By Neil Durham (review ticket)

WORTH A LOOK?: ***

WHEN?: Saturday 10 May (matinee) with occasional shows running through 29 May 2025 RUNTIME: 60 minutes (no interval)

In a week when our thoughts are dominated by Saturday’s 69th Eurovision Song Contest and whether 1988 victor Celine Dion will appear live there, it felt like the perfect time to see this autobiographical musical introduction to a performer whose best work we feel we’ve yet to see.

• Read on for reasons including how Sakellaris may well be worth stanning in the not-too-distant future

Sakellaris is non-binary and looks like a young Orlando Bloom with a supermodel physique and better hair than Beyonce.

A Stan Is Born! is their story of growing up gay in New York, moving to rural Germany, being shunned by football-loving boys and finding strength in pop divas like Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and Aretha Franklin.

Stan was a hit for Eminem and Dido about a superfan and the verb ‘to stan’ has become shorthand for celebrity obsession which Sakellaris seeks to explore here predominantly through original songs (listen to 1 below) performed at a keyboard during a recollection of their childhood.

You join us in the Riverside Room on 1 of the hottest Saturday afternoons of the year so far where Sakellaris explains this is their 1st time performing this show in 5 months and half of it is new work.

T-shirts of some of our favourite divas including Madonna, Florence (from And The Machine fame) and Janelle Monae litter the stage and we can’t help but feel that this is exactly the sort of show we should be enjoying.

The mood is upbeat and relaxed as they talk of watching Desperate Housewives with their mum and discovering there are divas worthy of celebration all around them in their life.

There’s even a Drag Race UK (‘If you can’t stan yourself, how you gonna stan somebody else?’) reference as the feel becomes tick-boxy and you can’t help but feel that this idea has been mined for all it’s worth here.

A Stan Is Born! does possess sparks. It’s an interesting introduction to a performer that serves as appetiser rather than main course and is worth seeing because Alexis Sekallaris may be a new name to you now but could well produce something truly memorable and worth stanning in the not-too-distant future.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Riverside Studios Tickets Also Brighton Fringe and Edinburgh Fringe
• Have you seen an Alexis Sakellaris show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
• Enjoyed this preview? Follow monstagigz on Twitter @NeilDurham, email neildurham3@gmail.com and check us out on Instagram and Facebook