Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

This past Thursday was our first live music show at Flying Embers and I think it was pretty successful! We had a pretty good crowd, especially for a Thursday, who seemed to be enjoying themselves. The bartenders were happy with everything, the band was terrific and I felt my performances went well.

Poor Scratch was run ragged, however. His assistant tested positive for Covid that day and our photographers bailed, so he ended up having to do pretty much everything himself — set up the lighting, work the door (checking reservations and vaccination cards), host the show, take photos, clean up some of the costumes, and run the FaceBook livestream.

The band played two sets — about an hour and a half total. Betty and I each did an act in each set. I went first with “Mina in Furs” and Betty closed out the set with “Lament”. She opened the second set with “Night Train” and I closed it out with a fan dance to “Harlem Nocturne”. 

I was so into my fan dance and enjoying it so much that I ended with a big sweep of my fans and dipped my head, forgetting that I hadn’t yet sewn a comb into my headdress and the whole thing fell right off! It hung around my neck and I was able to sweep in back into place. Oh the glamourous life of a showgirl!

The show has a couple of challenges which keep things spicy. The first is, of course, live music. The band is terrific, but as with any live performance, you never know what might happen. As it turned out, everything was fine. The other is that there’s no real stage. We decided to perform in the center of the room, which means people were seated at tables around the taproom as well as at the bar. Performing in the round is hard.  You are going to be seen from every angle and you need to make sure everyone has a good view most of the time. And don’t forget to make as much eye contact as possible. My fan dance is very directional, with either my front or back uncovered depending on which way I’m turned. I opted to perform directly in front of the band for most of it and come out into the center when I was covered front and back or entirely uncovered.

There should eventually be some photos and the whole thing was on FB Live (skip the first couple of minutes — it’s Scratch setting things up and there’s no way to edit a Live).

I’ll be back on February 3rd with Ava Fox and again on February 17th. I won’t be performing that night — I’ll be celebrating my birthday! I hear there will be cake.

Tickets are free, but reservations are suggested.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 15 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

Tomorrow is our first show at Flying Embers! Get your tickets for an evening of cheerful holiday burlesque that will warm your heart and soul (and other body parts)!

And we will be back on January 20th and every other Thursday after that to entertain you. This is a different sort of show because we’ll be performing to a live jazz band!

Performing to live music is a treat we don’t get to do enough. Once a year, we perform at the Mardi Gras ball to an amazing band and several years ago our Valentine’s Day show, Unlucky in Love, had a band and a trio of singers.

There’s an entirely different energy with musicians versus recorded music. It’s more exiting, in several ways. Even when the band plays the same arrangement you are used to, it’s never exactly the same as the recording, which can be fun and challenging. You have to trust and learn to communicate to create something fabulous. As you can imagine, timing is very important for striptease, so if someone feels moved to change thing up (it is jazz, after all), you need to think on your feet.

Betty and I have had this experience before. In fact, Betty is a mistress of improvisational dance and can make magic out of whatever the musicians throw at her. But it’s going to be new for Ava and Devastasia and I’m looking forward to seeing what they create!

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 13 Patrons. Thank you so much! To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.

Dear Constant Reader,

Our first live show in front of an actual audience! Although it was a long, hard process to make that happen.

If you’ve been following these chronicles, you know we often perform in lovely spaces which aren’t really theatres. And this was no different. The hall upstairs from the American Burlesque Collection is spacious with a proscenium stage, but it’s not actually a theatre. Scratch and Hunter put in long hours making sure we had decent lighting (and thank goodness they had the luxury to do that instead of scrambling day of).

Still, there was a lot to do. We had to hang curtains in all the (huge) windows, set up the audio equipment (kindly lent by our good friends at Deacon Giles), set up the dressing room, set out chairs, assemble goody bags for the VIP guests, make a sign or two, and of course, rehearse, checking lights and sound as we went.

Our faithful stage manager Marek was working at his farmers’ market in NH (visit if you’re in the area!), so he wasn’t available and we missed him! However, we did have Sarah, the museum’s intern, and Gabe, a cast member for this show, to be the stage crew. And all the performers did their best to help them out with their first show, with Betty acting as a stage manager during the second act when she had a fair bit of down time.

By they way, those lovely signs on the easel that someone had to switch every act, were done by Devastasia.

Of course, it was pouring rain. Despite that we had a good turn out and even some walk-ins. And they were definitely enthusiastic! VIPs got a tour of the new exhibit at the museum — which I haven’t seen yet! — Lights! Camera! Burlesque!, showcasing burlesque as portrayed in movies, burlesque performers who made the jump to Hollywood, and filmed burlesque shows.

The show was a celebration of things summery and patriotic, which a little USO flavor. Alas, there are no photos, so you’ll just have to make do with my commentary.

Gabe & Sarah: Candy Butcher
This is a classic burlesque bit, where a fast-talking con man sells boxes of candy by promising ridiculous prizes in some of the boxes. This particular night, being “Bank Night” (sign by Devastasia), there is an additional promise of cash prizes. It’s all a lie. Gabe took the original script and ran with it. In true burlesque fashion, he improvised bits and added some physical comedy. Poor Sarah could barely keep up with the orders and plaintively asked backstage if there were any more boxes of candy. We were stunned that we’d sold all we had in no time flat. Gabe was a more successful pitchman than we expected!
A peek behind the curtain: The Uncle Sam’s Whiz-Bangs (with that All-American Flavor) were actually boxes of Starbursts with a paper wrapper Scratch designed (and your humble correspondent did most of the wrapping. Such a glamourous life!)

Betty Blaize & Mina Murray: The Lion Sleeps Tonight
Such a silly number. We created it in less than a week as kind of a throw-away act. Who would have imagined we’d still be performing it over a decade later *and* teaching it so others can perform it. It’s a bit unusual in that we do a spoken word intro. Also, many of those ridiculous hand-gestures are authentic 16th century mudras from classical Indian dance (of which Betty is an expert practitioner).

Devastasia: Cape Cod
One of the surprises of the Pandemic was learning that Devastasia has a beautiful singing voice. She sang in two of our recorded shows, but this was her first outing before a live audience. She did a wonderful job singing of the pleasures of a trip to the Cape.
A peek behind the curtain: Devastasia did all the audio editing to make the backtrack exactly what she wanted, including adding in the sea gulls and distant harbor bells.

Ava Fox: In The Mood
This was a great stage for tapping, so Ava let loose with this joyful striptease with a 1940s feel.

Betty Blaize & Scratch: Baseballs
A brief comedy bit that leads into the next act. We like to throw some comedy bits into a show in homage to the original burlesque shows, which were not all striptease.
A peek behind the curtain: Although we try to base our comedic interludes on actually comedy sketches from the Gold Age of burlesque, we have to substantially rewrite many of them as they are often too sexist, racist, or violent for modern sensibilities.

Betty Blaize: Stuff Like That There
Keeping with our summer theme, Betty appeared as a devoted Red Sox fan who gets so excited that her clothes come flying off. Betty made the entire costume, including the baseball bra and infield undies.

Scratch: Martini Time
Bottles keep mysteriously multiplying to the bafflement of Scratch and the audience.
A peek behind the curtain: this magic trick is choreographed to the song “Martini Time” by Rev. Horton Heat. However, in tech rehearsal, there was something wrong with the track — this is why you have tech rehearsals! — so Scratch used a different song in performance. Nobody was the wiser; he’s just that good!

Mina Murray: French Champagne
I love this act, despite its complicated set up. I felt badly about inflicting it on our novice stage crew, but they did great! What does it have to do with our theme? I’m cooling down with some ice!

INTERMISSION

Ava Fox & Devastasia: Don’t Sit Under the Appletree
This act was created for L.D.R.: Love in the Time of Coronavirus, but this was its first outing in front of a live audience. Ava and Devastasia are military cuties, with a friendly rivalry.
A peek behind the curtain: Ava made those beautiful fans completely from scratch. She cut the acrylic staves, sewed the fabric feathers, assembled the fans, and decorated them.

Gabe & Scratch: Deductions
Another vintage comedy bit. They laid the groundwork for Scratch as the overbearing boss and Gabe as the put-upon employee during the opening of Gabe’s song above.

Betty Blaize: 1812 Overdrive
Despite the 1812 overture not being about the War of 1812, it has become an Independence Day staple. Don’t ask me why. Betty goes all out with a gambling-themed act including a huge stack of dice that she can climb up on.
A peek behind the curtain: Betty built and decorated those dice herself. She’s also the one who assembles them — if you need to trust the security of a set piece, you need to trust those who set them up. If this sounds like a Friday Tip, it’s because it is.

Ava Fox, Devastasia, Mina Murray & Scratch: Date Night
Another classic comedy bit. We did this one in The BeauTease Holiday Special where Devastasia actually got to say her scandalous last time, since Scratch could bleep it instead of having to interrupt.

Ava Fox, Devastasia & Mina Murray: Stompin’ at the Savoy
This is one of our standard adorable trios. Now that I’m thinking about it I believe we debuted this on the Harbourlesque boat at our tenth anniversary party. We switched up the look a bit so we were in red and in white and in blue.
A peek behind the curtain: Usually I’m in the center position, but I also had a red costume, so I moved to the appropriate end. The choreography is just different enough for the three positions that I had a heck of a time adjusting at first.

And that was the show! And then we had to strike everything and load out, so there wasn’t much time for more than briefly greeting our beloved audience.

These writings and other creative projects are supported by my 12 Patrons. Thank you! I appreciate you all so much. To become a Patron, go to my Patreon page. Or you can just tip me if you liked this.