Visitors to Southwark Park in recent months may have been surprised to hear the dulcet tones of a man singing opera, jazz and musical theatre numbers.
Steve Howgego started singing on the bandstand in March and tends to sing five days a week between 12pm and 2pm. “Without a microphone, that can get pretty tiring,” he joked.
Rotherhithe resident Steve told the News he sings “to cheer people up”, adding that “every time I come to the park I get someone saying how much they like my singing. I think partly because I live locally it’s caught on with the locals.”
Before he came to Southwark Park he was singing on the South Bank near Blackfriars Bridge from 2020, but “had a problem with quite aggressive beggars.”
“It can be quite stressful singing there,” he said. “Some of them are quite nice, but some of them are very aggressive. Here, it’s mostly been great.”
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The one problem Steve has had in three months is with some “troublesome” children aged about eleven or twelve. “Luckily my friend from the gym that’s a big guy just happened to be passing by and spoke to them,” he said. “But that was only once, and actually the sixteen, seventeen-year-olds are very complimentary.”
Steve’s own life has had its ups and downs. Originally from the north-east, with Nigerian, Jewish, English and Scottish heritage, he became an investment banker and moved to Paris in the 1980s.
In the 1990s, he began training and singing with the London Community Gospel Choir, and toured all over the UK. He then left to go solo and took up a teaching job at Goldsmiths College in New Cross.
But Steve suffered “a complete breakdown” in 2001 and lost his job. “It’s just one of those things that happens to people,” he said.
Singing helped him to get better. “As I began to recover, I started to perform in public places. One of the first places I went was St Thomas’ hospital where I was being treated.
“What really helped me pull my life together is performing.”
Steve said he is an entirely solo act, without an agent or contacts in the entertainment industry, and would love to get some more singing work. He has applied for Britain’s Got Talent but not had any success. “They must get so many people sending in applications, I’m not surprised I didn’t get anywhere.”
Steve has done one concert for local charity Time and Talents, but said he would “love to do some more work and build up [his] career.
“I would love to find work with anyone in Southwark that wants a singer,” he added. “An awful lot of people enjoy hearing me sing…
“But mostly what keeps me going is the reaction every day of people being really complimentary. I have been very well appreciated. And I’m doing it to make people happy, so I’m achieving the main goal.”
If you would like to get in touch with Steve to discuss a possible booking, get in touch with steve.howgego@gmail.com
Steve has an amazing voice and made our day today in the park