From plain James to Sophisticated James to Sophie-Jaye James, we follow the stage life of a true performance artist, a magician on stage, and a Queen when Drag reigned supreme in the clubs. From the East Coast to the West Coast, Miss Sophie-Jaye James’ star sparkled on the stage and those in the ‘know’ remember the spell her crafting wove.
James was an artistic child who was known to lock himself in the family bathroom and plunder his mother’s make up with such conscientious vigor that he transformed himself into someone else. Thus, the birth of the alter ego.
Coming of age in Brisbane and going out on the scene was an exciting time. It was the eighties – the colors were brighter; the hair was bigger; and the drag shows were amazing!
‘When I first started going out shows were very old school. A lot of the first Les Girls left Sydney and eventually settled in Brisbane, and most of them were performance artists. I was very lucky to see a lot of that and get a lot of old school training,’ said the always gracious James as he reminisced on his first sparks of interests for the stage. ‘I would never have guessed at that time that thirty years later I myself would be in Melbourne Les Girls!’ he laughs. Les Girls (for those of you reading who may not have been born at the time) was the first show in Australia where all the beautiful women were actually transsexuals. It started in the late 1960’s in Kings Cross in Sydney and was the longest running all male review in history, closing in 2002.
James grew up in an era when androgynous music artists such as Peter Burns, Boy George and Marilyn were household names. ‘The very first time I saw the music film clip of Peter Burns in Dead or Alive singing ‘That’s the way I like’ was the moment I was inspired to do drag shows. I really wanted to do that kind of ‘boy drag.’ It had never been done before. I was the very first in Australia to take the androgynous look and add sequins and high heels… My inspiration came from Peter Burns, all of my first performances on stage were a series of songs from his Album called Sophisticated Boom Boom. Hence my name, Sophisticated James… Back then I entered competitions. I never won, but my career has had the longevity (18 years) that other people from that time has not because I have always seen drag as a hobby and not a lifestyle. Drag has always been to me an art – a means to express myself.’
Sophisticated James moved from Brisbane to Perth in 1994. It was the perfect time to move to Perth for a drag queen, as the art of drag was moving to new heights. It was the era of Stryker Myer, Glamour Pussy, Michael Michelle, Lizzy Chirpsworth and Rachel. All the night clubs spent small fortunes for not only costumes but also elaborate stage productions. ‘I remember Connections once produced a show where the stage was a dollhouse, like the one in Play School, taking up the side of one wall and we performed in each of the four rooms. There was another time a staircase was constructed into the ceiling leading into a dead end. Another time scaffolds were constructed within the club just for the drag shows.’
James did not have drag daughters, but he did help start the careers of some very well known identities including Miss Barbie Q and Swish. ‘I don’t like to think that I have passed on batons, but I like to think that I have shared by helping newer queens and giving advice and pointers on make up, being coached a little myself when I first started – mainly by a an ex Sydney Les Girl called Malika – I felt it a rite of passage to help in the same way.’
After living happily for eight years in Perth, James’ moved to Melbourne. He started doing shows around the traps and was spotted by a Melbourne Les Girls talent scout for the reprise of Les Girls in Melbourne. ‘I was asked to join the company because they loved my craft, but they wanted me to perform in girl drag with a female persona, which I had never done before, My nickname amongst friends was always Sophie – short for Sophisticated – so it seemed only natural that my female drag persona be Sophie-Jaye and James after myself,’ James explains.
After a very successful run in Melbourne, James was offered a promotion in his normal job and transferred to Perth. James jumped at the opportunity to return, but his employers have now offered James another promotion back in Melbourne. So James leaves Perth once more, but not without a hint of sadness, ‘Perth has so many happy memories for me. Drag is not as huge as it once was. Times change and so do tastes, but maybe one day soon drag will again be revived.’
Katherine Wolfgramme
