Actor Megan Harrison discusses how they created their drag king persona ‘Fabio Lezonli’, how drag has improved their self-confidence and their advice for actors taking the big first step into the world of drag.
Megan Harrison is an actor, producer and drag performer, best known for their roles on the West End as a young performer in Whistle Down the Wind, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and the Olivier Award-winning production of The Railway Children.
After graduating from The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 2016, they studied improv with the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). However, it wasn’t until 2023, when they created their persona ‘Fabio Lezonli’, that they began to embark on a new journey into the world of drag performance.
After taking a free course at The Omnibus Theatre, Megan started performing as ‘Fabio’ by entering drag competitions. They performed in Tops of the Slops (Season 3) and were a semi-finalist in Not Another Drag competition 4.0 and a finalist in Man Up (Europe’s biggest drag competition), before winning the Hothaus Hotshots in 2024.
Since then, Megan has performed as ‘Fabio Lezonli’ at Mighty Hoopla, The Clapham Grand, Soho Theatre, The Pleasance and Secret Garden Party. Their performances include parodies of well-known and beloved characters from film and television, like the upcoming award-winning show Schitt’s Creek, Jurassic Park, The Lord of the Rings, What We Do in the Shadows and EastEnders.
In this interview, Megan shares how her on stage persona has boosted her confidence, the struggles of producing her own work and why support from the drag community has been the most rewarding part of her journey so far. Here’s what she said:
Hi, Megan! What first inspired you to pursue a career in the arts?
I’ve wanted to be a performer for as long as I could remember. Luckily, I had a very supportive family, and was able to start performing professionally from the age of nine in Whistle Down the Wind at The Palace Theatre.
The thing that solidified my belief that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life was when I was in The Railway Children at Waterloo Station Theatre. It had snowed that day and out of a cast of 10 kids, only three of us could make it in. As the oldest one there, the director told me I had to multi-role. It was absolutely bonkers. At one point, I had a costume under another costume for an extremely quick change from ‘Mr Perks’’ child to the paper chase scene, but it was exhilarating. I’ve always loved being known as a reliable performer, and love when a whole cast comes together to make things work when things go slightly wrong.
What else do you remember about your time as a child on the West End?
I have so many fond memories. I still remember all of the choreography and harmonies from every show I was in. It’s like muscle memory. I remember the long walk up at The Palace Theatre, as our dressing room was on the top floor. I also remember having to go to school with my hair in bunches on midweek matinee days, as I’d be collected at lunch time to make the 2.30pm show.
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat had a lot of buzz about it because Lee Mead had just won the Any Dream Will Do television show. It was a show that a lot of my friends at school knew about. I moved to secondary school halfway through my contract and didn’t tell my teachers there that I was in the show.
One day, my form tutor asked me to stay back after registration. I thought I was in trouble, but then he started to sing Joseph at me and said, “Why didn’t you tell us you were in Joseph?” I also remember the actors who played ‘The Butcher’ and ‘The Baker’ always giving us high fives as we went up the stairs for intermission.
I was a teenager when I started The Railway Children and it was really exciting being part of a show with such a different set. It was set on the old Eurostar at Waterloo Station and we used a real train. This was my first professional play. It was also very fun to be able to run on the train tracks.
In 2023, you began working as a drag artist. How did you get started and what prompted the switch from acting into cabaret work?
In [the COVID-19 pandemic] lockdown, I started to look at more queer-centred theatre work and saw a free course at the Omnibus Theatre. I made friends with someone there and they were a finalist in Man Up in 2022 at The Clapham Grand. I was in awe. I had never seen so many drag kings on a stage before and knew it was something I wanted to try myself. It was never something I ever dreamed I could do for a living until I properly started doing it, and for some reason, people seemed to like what I was doing and started to book me.
For those who might not know, can you tell us what a drag king is and what has been the most rewarding part about performing drag?
A [drag king is a] performer that puts on a masculine persona. A lot of the dictionary definitions say someone ‘especially female’ who dresses up in male clothing, but it can be anyone of any gender performing and portraying male characteristics.
The most rewarding part of drag has been the community I’ve gained from it. Drag is full of the most weird and wonderful people you will ever meet and is an art form that covers so many disciplines, where the performer has full creative control of what they’re doing. It’s truly a beautiful thing to see.
After my first proper performance during the Not Another Drag Competition heat, hosted by ‘Me the Drag Queen’, I was so overwhelmed by the audience reaction. I had an adrenaline rush for days and cried happy tears. After that, I knew this was a world that I really wanted to be a part of and now get to work with the wonderful ‘Me’ very often.
Can you tell us how you created ‘Fabio Lezonli’?
Just before I started drag, I started doing research on the societal expectations of men and women and I came across a study about how men apply for more promotions than women. It said that most men will apply for a promotion if they tick two out of 10 boxes, but most women will only apply if they tick eight out of 10.
I became really fascinated with male confidence. I wanted to show the most extreme version of this confidence, so I thought, ‘What type of people are really confident in my eyes? Supermodels.’ I chose the first ever male supermodel ‘Fabio’ from the Mills and Boone novels. I wanted to choose a subject that would be really bizarre to be really overconfident about and chose children’s magic.
In my first act, ‘Fabio’ tries to seduce the audience, and every time you think he’s going to do something sexy, it’s another naff children’s magic trick. Fabio’s full name is ‘Fabio Lanzoni’, so I just changed it to ‘Lezonli’.
Megan Harrison as ‘Fabio Lezonli’ / Image credit: James Klug
You’ve also produced your own shows in the London drag scene. What have been some of the struggles and benefits of creating your own work?
Having creative autonomy, being able to curate a line up full of performers I love and admire and being able to watch them shine. Things in the world are pretty dark for a lot of people in the drag community at the moment, with our rights being taken away, and many people don’t fully understand the art form for what it is. I always think of what sort of space I want to create for the audience, and what I want them to feel when they come to one of my shows.
The struggles are similar to what a lot of live arts sectors are going through at the moment, which is that we are in a cost-of-living crisis. With everyone having less disposable income, people are coming to fewer shows, which is making it harder and harder to sell tickets. With drag, it’s especially hard to find any funding when creating a show. The budget is pretty much always whatever we make on ticket sales.
Do you have any advice for actors who are interested in exploring the world of drag?
Go and see as many shows as you can. I know most people’s reference of drag these days is Ru Paul’s Drag Race, but there are so many different types of drag that you can expose yourself to – the more unhinged, East London drag scene, like at Dalston Superstore and the Divine, to Soho Drag and larger, normally themed, drag shows at the Clapham Grand. The list goes on.
If you want to learn more, start in places like Soho Theatre and Above Your Nerve. They have great drag courses. Then, follow the artists that you admire on social media. Many of them will post about competitions or open mic slots that you can apply for.
Is there anything you wish you knew when you started that could help others on their journey?
It takes a village. Try to find someone whose drag you look up to, that you can ask questions about your drag to. It’s great to get advice from as many people as you can, but you also don’t have to take on every piece of advice that’s given to you if you don’t agree with it. Trust your gut, and the biggest thing is taking that first step and giving it a go.
How has performing as ‘Fabio’ helped your approach to acting?
Absolutely! ‘Fabio’ is one of the most confident people you will ever meet, and as I’m with him quite a lot of the time, some of that confidence has definitely transferred to my personal life. ‘Fabio’ also commits fully to whatever he’s doing, so much so that one of the traits that he’s known for is screaming at people. I initially thought I had created a terrible person as a persona and didn’t understand why people liked him so much. People said, “It’s the confidence,” and someone once said he is the personification of, “Aww, bless him.”
You have performed in drag parody shows of The Lord of the Rings (You Shall Not Yaas), What we Do in the Shadows (What we Do in the Eyeshadows) and EastEnders (Eastbenders). Have there been any memorable and fun moments from these shows you can tell us about?
Parodying a character that is already very well known and loved in drag form can have its challenges, but I often use my improv comedy background to hone in on one of the characteristics or things that the character is known for and go from there.
I loved using my musical theatre background to do a parody of Billy Elliot’s ‘Electricity’ as ‘Sonia’ from EastEnders about her trumpet. Going back to why I wanted to pursue a performing arts career, two out of the three first performances of these shows were absolute chaos in the best way.
On the first night of You Shall Not Yaas back in 2023, I had just gotten into a drag competition called Top of the Slops at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club on the same night. I didn’t want to let anyone down, so I decided to do both and changed from ‘Boromir’ from The Lord of the Rings to ‘Lucy Dacus’ from Boy Genius in the Uber. I would love to know what that Uber driver was thinking, but I guess we’ll never know!
I was also playing both ‘Sonia’ and ‘Phil Mitchell’ in the same show Eastbenders. It was not only thinking about the acts, but also what is a manageable transformation for such different characters in the 45 minutes that I had between acts. I’m also doing a drag Jurassic Park show called Life Finds a Slay, where I’m parodying two characters again at The Clapham Grand on the 18 June, so look out for that show!
Megan Harrison as ‘Sonia’ in ‘Eastbenders’ / Image credit: Jennifer Forward-Hayter
As a drag artist, what are your career ambitions and what insight can you offer others that might be struggling to find their place?
I want there to be more visibility for all types of drag art forms. Drag Race is great, but only shows a tiny intersection of what drag can be, and I want to see the full spectrum. Every year, one major new outlet says it’s ‘The Year of the Drag King’ and talks about drag kings coming up in the world.
For many years now, we have seen drag queens cast as cis women in plays and musicals, and I would love to play a cis man as a drag king in a play or musical. I’m also in the process of making my first one-person play as ‘Fabio’, which I’m hoping to take to the Edinburgh Fringe next year.
My advice for people trying to find their place is to keep learning, keep trying new things. The more things you try and learn, the more tools you add to your metaphorical toolbelt. Some of them you may never use, but it’s great to have as many of them at your disposal as possible. I think the most important thing is to just keep trying and taking those risks, and doing things that slightly scare you, because you never know what you’ll find once you take that first step.
Finally, you have an exciting new show coming up at the Clapham Grand. What can you tell us about that?
I do! It’s called The Schitt’s Show, a drag parody celebrating 10 years of the award-winning sitcom Schitt’s Creek. It’s the biggest show I’ve produced to date! I’m co-producing alongside the fabulous drag artist ‘Carrot’, who has curated many themed shows there, including The Gallifrey Cabaret – a massively successful, queer, Doctor Who-themed show. We will be raising money for charity at the event and I can exclusively reveal here that I will be playing the role of ‘David’.
A huge thank you to Megan for taking the time to share her insights with us!
The Schitt’s Show, a drag parody of Schitt’s Creek, opens on 11 September 2025 at the Clapham Grand. Tickets are available here.
Find out more about Megan and ‘Fabio Lezonli’ on their Instagram: @fabio_Lezonli_drag
Karen is a British actor of south Asian descent, born and raised in Birmingham, England. She is a graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Manhattan, New York. Most notably known for her role as Nicole Shelley in the award winning Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso starring opposite Jason Sudeikis, Hannah Waddingham, Brett Goldstein and Nick Mohammed. She also played Noreen Khan in the first two seasons of the BBC television series Phoenix Rise.
In Theatre, Karen starred in Ayad Akhtar’s The Who and the What at The English Theatre of Hamburg in Germany and performed opposite Scottish actor Alan Cumming in the original musical Me and the girls directed by Tony award winner Douglas Carter Beane. She has also played leading roles in regional premieres of David Harrower’s Blackbird and Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things. In 2022 she was directed by Iqbal Khan in Mismatch at The Birmingham Rep as part of the Sky Comedy Rep Festival. Her other credits include lead roles in Camel written by Charly Clive, Welcome to Thebes, As you like it, Lysistrata, 4.48 Psychosis, The Tempest, Good Fit, She Kills Monsters, American As, Julius Caesar for The Public Theater at Shakespeare in the Park and Journey to America at the world famous Carnegie Hall, New York.
Karen’s selected work on film includes starring in The Waves for MTV Entertainment directed by BAFTA award winner Sindha Agha, Man on the Phone for Red Bear Films and Frank’s Plan for Amazon Prime. She has also appeared in commercials for Aramco, WhatsApp with Alex Scott, TK Maxx, West Midlands Combined Authority and Northwell Health Insurance in New York. She recently performed at the An Tain Arts Centre in Dundalk, Ireland in Why are you here? Directed by Paul Hayes.
Headshot credit: Andy Brown
