‘A Burlesque Cabaret’
12^th June starting at 9pm
Nexus Multicultural Arts Centre
Adelaide

www.bass.net.au
www.peachesngin.com

Written by co-producer Luna Eclipse

It’s early in the morning, cold, and raining, and I am slightly unhappy about hauling myself out of bed to head to the production meeting for my show ‘A Burlesque Cabaret’, part of the Cabaret Fringe Festival. Still, on the upside, my pin curls came out nicely.

We meet at a little spot with a much-needed coffee and I survey my fellow Cabaret addicts, who are a mixed bag.

First, there is our host for the evening, Rohan, who can pull a joke about anything out of thin air, make you groan with misery at the cheesiness of it whilst laughing till you cry at the same time.  He has saved our tooshies on the occasions things didn’t go quite to plan.

Then there is the lady of sass Cara Louise, who is our resident jazz singer with a voice you can hear to the hills. Cara can belt out a tune to make you laugh, cry or need to excuse yourself for some “private time”. 

We have my beloved sister Jewel, who’s gothic bellydance leaves everyone speechless…does she even have a spine? (I’ve lived with her, and yes, she does. It’s just made of rubber)

There are two other boys besides Rohan in the crew (one a new addition!), Joe and Jarryd. These fellas are swing dancing extraordinaires, picking random ladies up in the street and flipping them over their heads in a sweet vintage aerial trick. That’s the way they roll, baby.

Though she isn’t flinging random bits of clothing off or having egg fights on stage (anyone see our last show?), Enken is a core member of the team. Calmly and quietly fixing our costumes (when we are in hysterics and have a 30 second curtain call), moving around props, and generally boosting our spirits, we couldn’t do it without her.

My partner in crime and co producer of the event Sapphire, looks like she just stepped out of a salon in the 40s, always showing me up when it comes to early morning style. She begins describing her acts to me.  I don’t quite understand. She explains them to me again, and I’m still not 100% sure but I go with it. Then, when I see it on stage, it all makes sense and the audience love it.  Her acts always have a surprising twist.

And then there is me! I am addicted to the stage and have to ensure I don’t hog all the time. I never thought I would say I can’t wait to get my kit off, but its true. It’s quite exhilarating! Celebrating glamour and femininity is what really gets me going. And of course, celebrating the odd bit of masculinity in our shows is pretty darn good too.

A Burlesque Cabaret is a shared vision of everyone sitting around the table with me. We have all inspired each other with act ideas, argued over others, and generally picked at every detail until the show represents  who we are and what we believe Cabaret and Burlesque is all about. Expect to see a bit of everything (literally!). We’ve got some vintage jazz and vaudeville, a bit of strip poker, some sinuous belly dancing, swing dancing sailors, feathery fans, revealing teases, belting tunes and comedy to boot. There’s something for everyone and if you don’t like it…well…we’ll make sure you do by the end of it.

Date: Saturday 3rd of July. Doors open 8pm
Location: The Playhouse Theatre, 106 Bathurst St, Hobart, TAS 7000

Held in the historic Playhouse Theatre, “Hollywood Revealed” aims to take you back to a time of fabulous, feathered frivolity. Imagine being transported to a world of follies, femme fatales and funnymen. Headlining our evening is burlesque star and “Australia’s Top Showgirl”, Sarina Del Fuego.
 
Inspired by movies of yesteryear, we have an array of acts drawing on traditions of the golden age of Hollywood. Drawing inspirations from MGM musicals, Ziegfeld Follies and Bob Fosse, each performer has been working their socks off to transport you to a bygone era.

PERFORMERS:

Special Guest Star and Headline Act
** Sarina Del Fuego**
Australia’s Top Showgirl and Burlesque Sensation

Miss Kitty’s Meow
Hobart’s Leading Burlesque and Cabaret Troupe

The Southern Belles
Adriana of Bellywood
Vamp
Vaudeville Vixen Express
Lucy Sky Diamond
Tango Milonguero Tasmania
Lady Lola
Your MC for the evening is Magician extraordinaire, Amazing Ashton
Tickets are $16 per person (plus $4 booking fee)
Door sales are $24 per person
Tickets available for from Centretainment.
53 Elizabeth Street Mall, Hobart
(03) 6231 0303
www.centretainment.com.au

Check out http://www.hollywood-revealed.webs.com or visit the Miss Kitty’s Meow official website www.misskittysmeow.com

The standout event on the Australian Swing Dancing, Cabaret & Vaudeville calendar is back! The Gangsters’ Ball is a fully themed night of non-stop entertainment featuring the biggest names in Australian & International, Cabaret, Vaudeville and Swing Dancing.

The Gangsters’ Ball 2009 was an amazing success! More than 3,300 Gangsters, Molls and Flappers were treated to 5 hours of music, dancing and laughter. With gambling tables, a themed photo booth, merchandise stalls, cigarette girls & pin-up models, dancing competitions and sensational prizes for the best dressed, the Gangsters’ Ball was an event like no other!

Dates for the Gangsters’ Ball 2010:

Sydney – Metro Theatre – Saturday 4th September
Brisbane – Tivoli Theatre – Saturday 11th September
Melbourne – Forum Theatre – Saturday 18th September

TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW!!
First Release $60 plus transaction fee
Second Release $70 plus transaction fee

Check out www.gangstersball.com.au for ticket information!!!

The first annual Australian Burlesque Festival is only three sleeps away from opening in Melbourne on the 3rd of June at Diamond Blue.

The Big Tease on Saturday the 5th June is Officially SOLD OUT!

Excitement is running high in anticipantion of what will be the biggest Australian Burlesque event of the year! If you haven’t already got your tickets make sure you head over to http://australianburlesquefest.com and book now!!

Sorry for the long absence! It has been a month since Lola and I posted, but we have both had alot going on!! But I’m back and have some juicy updates for you!! xx

My next Brisbane event is The Big Burlesque Show  – a headlining event at the 2010 West End Carnivale and it’s all thanks to La Viola Vixen, the minx behind the show who has curated a stunning lineup!

As well as assembling a high end crew of performers, Viola is performing, as am I, with Eva Strangelove (NZ), Leda Petit (NZ),  as well as my friends, Mercy St Just (Bris) and The Judy Dolls (Bris). We’ll have not one, but two documentary crews trailing us during the day – one from Queensland College of Art for Viola, and Griffith Film School for me. Preparations are also afoot to bring one of my favorite shows to Davies Park in Brisbane’s West End -my Unicorn! It’s an act I only bring out for large stages and exciting events and I’m delighted to bring it to this show!

Viola will be performing her peacock routine, and I hear a rumour that one of the New Zealand stars will be bringing a birdbath number – so we have a full menagerie of burlesque delights to feast upon on May 15!

Tickets are available now from www.westendcarnivale.com and you can find the event on facebook, myspace and youtube.

I’ll also be running a special edition of the very successful Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Brisbane branch during the afternoon, modelled by those Wiemer-Berlin-meets-Pulp-Fiction fatales, The Judy Dolls.

You’ll also see those Sideshow Superstars Tiger Lil and The Space Cowboy, music by Mojo Juju and The Snake Oil Merchants and Juke Baritone and the Swamp Dogs. There will be a parade by Rio Rhythmics, and all up it is set to be a carnivale to remember!

So, here’s a sneak peek of what I have in store for The Big Burlesque Show!

http://www.youtube.com/lolathevamp#p/u/7/A1UF-CazkA0

The West End Carnivale is proudly presented by Rudekat Records!

It’s the first year that the Australian Burlesque Festival is running, so I think it is timely to give you a preview of what you will see from me at this event! It will be the World Premiere of my new show “The Crystal Bowl”. It’s a fitting show for this event – the lineup is truly incredible, and it is a great time to see an event of this nature in Australia. It’s unlike any other we have and I am very much looking forward to the event. I’ve been working on my show for months now, well, years really…

During my first trip to Paris, I took a bus tour – the typical tourist trap, but I forgot to plug in the headpiece, so had the gorgeous experience of coming upon landmarks like the Paris Opera by surprise. One of my favorite moments was seeing a bunch of Frenchies frolicking fully clothed in a fountain on the Champs Elysee. It’s an image that has become the main source of reference for my new show.

I’ve always wanted to replicate this energy in a performance, and finally, the perfect prop has fallen into my lap. It’s amazing what pieces turn up once you start really looking for them. And a crystal bowl has found it’s way into my repertoire.

My costume is black and white, with details of filigree and sparkle. I’ll enter in a huge white tutu, with black bodice and overlay, my silhouette will be against a sparkling black circular backpiece.  The look is very 1920s, a little bit harlequin. Very ‘theatre’, very carny. My hat is one of my vintage finds – a 20s cloche, covered in cystal with a jaunty little curve to the side!

After a striptease set to carnivale music, I’ll tease a little, putting on a sheer layer of a white tulle gown. I’ve seen many Golden Age performers do this, at reunion events. We call performers of this era Living Legends, and that is what they are.

My finale music is the classic burlesque song, Lament. I’m sure you’ll have heard it before. It’s a nod to the classics. And this signals my time in my water-filled bowl. I have a sequence of amazing moves to show you in this one, still clothed in my black and white bodice. Right until the very very end!

I’m fortunate to be a featured performer of the Red Carpet event, The Big Tease in Melbourne. It’s a night of classic burlesque and I am looking forward to performing alongside many amazing performers, including Highball Burlesque – the first of Australia’s retro burlesque troupes. This featured position is due not to the city I happen to call home at any given time (this is too variable anyway!) but to the performers and events that have nurtured me and made me the performer I am.  I tried to list them here, but the list is very long! You all know who you are.

xLola

I was fortunate this year to return to the Burlesque Ball for the first time since I headlined the inaugural event back in November 2006. Last time, it was a relatively small event, packed to the rafters with elaborately dressed affictionados. I performed with the much admired Imogen Kelly, and showgirl duo Lorelei and Sarina. Our hostess was Bessie Bardot in a venetian mask.

My return to the Ball a few years later revealed the event to be quite a different animal. This time around I was performing with a lineup of international stars; Julie Atlas Muz, Peekaboo Pointe, Roxi D’lite, Chrys Colombine, Sarah Lea Cheesecake and our emcee Ophelia Bitz. Imogen Kelly joined us for the opening night in Sydney, and my new friends The Gamble Sisters were my travelling companions, as well as performing a huge role of greeting guests, performing the opening and closing number, and singing “Two Little Girls From Little Rock” – a treat.

I have a number of amazing memories from the tour and here I will give you just a snapshot of each one, the images I remember, the smells, the sights and the standout moments.

It was my first time performing in both Perth and Adeliade and each city opened it’s doors in welcome. Helen, from Dr Sketchy Perth and Sugarblue Burlesque took days out of her schedule to show us around the town, with a trip to Cottesloe beach, where I wore a borrowed swimsuit (that barely stood up to the battering of the Indian Ocean – in fact it fell off me every time the waves hit!). The sun was shining, not too hot, just warm and beautiful, the water was fresh and smelt like the kiss of a mermaid. We discovered that Julie is half-fish, and I can still see Ophelia reclining in the breaking waves like a movie star. I kept the scent of the ocean on my hands, a clean fresh memory of a carefree afternoon at the beach.

My favorite venue was Brisbane’s Tivoli, which brough back memories of performing with Grinderman and Nick Cave solo in 2007. The lighting was incredible in this venue, they gave me the golden light I had requested, and even had some gobos spinning around beside my prop lighting the floor during the show. I remember reaching the end of my performance there and feeling suddenly quite sad – it was over too soon.  I finished my choreography and bid farewell to the audience.

Julie Atlas Muz was always there to greet me with a hug and a genuine smile. Peekaboo Pointe taught me to pop my glutes (you’ll see that in a show soon!), Jac looked after me, Sarah was hilarous company, Roxi our princess, Ophelia an amazing emceeand The Gambles helped me carry my prop when I had smashed my knee in Melbourne.  A friend came to me in Chrys Colombine, we modelled together for artist David Bromley, along with Julie and Roxi, and that was frankly one of the most fun modelling experiences I have ever had. David’s  posseses a studio in Melbourne that is a sight to behold. A small door on the street opens up to several levels of sculptures, paintings, nick knacks and objects of curiosity. The space itself is amazing, I asked David how he found it, to which he smiled and humbly told me, “Oh, I’m good at that”. He is indeed, and filling the space – it’s a bizarre and magical wonderland. I didn’t know such fantastical spaces existed in the world, and I am so glad they do. We wore Sass and Bide and hung out topless all morning. It was divine. I didn’t wash my makeup off until the very last moment, I didn’t want that day to end. It had something to do with Haper’s Bazaar, so someday I will let you know what becomes published.

Overall the tour was an experience I will remember for my career. I pushed through hours of sheer exhaustion, I smashed my knee before a performance (but managed to dance as though it had never happened) and worked my first 24 hour day. It was a wild world. I miss our company, our comaraderie, but I know we’ll meet again some sunny day!

xLola

Dr Sketchy arrives on the sunny Gold Coast this month!

Starring Lola The Vamp, and hosted by The Diamond Dahlia, the event will feature members of The Judy Dolls as models!

Our home is the beach shack The Swingin’ Safari, just on the Gold Coast Highway, about a block from the famous beaches!

Expect Vintage bikinis, glamorous hostesses, a world-famous burlesque star, and lots of sketching!

Cost is $25, and you can just rock up and buy tickets on the night!

Check out our facebook page: Dr Sketchys Anti-Art School Gold Coast

Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Brisbane has had a whale of e time since it’s re-establishment in 2009! With events at Valley Fiesta and The Woodford Folk Festival, corporate showcases, talented artists and darling models, Dr Sketchy continues it’s onward march to world domination! As a contemporary art movement, it is unmatched, unique and totally fun!

Brisbane’s branch runs on the first Tuesday of each month from uber chic bar Glass, and is proudly presented by Green Fairy Original Czech Absinth and Lola The Vamp.

Hosting this May is Miss Burlesque (QLD) 2009 winner Miss Alyssa Kitt (pictured), an absolute darling and a very exciting emerging performer to the burlesque world! With cheeky talent to burn and a deliciously engaging performance style, Alyssa is a face to watch!

Two other faces to watch are our May models Mercy St Just and Coppelia Jane! Mercy has a performing background in latin dance and is rather gorgeoous as both a lady and performer, while Coppelia Jane won the hearts of the 2009 Miss Burlesque (QLD) audience with an elegant bubble dance, heading off with the title of ‘People’s Choice’!

As usual, our fantastic photographer Kahlia Lea Litzow will be documenting the evening, and absinth cocktails will be available on arrival!
The next Brisbane installment will be held May 4, after 8pm, at Glass Bar, located beneath the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Art right on Brunswick St in Brisbane’s infamous Fortitude Valley! Tickets are $20, available on the night, or by pre-purchase at the bar any old time you like!

www.myspace.com/brisbanedrsketchy

facebook: Dr Sketchy’s Anti-Art School Brisbane 2010

and where it all began, founded in 2005 by that stunner Molly Crabapple, www.drsketchy.com