throw you across the stage if she got hold of you! Nobody apparantly messed with Hairy Mary!
Ghostly Friends
"I didn't get into too much trouble that night really but we did have so many laughs working there! You never know whats going to happen next with live theatre and even the most professional of actors make mistakes sometimes! It's great when the whole of the audience join in with you as we are all part of the show even though we're backstage! During our breaks we'd have to bomb it down to the bottom of the theatre and just about manage to swig a slurp of tea before having to run all the way back up to the top again! I was a lot fitter back then than I am now!"...Stephanie went on to talk about the theatre ghost that used to open doors and if you were lucky you'd see her walking along the hallways..."That's one thing I wont miss! I didn't know that the old lady approaching me along the hallway was a ghost until she passed straight through me! I screamed and ran all the way down the stairs! Justin our light tech knew immediatly what had happened! That was my first introduction to the oldest member of the theatre! I used to hate going up to the Gods alone! It did look quite odd seeing a door open with nobody there but I got a bit more used to her by the time I left!!"...Stephanie had to leave the Theatre Royal due to a move but still keeps in contact with her old friends who work there.
Theatre Royal
Stephanie got her first job working at the Theatre Royal by chance after their lighting man went down. "I had a little experience with electrics as I used to have a mess around with the lights at Ilford Palais. A friend of mine was the technician and that was where I first learnt about lighting techniques and displays. I got free club entry and free drinks and got to just watch my colorful eye catching creations on peoples bodies as they moshed!"...(If none of you know, moshing is another form of dance as made up by very drunk rebellers who throw themselves around the dance floor as vigorously as possble whilst crashing into and fighting with as many people as possible!)..."Lucky for me I was in the DJ booth as I don't think I would have survived the dancefloor! Still, it didn't stop the odd beer can here and there being thrown at us! I just used to bend down behind the booth and throw them back randomly into the crowd until I threw one this particular evening that got the manager! He wouldn't have known but somebody had filmed me on their camera throwing it! My days of being lighting queen ended very abruptly!"
At Theatre Royal Stephanie's good friend Chris persuaded the director of lighting to let Stephanie have a go a being follow-spot operator after explaining that she might even be half good. Stephanie worked the follow spot for the first time to the amazement of the backstage crew! "Right then...Here's tonights schedule, this is the script and this is where you come in!" Stephanie had got the job and was quite chuffed at being told that she was better than the last guy (Wasn't he a dustman though? The Ed) and the best follow-spot operator they had ever had! With only half an hour to go before the show started Stephanie took her position.
The God's
"Tra la la...This is easy!"...Said Steph as she adjusted the followspot..."Now don't forget...Make sure that you keep your head to the side as the machines get hot!"...the stage manager bellowed through the cans!...(Cans...Theatre name for headphones!)...With the lights all low, Stephanie awaited her first cue. Stephanie says..."All of a sudden and out from knowhere comes this little man dressed up to the nines!"...Stephanie wasn't told she was working with Danny La Rue until the break..."I thought it was Elton John with all that gear he had on as I was so far up the top of the theatre in what is called the 'Gods' that I really couldn't tell! All I knew was I was followspot operator on a man in drag!"
Stephanie managed to finish the rest of the show without laughing too much!..."The follow spots were really old fashioned and if you move them a millimetre in the Gods it looks like you're waving them around on the stage! Danny kept making me laugh as it was a comedy show and to make matters worse I had forgot to turn my head to the side and the headphones melted over my hair and jumper. The spots get so hot that they would have melted my ear had I not been wearing the cans!"
BBC
Stephanie worked at the Theatre Royal regularly helping out backstage and working the spots and getting into more and more trouble with the stage manager!..."We were doing a really important show once for the BBC. All of our headphones are linked backstage and we are also all connected via a microphone so we can communicate be it something goes wrong! This one particular night we had filmed this BBC show so many times that we all knew the script and where to come in so our hearts weren't beating away as they usually do with nerves on getting it right! Not being allowed to speak over the cans unless it is for something specific to do with the show we do sometimes have a quiet natter if the manager isn't around but I decided that this night I would do a bit of a comedy act as the stage manager was sitting in the audience with a BBC director"...Making everybody laugh with her 'over-dubbing' backstage, Stephanie went through nearly the whole show with her comical suggestions until the lighting tecnician fell asleep on his desk.
"Back in those days we all used to go to the pub after a show to let off steam! Most nights we'd end back at Christophers house (Another theatre worker) and we'd be up for hours and it must have caught up with our lighting tech!"...Just as Stephanie told yet another joke with such a funny punch line that even she was laughing out loud the light tech fell asleep and nudged the backstage can speakers from off to 'on'..."All you could hear over this BBC show and around the whole Theatre was my big booming voice! The dial had switched to it's full volume and I was laughing so loudly that it woke the light tech back up! Mary our stage manager stood up from where she was sitting and shouted out something that nobody understood but we just knew that by the tone of her voice we were in big trouble!"...The stage manager was nowone to mess with! 'Hairy Mary' as they all called her was a woman of the world and big enough to throw you across the stage if she got hold of you! Nobody apparantly messed with Hairy Mary!
Ghostly Friends
"I didn't get into too much trouble that night really but we did have so many laughs working there! You never know whats going to happen next with live theatre and even the most professional of actors make mistakes sometimes! It's great when the whole of the audience join in with you as we are all part of the show even though we're backstage! During our breaks we'd have to bomb it down to the bottom of the theatre and just about manage to swig a slurp of tea before having to run all the way back up to the top again! I was a lot fitter back then than I am now!"...Stephanie went on to talk about the theatre ghost that used to open doors and if you were lucky you'd see her walking along the hallways..."That's one thing I wont miss! I didn't know that the old lady approaching me along the hallway was a ghost until she passed straight through me! I screamed and ran all the way down the stairs! Justin our light tech knew immediatly what had happened! That was my first introduction to the oldest member of the theatre! I used to hate going up to the Gods alone! It did look quite odd seeing a door open with nobody there but I got a bit more used to her by the time I left!!"...Stephanie had to leave the Theatre Royal due to a move but still keeps in contact with her old friends who work there.
new page
Gifted
Born To Be!
Stephanie was born creative and from an early age painted pictures that were entered into competitions gaining Stephanie nearly always a first prize win. "I don't know where my talent came from but I was noticed at school as my artwork and creativity was exceptional. I recall the teachers always asking me to do art work for the school which preceeded to my art being entered into competitions. Sometimes the judges would not believe that a girl of my age (6) could paint as I did!" Stephanie was also approached eventually by chocolate manufactors Cadburys to which she had to design a chocolate bar wrapper. "I was asked to do this design as they though it a good idea as kids know what kids want! All those years ago though contracts were not given and especially to a young child and now I see my chocoalte bar design on the shelves!" Stephanie's then design was called STAR BAR to which Cadburys have only brought it out in the more recent years.
Art
Freelance
Later on in life Stephanie became a freelance Artist for pubs and clubs which consisted mainly of designing various posters, chalk boards and flyers etc. Stephanie is also a dab hand at painting and sculpting and though not as famous as her distant cousin Simon Perry currently in Australia who even had a write up in the book of Who's Who! Stephanie has had some of her more recent work displayed at various venues. Whilst attending St Georges Church of England High School Kent, Stephanie produced a piece of artwork that had got the interest of the Tate Gallery after her art teacher approached them with her work. "I was shocked!" Stephanie said. "My teacher had told me that the Tate Gallery had wanted me to sculpt a life size model of the minature sculptor that I had made" Stephanie had named her piece 'Mutilation' and remembers it well. "I was quite proud of my work and it was nothing like anybody else was doing! In fact it was quite a distgusting piece of art work as it portrayed a mutilated body but it looked so real and I remember to this day how good it looked if something so yucky can look good?!" Stephanie left St Georges before her final exams and the art peice was never remade. "I'm really gutted now as I could have made my mark in the art world! I still thought though that my teacher was mucking around as I just couldn't believe him at first! It wasn't until he had taken the piece to the Tate Gallery assosiation board that I believed him!"
As a keen Artist and photographer you will see more of Stephanies work in the future.
Pretty As A Picture
Smile
Stephanie was born with cute angelic looks which could have landed her a Kate Moss contract with ease considering she was mistaken for Kate Moss regularly in her younger photos! With long golden blonde hair and beautiful green eyes and a body to die for, Stephanie was approached frequently from an early age. Having the potential to become a highly paid model including catwalk and glamour girl at the time, Stephanie did not realise or understand why she was admired as she was and used to get rather embarassed at all the attention..."If only I knew now what I knew back then! Everybody used to stare at me and I used to think there was something wrong with me! Nearly all the boys at every school I went to were attracted to me and the worst thing of all was becuase I looked a lot older tahn the age I was I used to get a lot of aatention from older boys and even men and it used to get quite frightening!"
Stephanie attended an all girls secondary school for best part of the first year..."A lot of girls picked on me at school and once I got dragged all around Clapham Common by my hair! This one girl had a go at me telling me how I was supposed to have thought that I was prettier than her and as a result of that she was going to dig my eyeballs out! I was so scared and tried to run away but she pushed me over and next thing I know I was viewing the park from a completely new angle! I think I was too scared to be hurt but I cried with relief when a 6th former prefect saved the day! I was just so overjoyed at being saved and I have thankfully never been pulled around a park by my hair since then!"
Modelling
It's Never Too Late
Stephanie knows her looks are nothing like they were but still gets asked occasionally to do plus size modelling..."I would have most certainly have posed nude back then as I think the naked body is nothing to be ashamed of as it is us in our natural form! Since having my baby though I admit to really needing to shape up which is the understatement of the year but I just have not had the time. I look like Mr Blobby at the moment but at least I still have my personality!"...Stephanie says it does feel odd going from once being really slim with a fantastic figure to being like two people in one!..."I know that I still get complemented on my features although to me nobody is ugly as we all have inner beauty. It is only media that makes us feel ugly but by being this big now I have a completely different set of friends and a different kind of guy wanting to date me!"
Stephanie says how she already knows that if she becomes successful she will end up competing against Jennifer Lopez but whatever happens or wherever she gets, just like Miss Lopez, it sounds like Stephnaie's butt has hit the big time long before her talent has!"
Stephanie joined a few modelling agencies much later in life than expected after being persuaded that she would succeed and gained a catwalk and TV appearence out of it too.
New Page
Music
Radio Presenting
Radio Cabin Herne Bay...Stephanie presented on this radio for many months. She had her own show a few times a week aswell as working alongside ather disc jockeys on other shows. She raised money for charity aswell as doing live PA's, recording radio plays and a variation of tapes for the Royal National Institute for the Blind.
Disc Jockey
Stephanie has been a Disc Jockey both mobile and in clubs and pubs for many years. The furthest she has travelled to a gig is eighty miles and the longest set she performed was fourteen hours though she did manage to sneak a 30 minute break near the end! Stephanie ran her own promotional night 'Desire' at Jazzmins nightclub Bromley to whereby she would end the weekends with style. Going by the name DJ name 'Angel D*lite' and wearing big white wings, two floors were kitted out London club style with stars and back drops. Upstairs of course being Heaven which included bowls of fluffy marshmallows and downstairs being hell to which tortilla chips were accompanied by hot salsa dips. The staff were dressed up as either angels or devils and Sundays will never be the same again! Hoping to re-launch 'Desire' after being approached by UK Bookings Stephanie is currently in talk about other clubs and promoting this fun packed evening. Look out on the latest news page for further information.
Singer-Songwriter
Though Stephanie admits to not being much of a singer she can surprise even the hardest please at times. Shyness always kept Stephanie from singing on the stage alone as a child but Stephanie has since proved that she can captivate an audience whilst knocking out various covers whilst perfroming with house bands. Stephanie has done various gigs over the years performing her own songs and has made various appearences lately perfroming her latest single Survival. With at least six albums of origibnal unique material behind her Stephanie need never write a song again but insists that making music is like making a cup of tea to her...Stephanie persists "I was born to do this...Why not try and earn a living out of something I not only love doing but something that pleases so many other people too?" I don't know about trying to earn a career but if Stephanie really knew how much she could be worth as an Artist she may fall of her chair!
Instruments
Stephanie is very musically creative and has played mainly keyboards, drums and acoustic guitar over the years. Her step father Peter has Phil Lynotts (Motorhead) first hand customed made bass guitar that he keeps safetly away for Stephanie for a rainy day! "Phil gave it to Peter when he was touring with them...He was getting a new one and just chucked it at Peter telling him to take it home! According to Peter Phil chucked a lot of thing including unsuitable women but he mainly chucked up especially at the after parties!
Though not trained Stephanie has a musical ear and can pick up many an instument and at least get something out of it! The most funniest of all being the accordian to which Stephanie just happened to give it a whirl whilst it was on sale at a local boot fair..."I picked up this worn out old accordian and before I knew it I had a huge crowd of people dancing away! They were all laughing and I just thought poo! Whoever had it before me didn't look after it and it stank!" Stephanie goes on to say that the perfromance didn't last long as the accordian was so old that a hole blew in the side of it...Luckily Stephanie got away without having to pay for damages and Stephanie laughs "I could have paid for it as I had a few pound coins chucked at me as they must have thought I was busking!"
Producing
Stephanie has produced a few dance and urban tracks which are out on the album Indigo Child...She is currently in the studio co-producing an R&B version of Survival with Jo Platinum (Original track out on the 'album' Survival) Stephanie has also produced and co-produced various radio commercials and music and teamed alongside Paul Smailes recorded the most famous advert with Stephanie being both writer and voiceover for one of Grahem Gold's Kiss FM adverts.
