Dear Constant Reader,
I know I’ve been away from my writing desk for ages. I will try to find some time to let you know all about what’s been going on with The W.R. Athskellar Cavalcade of Curiosities.
Today’s tip comes from poet Shel Silverstein:
Some kind of help is the kind of help that helping’s all about. And some kind of help is the kind of help we all can do without.
I think we’ve all found ourselves either giving or receiving that second kind of help…
Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Friday! I’m sorry for the lack of epistles, but things have been a little frantic as we get ready for The W. R. Athskellar Cavalcade of Curiosities. More frantic than planned, but that’s a story for another time.
Today’s tip is about bras and it’s not just for the burlesque performer.
Your bra’s band should go straight across your back. If it rises up between your shoulder blades, it’s too big.
Too often ladies compensate for a band that’s too loose by tightening up the shoulder straps more, which only compounds the problem. A properly fitting band should be snug, but you should still be able to slip one finger under it. The shoulder straps should never be cutting into your flesh.
Dear Constant Reader,
I find myself sewing a lot of snaps on costumes right now. Lining up the halves perfectly can be fussy. Here’s a little tip that will help:
For perfectly aligned snaps, sew one half of the snap in place, rub it with chalk, then close the garment as if it was being worn. There will be a chalk mark right where the other half of the snap should be sewn.
Dear Constant Reader,
The Teaseday Club met again on Tuesday, September 10th with hostess Sarah Blodgett. 6 months of teasing!
Scratch was at The Boston Theatre Expo, but we were in good hands with Maddy the Stage Manager, Hunter, Kendra, and Jon in the booth, Stella as Stage Kitten (and what an outfit!), and yours truly in the box office. That means I didn’t get to watch much of the show in the theatre. Fortunately, there is a monitor in the lobby, so I did see some of it. But my usual descriptions of the acts are going to be extremely sketchy.
Frankie Merlot of the Wortown Bombshells was taking photos and I’ll share them with you when/if I can.
Set 1
Vikki Likkerish opened with her signature Painted Lady act to “Black Velvet”.
Samara, a bellydancer, performed to “Sail”.
Beau Blush performed a balloon pop act to “Jump in the Line”.
Rory Raven is a mentalist. He had two people pick a book from a stack of several and pick a random word from each. And then he proceeded to read their minds and discover the words.
Set 2
Emily Hecht sang something fabulous. (I don’t know which song; I was in the box office)
Beau Blush did a fan dance to “Fever”.
Sarah Blodgett, Comedy’s Funny Honey, gave us a little taste of her stand-up act.
Brigitte Bisoux did a sultry striptease to “Caramel”.
Samara danced to a remix of “Feeling Good”.
Set 3
Rory Raven did a little reverse mind reading. During intermission he had picked a card and flipped it so it would stand out in the pack. Then he had an audience member come up and read his mind to determine what the card was. She eventually nervously selected one. He riffled through the deck to find the one card with its back showing and it was the very card she had chosen!
Vikki Likkerish performed her etherial striptease to a dreamy version of “Addicted to Love”.
Emily Hecht returned to sing “Mercy On Me”. She has got a great set of pipes!
Brigitte Bisoux finished things off with an energetic striptease while tap dancing to “In the Mood”. She can twirl tassels while she taps…
And who won The Great Teaseday Cookie? No shock, it was Brigitte!
I hope you’ll join us again on October 8th!
Dear Constant Reader,
A couple of notes before we get to your tip.
First, between the Boston Babydolls’ show and the B.A.B.E. workshop we raised $550 for Dixie Evans Week. Thank you to everyone who participated!
Next, Tuesday is Teaseday! Get your tickets in advance and save! Support your favorite performer and she might get The Great Teaseday Cookie! Last I heard Vikki Likkerish was in the lead.
Now for that tip!
Make your act the same length as your music.
I’ve seen too many performers walk off stage while their music is still playing or have the music end before the act is over. The key is to know your music, know your choreography, and know where the 2 intersect.
You should have milestones in the music and in your choreography, so even if you get a little off-track, you can find your place again. You might have to briefly vamp or speed up, but it shouldn’t be too noticeable, if you are confident in what you do.
If you’re still always coming up short, edit the music or adjust your choreography.
Dear Constant Reader,
B.A.B.E. and The Boston Babydolls were proud to be a part of Dixie Evans Week. We held 2 events, both to to raise money for Dixie’s memorial fund.
B.A.B.E was part of the 100 Classes for Dixie with “Blonde Bombshell”, a 3-hour workshop in which we taught an entire, brand-new routine to “Diamonds Are a Girl’s best Friend”, in honor of The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque.
It was an experiment of sorts. Now, any new choreography is a bit of an experiment — you never know if it’s going to survive contact with dancers — but we’d never created or taught a class in this way before. Brigitte, Stella, and I each choreographed 1/3 of the song, checking, of course, to make sure everything was compatible. And then we team taught it, which was an awful lot of fun.
The students were great! Everyone was really enthusiastic, including the bride-to-be who was using this as a kick-off for her bachelorette celebration. We started off the class by talking about Dixie and then showing “The Casting Couch”. Everybody was inspired by it, even the teachers.
It turned out that the only issue with the joint choreography was that both Brigitte and Stella used a step-touch, but Brigitte started with the touch and Stella with the step. The students were getting confused as when to use which, so Brigitte declared that she would change to start with the step instead. And everyone was happy.
And here are our glamourous students!
But we weren’t done yet! Right after class, we all headed over to Davis Square for
Big thanks to everyone who came out, despite it being Labor Day weekend. (For those of you who are not Bostonians, that’s the weekend when thousands and thousands of students descend upon the Boston area to move into their dorms or out of their summer sublets. The sidewalks of Allston are filled with discarded belongings and moving vans get stuck under bridges on Storrow Drive.)
Bigger thanks to those of you who chose to pay more than the lowest ticket price or made an additional donation.
And biggest thanks to the Davis Square Theatre for giving us a very reduced rate and to the performers and crew for donating their time.
The show went a little something like this:
Scratch opened with a speech about Dixie Evans, who she was and why she’s important.
Stella started with her “Date Night” number to “Moonglow”. We thought this was a good first act since it’s got some similar elements to “Casting Couch” — Stella is seduced by a man who isn’t really there, just his jacket.
For a little variety we turned to Betty in her fast-paced bellydance-inspired number to “Airmail Special”.
Next up was Brigitte with a dirty striptease to “Tombstone Blues”.
Devora presented a dance en pointe with just a hint of striptease (she took off gloves and a scarf, but left her filmy tunic in place). This is usually done with a balloon, a la Sally Rand’s bubble dance, but the ceilings at the theatre were too low.
And then I did my fan dance to “Harlem Nocturne”.
Stella sang “Always be True to You”. Unfortunately, there was a problem with the microphone, so she could barely be heard over the backing track.
Betty closed out the first half with an act we like to call Geek Love. Betty, dressed in jeans, sneakers, a flannel, and a t-shirt, gets really hot & bothered by her laptop. The costume may not be sexy, but Betty is as she bumps & grinds to “Night Train”.
And then we took a little intermission.
To make up for the previous audio problem, Stella came back and sang “I Hate Men”. She hadn’t planned on singing twice, but she’s just that good.
Next up, I preformed “Champagne on Ice”, a moody striptease with some ice. Again, we picked it because there’s an invisible partner. When I finished, there was dead silence. It stretched long enough that I was wondering how to get off the stage with any dignity when a woman’s voice drifted down from the back of the house: “Wow…” Thunderous applause. Thank goodness.
Brigitte brightened things up with a tap dance to “In the Mood”.
Devora had a little surprise for the audience during her can-can striptease to “Love Me Or Leave Me” — assels!
We had given the Blonde Bombshell students the option to perform the routine they had just learned in the show and one of them was brave enough to do it! Trixie Santiago made her burlesque debut right on our stage with a choreography she hadn’t known mere hours before. Brigitte performed it alongside her, but Trixie did great!
Then, with the help of a volunteer from the audience, Scratch performed a card trick which didn’t quite go as planned…
Betty, Devora, Stella, and I closed out the show with “Leap Frog”, the number we presented at the Ohio Burlesque Festival.
And Scratch ended by once again talking about Dixie and how the funds raised were going to be used.
It was a fun show, but bitter-sweet. I hope we did Dixie proud.
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 