Myra DuBois is Rotherham's finest entertainment export since Paul Shane.

An accomplished actress, cabaret artiste and barmaid, Myra has graced some of the most respected stages in the UK earning almost sycophantic praise wherever she goes. This should be all you need to know.You’re all busy people with lives to lead.

However, should you be interested to know more beyond this, here’s a short biography. Enjoy.

GENESIS, IN THE BEGINNING

Myra DuBois was born and raised in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where she discovered and nurtured her talents as an entertainer. Her eyes were first opened to show business by the acts performing at the local Working Men’s Club where she was employed as a barmaid. Once the flame of ambition was lit, Myra went on to train in the ensemble of the Rotherham Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society. It was not long before she was honoured with her first speaking role in a production of “Oliver!” as the Book Seller.

There was no going back.

For the next few years Myra spent her time mixing in Rotherham’s bohemian and artistic circles, appearing in numerous productions at the Rotherham Civic Theatre and working at Marks and Spencer. This was her life, a simple but rewarding existence.

Then, one day, the bright lights of London caught Myra’s eyes. If she blinked really fast, she could still see the white silhouette of London just sort of floating upwards in her eyelids and it didn't half freak her out.

A HANDBAG FULL OF DREAMS AND A COACH TICKET

Myra moved to London in the mid ‘00s, got herself two jobs (one in a Fashion College café where she took great delight in pouring full fat milk into soya lattes, the other in dive of a bar where she never got bored of the customers’ jokes regarding the “great head” that Myra gave with her pints) and set about getting her act together.

On the 6th of July 2008, Myra made her London debut at Finger in the Pie Cabaret held at the world-famous Madame JoJo’s. Audiences were delighted, Myra was thrilled and the compère got her name wrong. A career was born.

By 2009 Myra had hosted the NYE celebrations at Madame JoJo’s and had gone on to become the compère of Finger in the Pie herself. The rest of the year was spent performing up and down the country in cabaret and variety shows, whilst being picked out by Time Out London as among the “ones to watch” at that year’s London Burlesque Festival. “Acid tongued, funny to the bone” Simone Bard wrote. “Myra DuBois is so hot right now!”

 

EAT YOUR HEART OUT

But Myra was getting restless. She missed the camaraderie of her Am-Dram days, and so in 2010 she joined the forward-thinking experimental theatre collective Eat Your Heart Out. Alongside the likes of performance artists Scottee, Dickie Beau and Nando Messias, Myra performed in shows up and down the length of the UK, made her Edinburgh Fringe debut and created a piece of interpretive dance about a fight she had once had with an ex-boyfriend outside a pub in Rotherham.

“Eat Your Heart Out’s other star performer and co-compère is Rotherham icon Myra Dubois, who has a very intelligent line of self-aware comedy, performed in a delightfully matter-of fact style. It’s a winning persona.”

The Public Reviews, 2010

A REPUTATION PRECEDES ITSELF

Whilst working with Eat Your Heart Out, Myra DuBois quickly established herself as a prominent presence on London’s cabaret and neo-burlesque scene, performing at such venues as the Soho Theatre, Leicester Square Theatre, The Roundhouse, Stratford Circus, Riverside Studios and the Contact Theatre, Manchester.

At the dawn of 2012, she found herself as a finalist in the prestigious Hackney Empire New Act of the Year competition AND on the shortlist for a London Cabaret Award up against cabaret veterans Jonny Woo and David Hoyle. She won at neither, but she did get raucously drunk and cracked a joke about Adele whilst presenting the award for Best Musical Act. See if you can spot Myra drinking a glass of champagne like it’s a pint at this video from the London Cabaret Awards Ceremony: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aQ_5H2hjws

 

THE ROYAL VAUXHALL TAVERN

Over the last few years, Myra DuBois has cemented a relationship with what has become her favourite venue in the whole of London, the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. Beginning with the occasional “one-off” show at the RVT, the venue organisers soon asked Myra to host a number of regular nights and culminated in her starring in the title role of the now-legendary Royal Vauxhall Tavern 2010 pantomime “Screwge”.

In 2011, she presented her first ever one-woman show “From Rotherham with Love” there, charting her rise from barmaid to cabaret star before once again starring in the next RVT pantomime “Robyn Hood”, this time playing the villainous Sheriff.

 

MYRA TODAY

Myra DuBois remains a visible presence on the London's cabaret, burlesque, performance and gay scenes. She has appeared on the cover of QX and Boyz magazine, given interviews to the BBC whilst refraining to pay her TV Licence (but it was BBC Radio Scotland so she’s not too guilty) and is a frequent Critic’s Choice of Time Out London.

2012 saw Myra DuBois take up the ancient art of the pen, and is now one of This Is Cabaret’s regular columnists where she offers advice to the likes of Frisky & Mannish, Dusty Limits and Kiki Kaboom. This August she’ll be hitting the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her solo show “Auntie Myra’s Fun Show”, her attempt to break children's entertainment. Wish her luck.