Dear Constant Reader,
Just a quick note that I am returned from BurlyCon and almost back to normal after an intense weekend of glitter and classes. I’ll tell you all about it in my usual day by day fashion. Perhaps next week.
All the badges! I only missed one year, when it conflicted with The Wrathskellar. BurlyCon seems to have settled down into early November where I hope it stays.
Dear Constant Reader,
I know I’m very late with this missive, but I also know you forgive me.
A couple of weeks ago I ventured to lovely Charleston, South Carolina for Costume-Con, the annual gathering of the International Costumers Guild and a mecca for all things costume-y. You might remember that I attended last year in Toronto.
Last year I was solo, but this year I was part of a group of fabulously talented costumers, putting together an entry for the Historical Masquerade. It’s a particularly challenging competition and we only added to the difficulty by living far enough apart that the first time all nine members of the group were together was Friday night. I never thought I’d say this, but thank goodness for Facebook — it’s how we communicated and shared our progress. More about our specific costumes later.
The first costume-related event of the weekend was an unofficial one. A couple of us grabbed our mermaid tails (or monofins, depending on the progress of building said tail) and went down to the pool for a swim. Rae’s tail is really gorgeous, but has a *lot* of drag. Mine is better for swimming, but is not as stunning. We’ve got plans to make new ones that suit our needs more.
The event had the theme of “Buccaneers, Belles, and Bootleggers”, all things for which Charleston has been famous (or infamous) and the Friday Night Social was a Speakeasy. I put on a 1920’s-style dress, after carefully pining the shoulders so they didn’t accidentally break away. Yeah, I originally made it for stage.
It was nice to see/meet all the members of our costume group. I spent most of the evening admiring outfits — there were vintage gowns and recreations and stunning outfits that nothing to do with the theme at all. I was please to see a lovely reproduction of of Cyd Charisse’s green costume from Singing in the Rain walking around as I had admired it on display in Toronto. The libations at the bar were uninteresting to say the least, but the refreshments included some southern specialties (pulled pork, crab dip, and peach cobbler).
I managed to stay awake for the Single Pattern Competition where the contestants get creative with a pre-selected pattern. I should have entered — all the patterns were from Folkwear, which I love, and none that I had made before. By the way, the dress I’m wearing for the social was made from one of their patterns. Hopefully I inspired someone, who had given up that pattern because of the weird cut of the skirt, to try again because of my successful results.
Saturday I was at loose ends for most of the day as all my roommates prepared for the SF&F Masquerade that night. I browsed the vendors (sadly, that didn’t take too long as there were only two), Miss Lizzie’s Traveling Fashion Show, the Guest of Honor’s display, the doll competition, and the quilt display.
It seemed a crime not to leave the hotel and see the actual city of Charleston (we were technically in North Charleston), so I called a cab and sped off toward adventure. Okay, really I had done a little research and found a restaurant with good reviews, serving local cuisine. I was deliberately early so I could walk around and see some of the city. Sadly, I wasn’t really near anything famous or historic, but I did see some nifty architecture. Doubly sadly, I had forgotten to change into flats and ended up with some epic blisters.
Dinner, however, at The Hominy Grill, was fabulous. I had she-crab soup (pictured), which if I’d known how good it was going to be, I probably would have had a bowl and made that dinner. Instead, I had a Nasty Biscuit — a biscuit (naturally) with a slab of fried chicken, cheddar, and sausage gravy. And there were boiled peanuts too, something I’ve always heard about but never tried. I was going to pass on dessert, although the buttermilk pie sounded intriguing, but the waitress sold me on their chocolate pudding. I’m so glad she did.
I was back at the hotel in plenty of time to dress and attend the Science Fiction and Fantasy Masquerade. (Photo by Leslie Johnston). And see my roommates win various awards.
Sunday was a busy day. We had to rehearse our presentation (and none of us were available at the same time), which we did by the elevators on our floor to (I hope) the amusement of the cleaning staff. We had a tech rehearsal on the stage. And we met with the judges to have our costumes examined minutely for their workmanship. This is really important for many historical costumes as there are often underlayers, structural garments, or interior finishes which one cannot see from stage. There was also frantic work to help one member of group actually finish sewing her costume before the pre-judging.
Eventually there was nothing left to do but get ready and here’s the result:
(Photo here and below by Ken Warren)
Our concept was what if the Victoria’s Secret fashion show was actually Victorian. Each of us chose a 19th century inspiration for our fantastical undergarments: Egyptomania, a Tiffany lamp, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, a Faberge egg, flowers, and Queen Victoria’s coronation. We also had one inspired directly by the modern fashion show — The Million Dollar Corset. Also, a showgirl who turned our title cards, and our celebrity host, John Philip Sousa. Note the wings and other absurd accessories on the models.
I made the chemise and drawers, corset, and mantle (as much as it might have been fun to have wings, we needed a few wingless costumes and I volunteered, knowing my luggage would be restricted by flying). The crown structure was made by Rae Bradbury-Enslin and rhinestoned by me. I’m really happy with how it all came out, especially the corset. It’s cream brocade, bound with white satin, and the pattern on the brocade is picked out in varying shades of gold rhinestones. It was a pain to bone, with lots of tiny boning channels to sew, but worth it. Expect to see parts of this costume incorporated in a new burlesque act.
Judging is done in three categories: documentation, workmanship, and presentation. I’m pleased to say that we won a recognition for the attractiveness of our documentation (that was all due to Rae’s hard work). Several members of the group received awards for workmanship, particularly Bill who won Best in Class in the Master Division for his flawless (that’s what the judges said!) recreation of John Phillip Sousa’s outfit. And in presentation…
And because it wasn’t like Rae had enough to do wrangling all of us and making the documentation beautiful, she also made T-shirts:
As much as I wanted to stay up and celebrate with the others, morning and my flight back to Boston was going to come way too early…
Dear Constant Reader,
This weekend was just what I needed! I believe we have finally left winter behind and entered spring. The crocuses around Stately Babydoll Manor have bloomed and the tiny lawn tulips shouldn’t be far behind.
Scratch & I drove down to New York on Saturday to take a Delsarte Intensive with Joe Williams (Willy Barrett), and it was amazing. I’m not going to try to explain the Delsarte system (philosophy, teachings, &c.) because it would take a while and I probably wouldn’t do it so well. Thus I’ll just say the principles apply to any form of communication (and what is performance other than communication with an audience?) and I recommend Joe’s teachings to any performer. You can read more here. Some of my Gentle Readers were clever enough to have taken classes with him at The Expo and had their minds blown.
I’ve taken many classes with Joe over the years, mostly an hour long, maybe two, but this was *nine* hours over two days. There was finally enough time to really delve into each topic and explore. Scratch and I were continually having “ah ha!” moments and having little whispered conferences as ideas came to light or the “why” of things suddenly made sense. It was a wonderful mix of students — about equal parts burlesque and bellydance, some other styles of performance, and at least one non-performer, and the differing perspectives really added to the class. There is so much I want to use and share, on stage and with my students. I can’t wait.
(Photo by Kaeshi Chai)
If you ever have the opportunity to learn from Joe, take it. You will grow as a performer. Really. I promise.
The rest of weekend was awful nice too. We got to spend some time with Scratch’s family and also have breakfast with International Superstar Model Sarah Hartshorne. We got to hear abut her latest modeling adventures, stand-up gigs, and the non-profit project she’s working for before she had to go convince someone to loan her a cocktail-dispensing vending machine. I cannot make this stuff up.
On our way back home we went via Brooklyn (which you keen observers of New York City geography will realize is not actually on the way from the Upper West Side to Boston) to meet up with The Italian Stallionette herself, Angie Pontani. I am the proud owner of Angie’s bath tub (the performance prop, not her actual bath tub; that would be weird and kind of creepy), which she delivered at The Expo.
However, there’s a snazzy shipping crate for the tub, which Angie wanted the heck out of her storage unit, but was way too big for her to transport.
It *just* fit in the back of the Babydoll-mobile. And that car can carry 3 dancers, an MC, and all the gear needed for a full-length show. For a little while it seemed like this would be a very squished ride back home until Scratch figured out how to adjust everything so that the crate fit, the back hatch stayed closed, and he didn’t have to drive smashed up against the steering wheel.
Now, it resides in our storage unit, awaiting the day my bath tub act is desired internationally.
And then there was the ritual placation of a large white cat who was quite cranky at our absence.
Dear Constant Reader,
What to do with our last, beautiful, sunny day in L.A.? We decided to be total tourists and head for the Santa Monica Pier. I’ll admit it — I didn’t know that it was the end of Route 66. It took a while for us to get the snapshot because a bunch of models were having a shoot in front of the sign. Just another day in Southern California.
Despite my horrible fear of heights, I insisted on riding the Ferris wheel (that would be the solar-powered Pacific Wheel). The ocean view was amazing — when I could look around.
Then we went hunting for the carousel. I love vintage carousels. One of my favorite moments was riding the Flying Horses Carousel on Martha’s Vineyard for the first time and getting the brass ring. Pure magic. At this one I was torn on choosing a mount. Most of the horses were original and normally, I’d make sure to get one of the originals. However, the two replacements, which were not horses, were made by Big Daddy Roth. Guess which one I picked?
Later we went to Venice Beach and took a stroll. Had we planned things better, we might have seen the Freak Show, instead of just visiting the building (they’re currently only open on weekends).
In the evening we headed out to Monday Night Tease: Erotic Titty. Monday Night Tease was basically the whole reason we came to L.A.. Of course, we were hoping to perform, but with a Prince-themed show, there was just no way to shoehorn any of our acts in. Next time.
We were on our way to dinner, just one minute late for our reservation and about to turn onto Vine when On Vine (that’s the restaurant — see how close we were) called to say they had a sewer pipe rupture and were closing down. Glad it happened before we got there! They helpfully directed these out-of-towners to one of their near-by sister restaurants and we had a pleasant meal.
The 3 Clubs (home of MNT) has a fabulous lounge, very Old Hollywood, where we ran into Vikki Fahrenheit, who I thought lived in Las Vegas, but is now a CA resident. We didn’t have to hang out in the lounge for long because Lili set us up at our table while the last bit of sound check was going on. The performance room is pretty small, less than 100 people, and it was *packed*. I was not surprised, given the quality of the show.
I’ve got to say that the house cocktail, the Erotic Titty, was delicious, but I knew I’d fall asleep if I had one, so I opted for my usual Captain & Coke, but it was made with a spiced rum called Coffee & Cigarettes, with a fascinating coffee finish.
The show had a loose connecting story, delivered by Morris Day (Mad Dog Delaney) and Baby (Heather Henderson) with the occasional assistance of Jerome (Mr. Snapper). Side note, I learned after the show that Heather is the vocalist for Penn Jillette’s NoGodBand (her “Ardent Atheist” tattoo had been noted).
Let’s see if I can remember all the acts in any sort of order:
The energy in the room was amazing. Everyone was just having the best time, audience and performers, as well they should. I’m so glad we got the chance to see this show.
And afterward Lili invited us to join some of the cast at The House of Pies for their usual post-show breakfast. Scratch & I looked at one another and knew there would be no sleep for us. There was cherry pie and a chance to really talk with Lili until the chairs went up on the tables around us.
It was a fantastic trip. We’ll be back and sooner rather than later.
We did manage to get two hours or so of sleep before heading to the airport to return to cold, damp Boston and one really annoyed cat.
Dear Constant Reader,
Sunday we had a date in the Fashion District. We met up with Sheila Starr Siani and her offspring, Mowgli and Mogwai, Jessabelle Thunder, and Lili VonSchtupp & Funny Eddie to explore the myriad of shops. It was utterly overwhelming and I’m glad we had some native guides.
I thought NYC had fabulous costume shopping, but LA beats it all to hell. I can’t even begin to count the number of fabric shops we visited — mostly little storefront things crammed with bolts & bolts of fabric. And there were also the trimmings stores, the rhinestone places (loose & in jewelry), and I think there was even ready-to-wear, but we didn’t get to any of those. There is no excuse to be a poorly costumed burlesque dancer in Los Angeles.
I was fairly restrained in my personal shopping, but we have a passel of backup dancers to clothe for the New Year’s Eve Spectacular. Scratch picked up so much stuff that we were concerned about getting it home. 
Most of it is now in the capable hands of Marion at Vixens Ahoy. Betty had requested some show-stopping fabric for a new dress and boy, did she get it. It’s not in the above photo, so you’ll just have to wait and see it in person on (and off) Betty.
That night we had another show to perform in, a stand-up comedy showcase which occasionally had burlesque. We were invited by someone who had been slated to perform at The Teaseday Club and was repaying the favor.
Let me digress for a moment and talk about payment. There’s been a *lot* of talk lately in the burlesque community about not performing for free. (Yes, there are exceptions, but for the most part, don’t give it away). Scratch pointed out that there are 2 ways to pay your performers: with cash or with love & respect. Friday night at Peepshow Menagerie we got both: a guaranteed minimum (and they did well at the door so we got more than the promised), comps, drink tickets, good communication, and overall a pleasant experience.
This gig had none of that. I knew it was a freebie and we were mostly doing it for fun. Except it wasn’t fun. There was a distinct lack of communication and stage management. In fact, there wasn’t a set list posted or any performer amenities, not even freakin’ bottles of water in the green room. However, most of the other performers were perfectly nice and as confused as we were about what was going on. Some of them were also funny on stage.
I went on early (after having my slot moved around more than once. And one of those times I learned I had been moved in the line-up was when I was waiting to go on and the host announced someone else). Scratch went on late, but we couldn’t even leave after his act because he had to leave his table full of magic equipment on stage. There was nowhere to move it to and he can’t break it down in view of the audience. So we stuck it out to the bitter end.
I did a fan dance, mostly because it’s a no-brainer for me. And I realized it was good that I didn’t need any pick up. I guess Scratch could have done it for me because the venue certainly didn’t have anyone. Before I started I had already noticed that the stage was carpeted. I could deal. Once I got on stage I realized the ceiling was only about 7 feet high. Okay, I’ll need to be careful with the overhead moves. And then I saw that the walls were mirrored. Yeah, that kind of kills the tease. Oh well. I did the best I could with what I had. The audience didn’t seem too into it until I finally revealed all at the end. However, I got a lot of compliments later and one of the comics mentioned me in his set (in a good way).
The show was interminable (I think it ran about 2 & a half hours without an intermission). Just as the last comic was finishing up her set, she wandered over to the table Scratch had left at the far side of the stage, picked up one of the pieces from his trick and flashed the gimmick at the audience. WHO DOES THAT?
Afterwards she complimented me on my act and I just said “thank you” because if I said anything else I was going to find myself with my hands around her throat, screaming “Kindergarten rules! If it’s not yours, don’t touch it!”
The only good part of the evening was that Joe K., our stage manager from the first run of Madame Burlesque, had just moved to L.A. Like, he arrived the day before, after having driven cross-country most of the month. Scratch got him comped into the show (we weren’t offered comps; Scratch just steamrollered the door girl) and afterwards we went to Mel’s Drive-In for sliders & fries & pie and to catch up.
Next up, our last day…
Dear Constant Reader,
It was a late night on Friday, so we got a late start on Saturday. On a tip from a friend we went to the Farmer’s Market and ended up having breakfast at Du-Par’s. I gotta say the pancakes were pretty fabulous. I suspect the pitcher of melted butter had a lot to do with that…
Having eaten and strolled, it was time for a more serious visit and we headed to Westwood Memorial Park. It’s hidden deep in the heart of the city, surrounded by tall buildings — there’s a sign which seems to be pointing to a parking garage, but once you come around the corner and there’s a lovely bucolic park.
We were there to pay our respects to Dixie Evans, The Marilyn Monroe of Burlesque. I wrote a bit about her last year, you might recall. Many of us across the country planned to raise money for her care, but ended up using the funds for her final resting place. We went to the office to ask for directions and learned that her mausoleum was locked. Fortunately, someone was available to escort us and unlock the gates.
It’s lovely. Her ashes are in a glittery, rhinestone-decked urn in a glass-sided niche just behind the wrought iron gates. There are tiny framed photos on 2 sides and a miniature of her star. It was done with such love and care that I was quite choked up. She’s right near Marilyn Monroe and it’s a straight line to see Bettie Page. Lili VonSchtupp told me Dixie didn’t want to be in the dark, so the sun shines on her last home.
I’m glad we were able to visit. Without Dixie Evans we wouldn’t be doing what we do.
Back to being tourists, we headed to LACMA and the La Brea Tar Pits. The theme for the day seemed to be unlikely things in the middle of a city, like bubbling tar pits and millions of Ice Age bones. My friend in the photo is a Columbian mammoth. I was particularly struck by the wall of hundreds of dire wolf skulls, which gives some idea of the enormity of the discoveries.
At last, it was about time to meet Lili VonSchtupp at The Magic Castle. I first heard about it when I was a kid (maybe through Games Magazine) and assumed, not being a magician, that I would never get to see it. I was wrong. It’s good to have generous friends with connections.
First though, an amusing interlude. We packed our evening wear, so as not to have to make the trek to the hotel & back. I ended up on a dark side street, changing in the front seat of the car with some entertaining contortions and putting on my makeup in the rear view mirror. I planned to make final adjustments, like hooking my garters and, oh, pulling my dress down over my rump, in the parking lot. This was also Scratch’s plan for putting on his dress shirt & tie (The Magic Castle has a dress code — yay!). Then we arrived and discovered it was valet parking. That was a tad awkward. Especially when I climbed out of the car. Don’t worry — we were all well & decently dressed once we said “Open Sesame” and the hidden door opened, allowing us into to the Castle.
I’m not sure I can do the experience justice. The building is huge and fabulous and quirky. Lili was a wonderful hostess and without her guidance I don’t think I could have found my way around the utterly disorienting warren of rooms. Everywhere you turned there was some wonderful piece of magic memorabilia or a movie set piece or just odd things. What was my favorite? The prototype of the Ballroom at the Haunted Mansion? Invisible Irma (who played “Bohemian Rhapsody” for us)? The library that I could only sigh at from the threshold? W.C. Field’s trick billiards table? Houdini’s hands? I can’t even begin to choose.
We saw 4 different magic shows in 4 locations, all terrific in their own way. Sometimes I was impressed with the spin the magician put on a trick I knew, sometimes I was awed by slight-of-hand skill, and frequently I was just baffled and delighted.
No photos because that sort of thing isn’t allowed and I’d rather remember it as a quasi-dreamlike experience. Exhausted and giddy, we finally left around midnight.
Tomorrow, we hit the Fashion District!
Dear Constant Reader,
Way too early Friday morning we headed off for Los Angeles. I won’t bore you with details of the travel. Once we finally arrived, Scratch went off to visit an old friend while I rehearsed, took a bath, and napped. Not necessarily in that order.
That night we were performing in Peepshow Menagerie‘s Spacetease: Dimensions of Time & Tease, their Dr. Who tribute show. When Scratch first told me the theme, I was stumped. You know that I’m a classic burlesque kind of gal. What on earth could I do that was appropriate? He reminded me of an old act that I’d done only once many years ago. Change the focus and a little costume revamp… Excellent.
Before we got to the venue, I had to try an In & Out Burger. Yes, for the first time. I haven’t become a total convert, but I would do that again.
Fais Do Do, the venue, is a big club with a nice dressing room. Well, I’m told it was a pit the month before and it had just been improved. I guess we got lucky on timing. It was really nice to just be able to relax and focus on the single act I was performing. We had a late start because of some technical/production issues. There was a band to open, so the burlesque portion of the show started much later than I’m used to, but it didn’t particularly bother me — I was a guest at this party.
Not long before he was to go on, Scratch unpacked his magic trick to set it up and discovered that a key component had shattered in transit, probably from the cold of the baggage hold, since everything else was fine. That was exciting. There was quite a bit of running around and some cursing. So if you had seen the act before and wondered why his lowball glass was a plastic cup, that’s why. And remember — always check your equipment well before you go on stage…
The show itself had a script tying all the acts together with several actors advancing the plot. Scratch started hosting the show and performing “Martini Time” (demonstrating the principle of “bigger on the inside”). He was interrupted in his hosting duties by the appearance of a villain, the TARDIS (yes, really, right on stage), the Third Doctor (played by Wolfgang Wolfwhistle) plus a number of companions.
I’m not going to recreate the whole story for you, but here’s a bullet point list of performers and acts (I might have things a little out of order). I’m not exquisitely well-versed in things Dr. Who, having only seen the first 3 seasons of the new show, so some of the references & characters were lost on me and I had to ask Scratch.
My act was to “Howlin'”, a rockabilly song by The Spectres (some of whom have gone on to become The Wages of Sin). I had made a big pink circle skirt for the original act and worn it with a letter jacket. Change out the jacket, make a sequined pink top, add pink shoes, and voila, Rose Tyler in “The Idiot’s Lantern”. I am so sad I didn’t take a picture of the ensemble, since I was pretty proud of it all. You can see a rehearsal shot here. Hopefully there will be pictures from the show someday.
One of the things I think is important about fandom-based acts (or pop culture acts or “nerdlesque”) is that it be a good act, even if you don’t know the fandom, so that was my goal here. I hope I succeeded, but I can’t tell because the majority of the audience were Dr. Who fans. And my big reveal was especially for them — let’s just say that the song is about a big Bad Wolf… But right before I got to that point, a guy in the audience yelled “I ship you, Rose Tyler!” High praise indeed.
After it all was over and the cast had their curtain call, there was a special guest sort of tacked on at the end. She was a German burlesque performer making her L.A. debut and bring filmed for reality TV. It was a pretty standard, no surprises, glamour strip with fans and a big champagne glass. Kind of anticlimactic after all the silly fun we’d just had.
Big thanks to Scarlett Letter and Chris Beyond for letting us play in their show and the entire cast for being so welcoming to a couple of East Coasters. It was a huge amount of fun and a great start to our little trip.
It was very late by the time we got back to our hotel, foreshadowing the rest of our trip…
Dear Constant Reader,
We’re back from our little trip to sunny Los Angeles (and it was). We had a wonderful time and I’ll tell you all about it after Thanksgiving.
Oh, and Lili VonSchtupp is the best!
Dear Constant Reader,
I was delighted yesterday to see that Burlesque Beat had posted some more photographs from the Thursday Night Teaser Party, taken by Olena “Photolena” Sullivan. I was particularly delighted that I was the cover girl.
All the photos are terrific and she summed up each act in about 30 words. You really should go look at them all. However, I know, Constant Reader, that you read these letters just to hear all about ME, so here you go:
V is for Vixen
A beautiful woman stands in her luxurious dressing gown, teasing with peeks of skin here and there. With a change behind a dressing wall, Miss Mina Murray emerges for a stunning feather fan dance to charm even the coldest heart.*
In my original missive about Thursday night at NYBF, I mentioned the Scan-A-Rama, but I failed to note that Scratch availed himself of their services. And a few weeks later a package arrived and…
Li’l Scratch!
*Amusing note: the original version of this act first appeared at the Boston Babydolls’ show V for Vixen, so Olena’s choice of a title is ridiculously appropriate.
Dear Constant Reader,
It’s a miserable, cold rainy day here in Boston, but I’m packing for a trip to sunny CA — Los Angeles to be specific. And you have 3 chances to see me in the flesh!
Friday night Scratch & I will be appearing in Peepshow Menagerie’s Spacetease: Dimensions of Time & Tease.
Sunday you can catch us performing at Camille Solari & Adam Barnhardt’s Whores On Sunday at The Comedy Store.
Monday you can see us in the audience at Monday Night Tease*.
*Somehow, of all the Mondays we could be visiting we pick the one with a theme that’s absolutely incompatible with my repertoire…
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 
