C is for Cookie

Dear Constant Reader,


Please click and nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!

Last night Unlucky in Love officially opened! Everyone at the theatre has been fantastic to us and in ways I never expected.

They made us a cookie. We have a cookie named after us!

Yes, you can get a Babydoll cookie to enjoy during the show! And you should. It may look like a chocolate chip cookie at first glance, but it’s a different and amazing flavor combination. I bet you can’t guess all the ingredients. Try one and then I’ll tell you all what’s in it.

Published in: on 28 January 2012 at 2:52 pm  Leave a Comment  

It begins…

Dear Constant Reader,


Please click and nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!

Tonight we have our final rehearsal for Unlucky in Love. As usual, we’ve opened it to the press and some select guests. After the show we have a Q & A session with the audience, which is always fun.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I’m always nervous when a show opens. I might be a tiny bit more nervous this time. I might have mentioned that the theatre has been under renovation. Because they’ve still been working on it, there are certain things that have to wait until the last minute. Last night after we left, they were going to paint the floor. So the lighting isn’t completely finished yet, because the cables can’t be taped down until the floor is done. Similarly the positioning of the set pieces can’t be marked (spiked) yet. Fortunately we have a good crew who are going to show up early to scramble around and finish these last bits of stuff.

Look at the time! Why am I writing to you? I have a tablecloth to hem and rhinestones to set and a party dress to pack… and.. and…

As Brigitte would say “Bu-bye!” (come to the show and you’ll see.)

Published in: on 26 January 2012 at 9:35 am  Leave a Comment  
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Props

Dear Constant Reader,

First things first…

Please nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!

Sometimes a theatrical production needs a specialized prop or set piece, and we are no exception. Evie needed a desk, and not just any desk would do. It had to be the right size to fit through the narrow stage entrance and a few other things which I’m not going to spoil here. Scratch designed it and turned the work over to the same guy who built many of the nifty features at The Wrathskellar. He turned a sketch into a solid reality.

Evie tried it out last night and everything worked like a charm. We’ve got a terrifically talented crew.

Come to Unlucky in Love and see!

Published in: on 24 January 2012 at 1:45 pm  Leave a Comment  

Load in

Dear Constant Reader,

Want to hear about the really glamourous part of being a burlesque performer? Of course you do. That’s why you read this.

But first…

Please nominate the Boston Babydolls for “Best Burlesque” and Naked Girls Reading for “Best Literary Gang”. Thank you!

Load in. That’s when we enter and empty theatre and fill it full of magic to bring you an amazing show. I’d love to say I sprinkle some fairy dust and hoards of adorable minions do all the work while the Babydolls relax in the luxurious dressing room and eat chocolate truffles.

In reality load in is several (if we’re lucky) very long, exhausting, and dirty days. If we’re not lucky, it’s just one. One much more frantic, even longer day.

The Davis Square Theatre is so new that it’s still being renovated, so we’re working around their work, which makes things extra challenging.

Our first priority is always lighting. Lighting is one of those thing that if it’s good, no one notices, but if it’s bad… Fortunately we have a terrific tech director and a lot of our own lighting equipment. Which is good, because the theatre doesn’t. I won’t bore you with things like stage pin vs edison or u-strut vs bars, but suffice it to say that things are pretty quirky in there and we had to be flexible and creative. And I’m not ever mentioning the hours spent rewiring two R40s (strip lights with a dozen lights each). Thank goodness Betty knows enough about electrical engineering to take charge of one of them.

Then there was the stage. It’s small and we have half a dozen dancers, plus 3 singers and a 4 piece band. Scratch’s small band of carpenters from The Wrathskellar built some additional platforms to give us some extra room. Which then had to be painted. And set pieces had to be built.

There were the many trips to the Home Depot for more supplies. Schlepping in the costumes, lumber, tools, etc. All Babydolls pitched in at some point over the weekend. No one is too much of a diva to get her hands dirty — even me. I can still see some traces of black paint on my nails today.

And today it continues… With luck, the renovations on the dressing rooms will be done, so we can get the costumes and props organized.

Come see the results at Unlucky in Love, opening this weekend. Unlike the rest of the audience, you’ll have a little idea of the labor behind the magic.

Published in: on 23 January 2012 at 10:02 am  Leave a Comment  
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Get Unlucky!

Dear Constant Reader,

It’s Friday the 13th! What better day to tell you about the Boston Babydolls latest show, Unlucky in Love?

Winners of “Best Burlesque” in 2011 from both The Boston Phoenix and The Weekly Dig, The Boston Babydolls always present an evening of smart, innovative burlesque with outstanding production values.

Unlucky in Love tells the story of a hapless writer examining episodes from his own life as he tries to pen a self-help guide to romance. Unfortunately for him (but fortunately for the audience), what he doesn’t know could fill a book. Calamities of the heart have never been so funny or sexy as they are in this burlesque story of love and misfortune. It’s two hours of teasing, pleasing, romance, and magic all accompanied by the excitement of live music, courtesy of The Unluckiest Band in The World and The Amorettes.

This Valentine’s season give your special honey more than a box of chocolate. A performance by New England’s leading burlesque troupe is a saucy gift of love. The line-up includes both veterans of the established troupe and some new members. Regular attendees of Boston Babydolls shows are familiar with Miss Mina, the ‘classy lassie with the sassy chassis’, and Betty Blaize, the six-foot-tall glamorous Amazon who combines burlesque traditions with showgirl aesthetics. Newer members include the classically-trained Devora Darling, the energetic Evie Sphinx, and the newest member of the troupe, the curvaceous Brigitte Bisoux. Each Boston Babydolls has her own special flavor of sassy sweetness on stage.

January 27, 28, 29, February 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 13, 14
Davis Square Theatre
255 Elm St.
Somerville, MA
Tickets: $25-$25 at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/211987 or 800-838-3006

Published in: on 13 January 2012 at 9:19 am  Leave a Comment  
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2011 recap

Dear Constant Reader,

My friend Holly Rebelle of Burlesque Noir (New Mexico) recently blogged about her year past in burlesque and I thought it was a great idea. Let’s see how much I can remember.

January
The Boston Babydolls put on a light revue called Hot Dates with a calendar theme. Highlights for me are introducing my “Champagne on Ice” act and wearing my mink coat in the finale. Betty choreographs it such that at no time did the coat ever touch the ground, but was passed from hand to hand until hung up by the stage kitten.

February
Naked Girls Reading Boston participates in the chapter-wide theme of “Love Stinks!”, sponsored by Great Philosophers Who Failed At Love. We are the only group to have the (clothed) participation of the author.

March
Mr. Cupid’s House of Love brings us a couple of milestones. Evie Sphinx becomes an official troupe member. The sultry songstress Alissa joins us for her first show. I perform an aerial act. Scratch is in our finale, dancing.

April
The Expo! I finally perform my tribute to April March. I’m not sure I have ever been so nervous in my entire performing career, trying to do April’s act in front of her.
Also, the Boston Babydolls win “Best Burlesque” from the Boston Phoenix.
And we perform at the launch party for the new comic Teenage Satan.

May and June
We throw a victory party for our Best of Boston win from the Phoenix, but mostly we begin preparations for Madame Burlesque: An Evening of Tributes, our most ambitious show at the time. We launch a Kickstarter campaign, build a giant oyster, and have fabulous photos taken. But most importantly, we cast Brigitte Bisoux and Corinne Southern.

July
Madame Burlesque at home and on the road! It’s our first real tour and we have so much fun. 4 states in 4 weeks! Whose idea was it to bring a giant oyster? That thing doesn’t exactly pack small!

August
B.A.B.E. moves! A larger space, just down the hall, opens up in our building and we take it. Scratch spends most of the month turning it from drab industrial space to a lovely dance studio, including a new dance floor and storage room.

September
At long last The Wrathskellar has a home! After months of searching, Scratch finally finds a vacant storefront in which to build our creepy tavern. He and a very small team of talented carpenters along with a lot of very unskilled labor from the Babydolls do the impossible in about two weeks.

October
It’s all The Wrathskellar all the time. We come to see that dirty, chilly space as our second home. Also, the birth of Sunday Socials. We welcome Brigitte Bisoux as an official Boston Babydoll.

November
We win “Best Burlesque” from the Weekly Dig and arrive at their award party in Scratch’s 1956 Packard.
Scratch thinks it’s a good idea to hold the Burlesque Marathon again. Much sleep deprived fun is had by all.

December
Naked Girls Reading presents an epic marathon reading of A Christmas Carol. We had no idea it would take so long…

And what are we up to now? Getting ready for Unlucky in Love. Live music, live singers, partially-clad dancers!

Published in: on 9 January 2012 at 1:05 pm  Leave a Comment  
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Naked Girls Reading: A Christmas Carol

Dear Constant Reader,

Just a brief note…

You can read all about our most recent salon here.

Published in: on 22 December 2011 at 10:49 am  Leave a Comment  
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Gift Giving

Dear Constant Reader,

The winter gift giving occasion of your choice is almost upon us. May I suggest a few ideas for those gifts to give?

The obvious answer is a class at The Boston Academy of Burlesque Education! Just send me an email and I can prepare a lovely gift certificate for one of our class series or even a private lesson.

If you’re a hands-on sort, consider taking our Fabulous Fascinators workshop and learn to make 2 beautiful hair ornaments, suitable for gifting (or keeping). Register right now — the workshop is tomorrow!

For a little something to get you in the holiday spirit, how about Naked Girls Reading: A Christmas Carol this Saturday? There are only about a dozen tickets left for this intimate event.

It’s never to early to think about Valentine’s Day. If you buy tickets now for Unlucky in Love, the Boston Babydolls’ next show, and use the code xmas you can get $20 tickets for half price.

But enough self-serving suggestions…

Personally, I feel the best present is a good book. I’m fortunate to count amongst my friends several talented authors. Please take a look at the Supporters section of the Boston Babydolls Library and consider one of the books (and ebooks) there. There’s science fiction, fantasy (of the sorcery variety), fantasy (of the erotic variety), true crime, history, paranormal romance, and at least one that defies categorizing. Something for everyone on your list!

Published in: on 12 December 2011 at 9:58 am  Leave a Comment  
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Naked Girls Reading: A Christmas Carol

Dear Constant Reader,

Please join the literary ladies of Naked Girls Reading Boston for a little holiday cheer!

On December 17th NGR Boston takes over the intimate confines of Outpost 186 for an evening of holiday cheer with a reading of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol.

Doors open at 8:00 p.m. for a pre-reading reception, and the reading begins at 8:30 p.m. The reading is about two hours long and there will be two breaks.

There are only 35 tickets, so we recommend you get them in advance (and you’ll save some cash too!).

Published in: on 22 November 2011 at 4:29 pm  Leave a Comment  
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The Other Boston Marathon

Dear Constant Reader,

Last year there was this movie called “Burlesque”. We all knew it was going to have nothing to do with the kind of burlesque that we did and Scratch decided a little public education was necessary.

The weekend before the movie was released, he organized a burlesque marathon. 8 hours of burlesque, all night long. Performers from all over New England. Home-made bagels for the survivors. Crazy, no?

And it actually happened, despite chaos and disasters major and minor. There was a wonderful camaraderie backstage as we helped one another change costume, lug props, solve last minute problems. And the guys in the tech booth were big heroes. Come dawn that theatre was simply covered in glitter… and coffee cups. You can read all about it here.

And for some reason people wanted to do it again. And somehow Scratch agreed to do it again.

Please join us for the Second (Annual?) Burlesque Marathon starting this Saturday at 11:59 and running until 8am on Sunday!

Published in: on 15 November 2011 at 10:20 am  Leave a Comment  
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