Interview: LISA STEPHEN FRIDAY Is Back at Joe's Pub at Long Last

Spend an evening with Lisa Stephen Friday on November 18 at Joe's Pub as she celebrates the release of her newest single "Sober & Insane." As a child of the 80’s Lisa’s artistic aesthetic is highly influenced by the early days of MTV and the post punk era of pop music. Lisa’s songwriting career is now in its third decade with her most notable work coming in the early 2000’s as the front woman and song writer for the NYC based rock-n-roll band Lisa Jackson and Girl Friday. After a 10-year hiatus from writing and performing, Lisa has returned to NYC and the Joe's Pub stage to showcase her one woman musical, TRANS AM and the concert version of the original new piece, DOLL/GIRL: A MUSICAL which she has co-created with its writer, Joseph Ritsch.

Below, read a conversation with Lisa about the show.

What are you most looking forward to about your upcoming show at Joe's Pub?

Over the past 18 months I have done four shows at Joe’s Pub. Two of those shows were showcase nights for Trans Am and two were concert versions of Doll/Girl. While I absolutely love both of those shows and would happily do them eight times a week (just need a couple million bucks to make that happen…) the two shows require me to wear a lot of different hats. With Trans Am I am the author, composer, actor and it’s literally my life story set to a full blown rock-n-roll score.  It’s 95 minutes of pure adrenaline and a total rush to perform the show, but I’m almost 52 years old so… 

Doll/Girl is equally exhilarating but it is self-produced alongside my co-creator of the project, Joseph Ritsch. I’m also the composer and a performer in this show, so it’s kind of an intense several days leading up to those concerts. Luckily, we’ve had Ty Defoe and Adam Rineer directing and musical directing those concerts and they have always managed to get us across the finish line! 

So, what am I most looking forward to for the 11/18 show? Community! Community! Community!! Like a lot of other trans theater artists in NYC right now, the trans community has totally rallied behind so many of us and the energy and love that they bring into a room is absolutely delicious! When I moved back to NYC 18 months ago, I was completely overjoyed to discover the most vibrant community of Transgender artist that I had ever seen! So many amazing young and incredibly talented Trans folks just started showing upon my life! The contact list in my phone is now full of younger Transgender adults in their 20s and most of them refer to me a mom. They bring so much joy to my life and I absolutely love it when they come out and support me. I have worked with several of my longtime friends and supporters to help provide access for the trans community to all of my shows at Joe’s Pub and for this performance people have really turned it out! I currently have over 25 free tickets that people have purchased and donated back to me. I will post about these tickets on social media and any folks within the trans community that want to see my show can simply DM me and grab a free ticket. It’s first come, first serve

Tell me about your new single "Sober & Insane." Where did the idea for that song come from?

Wow. This song, much like my life, has had quite the journey. I originally wrote the song in 2007-ish and it was the only thing I wrote after my six-year stint with Lisa Jackson and Girl Friday. I had never recorded the song and had only performed it once on stage. But, when I started writing TRANS AM I stuck it in as the 11 o’clock number and when I presented the first draft to Fred Berman who was directing the show, we knew that it was perfect. The song was originally written as a love song to my wife at the time and we used it in the show as a way to shape the narrative around that relationship and eventually our divorce. However, being that TRANS AM is about my life, and given that I am not dead yet, the script is more like a living document and as I continue to age (beautifully I might add!) The script continues to evolve. After our first showcase of TRANS AM at Joe’s Pub, we received a lot of feedback on the script and realized that we needed to take a deep dive into my relationship with my father. Through that process, the song “Sober & Insane” started to drive the narrative surrounding my relationship with my father and how we found common ground through our shared experience of sobriety and our struggles with addiction. This shared experience was the connection we needed in order to start repairing the damage that had been done by my father’s transphobic behaviors. This brought a whole new life to the song and this past February I went back into the studio with my longtime friend and record producer Barb Morrison and we recorded a brand new version of the song. I am extremely proud of what Barb and I created!

You're coming back from a long hiatus from performing. What were you doing with yourself during that time?

The short answer is, A LOT! I’d been living in Manhattan since 1993 and I decided it was time for a change. In 2011, I moved to the Berkshires and lived in Williamtown, MA. I went to college for engineering, got married, got divorced, became an alpine racing coach, moved to DC, became a project manager for Barbizon Lighting, lost all my hair, grew it all back, wrote a musical during the pandemic, had two gender affirming surgeries and contrary to the absurdity of conservative Republican’s AND Democrat’s beliefs, I do not regret EITHER of them. Then, at 50 years of age I quit my job and moved back to NYC to reinvent my life as creator and performer! I’m really tired now… but extremely happy!

What are your future plans for TRANS AM and DOLL/GIRL?

It’s pretty simple really: secure the funding for further development and off-Broadway productions and then have both shows transfer to Broadway and run simultaneously. Win multiple Tony Awards and then move back to the Berkshires and become a ski bum again! 

Who should come see you at Joe's Pub? 

Of course all are welcome and all should be there! But, I really want to encourage transgender folks of all ages to attend! As I said earlier, the trans community is showing up for each other in ways that I have never seen before and for trans folks that are looking for community, you will absolutely find it at my shows. Please keep an eye out on my Instagram feed @lisastephenfriday for available tickets for folks within the trans community.

And if you just love to sit in a room with a great sound system and a great band then you should definitely be there. I have an A-list line up for this show featuring my musical director Adam Rineer on Keys and the iconic bass and drum combo of Vivi Rama and Dena Tauriello straight from skid row at Little Shop off-Broadway!

Is there anything else you'd like to add?

As a creator of musical theater, I have come to the understanding that part of my responsibility as a transgender artist is to inform my community of what our futures can look like. For transgender people, our history is riddled with isolation and trauma, and the stories that continue to be told about us all too often reinforce this violent narrative. It is necessary for the transgender community to acknowledge our history and to celebrate and honor those who have come before us. However, it is equally important for us to reimagine our future and create a society that is not only inclusive and affirming to our trans experience but also works to dismantle transphobia. The urgency for artists to inspire this future for transgender people is undeniable. With over 661 anti-trans legislative efforts currently being debated in 43 states throughout America, it has become imperative that artists such as myself gain immediate access to an artistic home that will allow us to unapologetically nurture and develop the stories that will inform a liberated future for transgender people. Joe’s Pub has become this home for me and I absolutely love performing in this venue. Come out and celebrate the future with us on November 18th!!

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Tickets to Lisa Friday’s November 18 show are available on Joe’s Pub’s website.

Follow Lisa on Instagram @lisastephenfriday

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